CFR > Title 31 - Money and Finance: Treasury > SUBTITLE A—Office of the Secretary of the Treasury > PART 29—FEDERAL BENEFIT PAYMENTS UNDER CERTAIN DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA RETIREMENT PROGRAMS > SUBPART E—Debt Collection and Waivers of Collection (§29.501 to §29.526) > 29.522—Fault.

29.522—Fault.

(a) General rule. A debtor is considered to be at fault if he or she, or any other person having an interest in obtaining a waiver of the claim, caused or contributed to the accrual of the overpayment. The Department considers a debtor or any other person having an interest in obtaining a waiver of the claim to have caused or contributed to the accrual of an overpayment if—
(1) Payment resulted from the individual's incorrect but not fraudulent statement, which the individual knew or should have known to be incorrect; or
(2) Payment resulted from the individual's failure to disclose facts in his or her possession which the individual knew or should have known were material, when the Department has identified that the individual has a duty to report and has clearly notified the individual of this reporting requirement.
(3) The following factors may affect the decision as to whether the debtor is or is not at fault where the debtor submitted an incorrect statement, or the debtor failed to disclose material facts in his or her possession—
(i) The debtor's age;
(ii) The debtor's physical and/or mental condition; and
(iii) The availability and nature of the information provided to the debtor by the Department.
(b) Knowledge of an overpayment. (1) Individuals who are aware that they are not entitled to a payment or are aware that a payment is higher than the payment to which they are entitled are not considered to have contributed to the overpayment if they promptly contact the Benefits Administrator and question the correctness of the payment and take no further action in reliance of the overpayment.
(2) Any contact made with the Benefits Administrator concerning the overpayment within 60 days of receipt (if the overpayment is a recurring payment, contact must be made within 60 days of the initial payment) will satisfy the prompt notification requirement.
(c) Reasonable person standard. The Department will use a reasonable person standard to determine whether an individual should have known that a statement was incorrect or that material facts in the individual's possession should have been disclosed. The reasonable person standard will take into account the objective factors set forth is paragraph (a)(3) of this section.