Effective Dates: 12/18/2024 - Present Previous | Next

TN 35 (12-24)

GN 03930.091 No Fee Petition or Fee Authorization Received by Processing Center or Field Office Before Diary Matures and We Are Withholding Past-Due Benefits – Court Case

A. Procedure – Court Case Diary Matures

If the 120-day diary matures, and the processing center (PC) or field office (FO) has not received the administrative fee authorization or a court fee award, take the following actions, as appropriate:

  1. 1. 

    Check the Payment History Update System (PHUS), Single Payment System (SPS) or Supplemental Security Record (SSR) to see if any payment has been made for administrative or court fees. On SPS, Payment Identification Codes (PIC) SA – SZ identify payments made to representatives or entities from Title II; direct fee payments paid from Title XVI past-due benefits do not have a PIC.

  2. 2. 

    Check the Legal Automated Workflow System (LAWS), Public Access to Court Electronic Records (PACER) or CourtLink to see whether a court fee has been approved or is pending. Staff can also check eView or e-mails to their designated mailbox for notifications of court fee authorizations from the Office of the General Counsel (OGC).

    If you have access to CourtLink, log on at http://www.courtlink.com/

    • •

      Enter a valid SSA-issued 7-character Lexis ID;

    • •

      Enter 'courtlink1' in the 'Password' window;

    • •

      If a first-time user, respond to set up "My CourtLink;" and

    • •

      Proceed to Search from "My CourtLink."

  1. 3. 

    Technicians may also contact OGC to request the status of any court-authorized fee using the contact information in GN 03930.180.

  2. 4. 

    For court remand cases, check to see if there was a fee agreement and whether it was approved by the Administrative Law Judge (ALJ) or Administrative Appeals Judge. If the fee agreement was approved, check the conditions and determine if approval was the correct action. If the fee agreement was approved incorrectly, follow the procedures in GN 03940.025B.5

  3. 5. 

    Refer to GN 03930.091B if the representative, or other proper filer listed in GN 03930.020A when the representative is deceased, has not filed for an administrative fee.

  4. 6. 

    Refer to GN 03930.091C if the attorney has not filed for the court fee.

B. Procedure – Administrative Fee on Case Decided by the Court

On a case favorably decided by a Federal court, when we are continuing to withhold the claimant’s past-due benefits and no fee petition or fee waiver was received, request that the representative state whether they intend to seek any fee for administrative services.

NOTE: 

A court remand to the Commissioner for “an award of benefits” or similar language (sometimes called a "true court case") is considered a favorable court decision for fee purposes. The treatment of a court order which remands the case for further administrative proceedings depends on the outcome of those administrative proceedings. The courts have interpreted section 206(b)(1) to include as a favorable court decision for fee purposes court remands which result in a favorable administrative decision. In such cases, after the favorable administrative decision on remand, the court may award a reasonable fee for the attorney’s services before the court in obtaining the remand, and we can pay the court-ordered fee from withheld past-due benefits. If the proceedings on remand do not result in a favorable decision, however, the court’s order remanding the case is not considered a favorable court decision for purposes of section 206(b) of the Act. See GN 03920.060 for additional information regarding attorneys' fees for court attorneys.

If the representative filed a fee agreement and the court issued the favorable decision (i.e., it is a true court case), refer to GN 03930.040G.1. for sample language.

If the representative did not file a fee agreement, refer to GN 03930.040G.3. for sample language.

C. Procedure – Court Fee

If the diary matures and the PC or FO has not received a court order awarding a fee, and it is not available through the procedures in GN 03930.091A, contact the attorney and ask if they have petitioned the court for a fee.

NOTE: When the procedure is to diary the case, the specific procedure for OCO is to prepare a PCACS diary related to the existing ACR and route the case to the DHF PAY.

1. Court Attorney Has Petitioned the Court

If the court attorney has petitioned the court, do one of the following:

  1. a. 

    If the court attorney petitioned the court recently, diary the case for 120 days. In the PC, send the folder/ACR/paperless action to the holding file. In the FO, the claims specialist (CS) takes these actions to diary the case and document the request process:

    • •

      Change the follow-up date for the FEE PETITION issue on the Modernized Development Worksheet (MDW) each time a contact is made; and

    • •

      Set up a Report of Contact (ROC) and record and explain each follow-up action taken to get the authorized fee amount.

  2. b. 

    If the court attorney petitioned the court more than 90 days earlier and they have no reason to expect a fee authorization soon:

    • •

      Diary for 30 days;

    • •

      Prepare a ROC documenting the conversation; and

    • •

      In the PC, send the folder/ACR/paperless action to the holding file. In the FO, the CS takes these actions to diary the case and document the request process:

      • –

        Change the follow-up date for the FEE PETITION issue on the MDW each time a contact is made; and

      • –

        Set up a ROC and record and explain each follow-up action taken to get the authorized fee amount.

