29.511—Demand letters.
Except as provided in § 29.516(e), before
starting collection action to recover an
overpayment, the Benefits Administrator must send
a demand letter that informs the debtor in
writing—
(a)
That an overpayment has occurred, the
amount of the overpayment, and the facts giving
rise to the overpayment;
(b)
The date by which payment of the debt
should be made to avoid additional charges (i.e., interest, penalties and
administrative costs) permitted by the FCCS and
enforced collection;
(c)
The requirement that any overpayment debt
delinquent for more than 180 days be transferred
to the Department of the Treasury's Financial
Management Service for collection;
(d)
The name, address, and phone number of the
appropriate person or office the debtor may
contact about the debt;
(e)
The remedies which may be used to enforce
payment of the debt, including assessment of
interest, administrative costs and penalties;
administrative wage garnishment; the use of
collection agencies; Federal salary offset; tax
refund offset; administrative offset; and
litigation.
(f)
Whether offset is available and, if so, the
types of payment(s) to be offset or eligible for
offset, the repayment schedule (if any), the right
to request an adjustment in the repayment
schedule, and the right to request a voluntary
repayment agreement in lieu of offset;
(g)
An explanation of the Department's policy
on interest, penalties, and administrative costs
as set forth in 31 CFR part 5, the FCCS, and 31
U.S.C. 3717, including a statement that such
assessments must be made unless excused in
accordance with the FCCS;
(h)
The debtor's opportunity to request
repayment in installments if the debtor can show
an inability to repay the debt in one lump
sum;
(i)
The debtor's opportunity to inspect and/or
receive a copy of the records relating to the
overpayment;
(j)
The method and time period (60 calendar
days) for requesting reconsideration, waiver,
and/or compromise of the overpayment;
(k)
That all requests for waiver or compromise
must be accompanied by a disclosure of the
debtor's financial condition and ability to pay
the debt;
(l)
The standards used by the Department in
deciding requests for waiver (set forth in §§
29.521 through 29.526) and compromise (set forth
in 31 CFR 902.2 ); and
(m)
The fact that a timely filing of a request
for reconsideration, waiver and/or compromise, or
a subsequent timely appeal of a reconsideration
decision, will stop collection proceedings,
unless—
(1)
Failure to take the offset would
substantially prejudice the Federal Government's
ability to collect the debt; and
(2)
The time before the payment is to be made
does not reasonably permit the completion of these
procedures.