1951.101—General.
Federal debt collection statutes provide for the use of administrative, salary, and Internal Revenue Service (IRS) offsets by government agencies, including the Farm Service Agency (FSA), Rural Housing Service (RHS) for its community facility program, and Rural Business-Cooperative Service (RBS), herein referred to collectively as “United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) Agency,” to collect delinquent debts. Any money that is or may become payable from the United States to an individual or entity indebted to a USDA Agency may be subject to offset for the collection of a debt owed to a USDA Agency. In addition, money may be collected from the debtor's retirement payments for delinquent amounts owed to the USDA Agency if the debtor is an employee or retiree of a Federal agency, the U.S. Postal Service, the Postal Rate Commission, or a member of the U.S. Armed Forces or the Reserve. Amounts collected will be processed as regular payments and credited to the borrower's account. USDA Agencies will process requests by other Federal agencies for offset in accordance with § 1951.102 of this subpart. This subpart does not apply to direct single family housing loans, direct multi-family housing loans, and the Rural Utilities Service. Section 1951.136 of this subpart only applies to RHS for its community facility program and RBS for the offset of Federal payments. Nothing in this subpart affects the common law right of set off available to USDA Agencies.