Or. Admin. Code § 137-055-6220 - Recovery of Overpayments and Collection of Receivable Accounts
(1) In addition to
the definitions in OAR 137-055-6010, for the purpose of collecting overpayments
pursuant to ORS 25.125, the following definitions apply:
(a) "Advanced payment" means arrears owed to
a person who receives support that were reassigned to the state as
reimbursement for funds paid to that person before March 1, 2019, but which
they were not entitled to keep.
(b)
"Receivable" means a non-child support debt owed to the State of Oregon.
(c) "Recoupment" means collecting
a receivable owed to the State of Oregon by retaining all or a portion of
future child support payments.
(2) A receivable account is created when:
(a) The Department received a payment from an
obligor, withholder, or other issuer on behalf of the obligor, transmitted the
appropriate amount from that payment to the payee, and that payment is
subsequently dishonored; or
(b) The
Department transmitted an amount to a person or entity authorized to receive
child support payments or to an obligor, and that amount:
(A) Was transmitted in error;
(B) Was attributable in whole or in part to a
tax refund offset collection, all or part of which was reclaimed by the
Internal Revenue Service or the Oregon Department of Revenue;
(C) Was an advanced payment in the Child
Support Enforcement Automated System that was converted to the Origin child
support system and transferred to the family's unassigned arrears and created a
receivable of equal value;
(D) Was
previously owed to a person or entity but was redistributed as support owed to
the state as the result of an accounting adjustment creating an overpayment in
favor of the state; or
(E) Was the
result of a banking error or a check that was paid twice.
(3) For receivable accounts
described in subsection (2)(b) of this rule, sections (4) through (12) of this
rule apply. For receivable accounts described in subsection (2)(a), sections
(13) through (17) of this rule apply.
(4) The Department will determine a threshold
amount for attempts to recover the receivable account. In determining the
threshold, the Department will consider the cost of:
(a) Staff time in processing the collection
of the receivable account; and
(b)
An administrative hearing and the average number of cases requesting a
hearing.
(5)
(a) When a notice is first issued under ORS
25.125 to a person or entity described in subsection (2)(b) of this rule, the
Department will include a statement that:
(A)
A recipient who does not agree with the notice may submit a written request for
an administrative review, which must be received within 30 days from the date
of the notice; and
(B) If
repayment does not begin within 90 days of the first notice, the debt may be
referred for collection as provided in ORS 293.231.
(b) When the person described in (2)(b) is a
person who receives support, the notice will include a statement that the debt
may be collected through recoupment if the person fails to respond.
(6) Recoupment may be used only if
authorized as follows:
(a) By agreement
between the Department and the person who owes the debt for the state to retain
a fixed percentage of future child support payments; or
(b) By default resulting from the person who
owes the debt failing to respond to three notices requesting payment and
offering recoupment as a repayment option. Unless a prior recoupment agreement
is already in place, the recoupment rate for default is 20% of future child
support payments.
(c) If a
recoupment agreement or default percentage is already in place when a new
receivable account is created for the same person, who subsequently fails to
respond to three notices requesting payment, the established percentage on the
prior receivable accountwill be used for the new receivable until all
receivables are paid or a new agreement is made.
(d) A person who owes more than one
receivable account may only have one recoupment plan in place at a time. The
amount recouped will be applied pro-rata to all of the person's receivable
accounts.
(7) If a
request for administrative review is submitted after the time allowed, the
Department may consider the late request for administrative review if it is
apparent that the original decision was incorrect, or the person or entity has
good cause for the failure to make the request timely.
(8) If the person or entity described in
subsection (2)(b) requests an administrative review, the Department will
conduct the administrative review within 30 days after receiving the request
and notify the requestor of the results of the review.
(9) Notice of the results of the
administrative review will include a statement that the person or entity
described in subsection (2)(b) may object and request an administrative
hearing. To be considered timely, a request for administrative hearing must be
received in writing by the Department within 30 days of the date the Department
mails the Administrative Review Decision for Overpayment.
(10) If the person or entity described in
subsection (2)(b) files a timely objection and request for hearing, an
administrative law judge shall then hear the objection.
(a) An order by an administrative law judge
is final.
(b) The person or entity
described in subsection (2)(b) may appeal the decision of an administrative law
judge to the circuit court for a hearing de novo. The appeal shall be by a
petition for review filed within 60 days after the final hearing order is filed
in court.
(11) A late
request for hearing will be forwarded to the Office of Administrative Hearings
for consideration, pursuant to OAR 137-055-2160, only if the receivable has not
been referred for collection as provided in ORS 293.231.
(12) If a person or entity described in
subsection (2)(b) fails to file a written request for administrative review,
objection or request for hearing, or if an order setting the overpayment amount
is received from an administrative law judge, and the person or entity fails to
make payment, the Department may refer the overpayment for collection as
provided in ORS 293.231.
(13) When
a notice is issued under ORS 25.125(5) to an obligor, withholder, or other
issuer described in subsection (2)(a), the Department will include a statement
that the obligor or withholder must respond within 30 days of the date of the
notice and request an administrative review.
(14) If the obligor, withholder, or other
issuer described in subsection (2)(a) requests an administrative review, the
Department will conduct the administrative review within 30 days after
receiving the request and notify the obligor or withholder of the results of
the review.
(15) The obligor,
withholder, or other issuer described in subsection (2)(a) may appeal the
result of the administrative review as provided in ORS 183.484.
(16) If the obligor, withholder, or other
issuer described in subsection (2)(a) fails to request an administrative review
or if the result of an administrative review is that an overpayment occurred,
the Department may refer the overpayment for collection from the obligor or
withholder as provided in ORS 293.231.
(17) The Department will initially assign all
receivable accounts for dishonored payments to the obligor on the case where
the payment was made. The receivable account may be reassigned to the person or
entity who issued the payment, if appropriate, but may be reassigned back to
the obligor at the discretion of the Department.
Notes
Statutory/Other Authority: ORS 25.125, 180.345 & ORS Ch. 293
Statutes/Other Implemented: ORS 25.020 & 25.125
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