A beneficiary will be considered to have caused or helped to cause an overpayment where the overpayment was caused in whole or in part by his/her misstatement of pertinent facts or withholding of material information from SSA.

Although she and the NH were not living in the same household, Betty C was awarded wife's benefits on the basis of statements she made on her RSI application. She said that she was married to the NH and her allegation was corroborated by him when he filed for benefits. Later, however, it was determined that they were not actually married. Since the NH knew there was no marriage, the overpayment was caused by his as well as her misstatement of pertinent facts. Propose recovery of the wife's overpayment from the NH if Betty fails to refund the overpayment in 30 days.