§408.910. When will we waive recovery of an SVB overpayment? — Inbound Citations

If we determine that you received an overpayment, we will adjust future Federally administered State recognition payments you are entitled to. Our rules and requirements (see §§ 408.910 through 408.941) that apply to recovery (or waiver) of SVB overpayments also apply to the recovery (or waiver) of Federally administered State recognition overpayments. If your entitlement to State recognition payments ends before you have repaid the overpayment, we will annotate your record (specifying the amount of the overpayment) to permit us to recoup the overpaid amount if you become reentitled to recognition payments from the same State.

This subpart explains what happens when you receive less or more than the correct amount of SVB than you are entitled to receive. Sections 408.901 through 408.903 define overpayment and underpayment and describe how we determine the amount of the overpayment or underpayment. When you receive less than the correct amount of SVB (which we refer to as an underpayment), we will take the actions described in §§ 408.904 and 408.905. Waiver of recovery of overpayments (payments of more than the correct amount) is discussed in §§ 408.910 through 408.914, and the methods we use to recover overpayments are discussed in §§ 408.920 through 408.946. In § 408.950, we explain when we will accept a compromise settlement of an overpayment or suspend or terminate collection of an overpayment.

(b) As used in this subpart, the term pandemic period for the purposes of the waiver authority in § 408.910 refers exclusively to the period of time beginning on March 1, 2020, and ending on September 30, 2020.

(a) The amount of an underpayment or overpayment is the difference between the amount you are paid and the amount you are due for a given period. An underpayment or overpayment period begins with the first month for which there is a difference between the amount paid and the amount actually due for that month. The period ends with the month in which we make the initial determination of the overpayment or underpayment. With respect to the period established, there can be no underpayment to you if we paid you more than the correct amount of SVB, even though we waived recovery of any overpayment to you for that period under the provisions of §§ 408.910 through 408.914. A later initial determination of an overpayment will require no change with respect to a prior determination of overpayment or to the period relating to such prior determination to the extent that the basis of the prior overpayment remains the same.

We will withhold or adjust any underpayment due you to reduce any overpayment to you that we determine for a different period, unless we have waived recovery of the overpayment under the provisions of §§ 408.910 through 408.914.

(a) Whenever we determine that you were overpaid or underpaid for a given period, as defined in § 408.903, we will send you a written notice of the correct and incorrect amounts you received for each month in the period, even if part or all of the underpayment must be withheld in accordance with § 408.905. The notice of overpayment will advise you about recovery of the overpayment, as explained in §§ 408.920-408.923, and your rights to appeal the determination and to request waiver of recovery of the overpayment under the provisions of § 408.910.

(d) If within that 30-day period you ask us to waive recovery of the overpayment balance, we will not begin cross-program recovery from your current monthly benefits before we review the matter and notify you of our decision in writing. See §§ 408.910 through 408.914.

(b) You may submit evidence showing that all or part of the debt is not past due or not legally enforceable as provided in paragraph (a) of this section. Failure to submit the notification and evidence within 60 calendar days will result in referral of the overpayment to the Department of the Treasury, unless, within this 60-day time period, you ask us to waive collection of the overpayment under § 408.910 and we have not yet determined whether we can grant the waiver request. If you ask us to waive collection of the overpayment, we may ask you to submit evidence to support your request.

If, within 60 days of the date of the notice described in § 408.941 of this subpart, you notify us that you are exercising a right described in § 408.942(a) of this subpart and submit evidence pursuant to § 408.942(b) of this subpart or request a waiver under § 408.910 of this subpart, we will suspend any notice to the Department of the Treasury until we have issued written findings that affirm that an overpayment is past due and legally enforceable and, if applicable, make a determination that a waiver request cannot be granted.

(c) Notwithstanding any other provision of this subpart, we will not determine any overpaid individual to be at fault in causing a qualifying overpayment (see § 408.910(c)(1)) unless we determine that the qualifying overpayment made to an individual or a representative payee during the pandemic period (see § 408.902(b)) was the result of fraud or similar fault or involved misuse of benefits by a representative payee (see § 408.641).