2. Court Attorney Has Not Petitioned the Court

If the court attorney has not petitioned the court and additional delay seems probable:

  • •

    Prepare a ROC documenting the conversation;

  • •

    Send a status letter, using the sample language below, to the court attorney;

  • •

    Diary for 120 days; and

  • •

    In the PC, send the folder/ACR/paperless action to the holding file. In the FO, the CS takes these actions to diary the case and document the request process:

    • –

      Change the follow-up date for the FEE PETITION issue on the MDW each time a contact is made; and

    • –

      Set up a ROC and record and explain each follow-up action taken to get the authorized fee amount.

a. Sample 1 (Modify as Necessary to Fit the Case Situation):

This refers to [claimant's name]’s claim for disability insurance benefits. We are withholding $[past-due benefit (PDB) amount withheld], which represents 25 percent of the past-due benefits for [claimant's name] and their family, in anticipation of direct payment of an authorized attorney’s fee. We are writing to determine whether you have petitioned the U.S. District Court for the [District court region, if applicable (e.g., Southern, Eastern, Central, etc.)] District of [State where the court is located], and/or the Social Security Administration (SSA) for a fee.

Please write to: [PC or FO contact information] to let us know whether you have petitioned or will petition for a fee.

If the court has authorized you to receive a fee in this case, please send us a copy of that authorization. If you do not intend to petition for a fee, you must submit a written, dated, and signed statement expressly waiving a fee before we can release the withheld benefits to the claimant.

NOTE: If the court attorney does not respond before the diary matures and there is no indication on CourtLink, or through the other processes in GN 03930.091A, that the attorney has requested a court fee, send a 20-day close out letter, using the following Sample 2 language for guidance. Diary for 30 days.

b. Sample 2 – Close Out Letter

We have withheld $[PDB amount withheld], which represents 25 percent of the past-due benefits payable to [claimant's name], as required by sections 206(a) and (b) [and/or 1631(d) of the Social Security Act. We have withheld this amount since [date]. We previously notified you that you must submit a request for a fee for services before the court to the United States District Court for the [District court region, if applicable (e.g., Southern, Eastern, Central, etc.)] District of [State where the court is located]. [Additionally, you must submit any petition for a fee for services before the Administration to the Attorney Fee Branch in the Office of Appellate Operations.]

We do not wish to delay the release of funds withheld from the claimant’s past-due benefits.

Any fee(s) you may wish to charge hereafter for your services before the court on this claim will still be subject to the approval of the court. Failure to comply with this requirement could result in a violation of section 206 and/or 1631 of the Act (42 U.S.C. 406 and 1383). Collection of any such approved fee shall be a matter between you and your client.

If you want to request a fee for services before the court, please file your request for a court fee with the U.S. District Court.

If you want to request a separate administrative fee for any services you provided before us, send the fee petition to:

Social Security Administration

Office of Appellate Operations

Attn: Attorney Fee Branch

6401 Security Blvd

Baltimore, MD 21235-6401

If you are waiving direct payment of any fee authorized by the court [and/or SSA], or you are waiving your fee entirely, please forward us a statement to that effect, signed and dated by you. Send the statement to:

Social Security Administration

[PC or FO address]______________

The fax number is [FO or PC fax number]. Please fax any statements or questions about this notice to us at that number.

We are sending a copy of this letter to your client.

NOTE: If the court attorney does not submit a petition for the court fee within 30 days, check all sources to ensure that there has been no fee activity. If there has been none, release the withheld benefits to the claimant(s). If a court later orders direct payment of the fee, see GN 03920.055.

If the attorney has petitioned the court, refer to GN 03930.091C.1.

If the attorney indicates that they will waive the fee, refer to GN 03930.091C.3.

3. Attorney Will Waive Court Fee

If the attorney indicates they will not be seeking a fee for the services they provided before the court, or will not be seeking direct payment of any fee authorized by the court:

  • •

    obtain a signed and dated waiver (see GN 03920.020B);

  • •

    forward a copy to OGC (using the contact information in GN 03930.180);

  • •

    in Title II and concurrent Title II and XVI claims,

    • –

      if all administrative fees have been paid or waived, instruct the BA/PETE to release to the claimant and any auxiliary beneficiaries the withheld past-due benefits using MACADE (special entry EA); and

    • –

      provide the BA/PETE with notice language, including a statement that our release of the withheld benefits does not relieve the attorney of the obligation to petition the court if they later decide to charge a fee. In concurrent claims, fax the waiver to the FO after taking the actions to release the Title II withheld past-due benefits.

  • •

    in Title XVI claims, release to the claimant and the spouse (if any), the withheld past-due benefits by closing out the FEE PETITION issue and removing the U TAC from the SSR.

 

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GN 03930.091 - No Fee Petition or Fee Authorization Received by Processing Center or Field Office Before Diary Matures and We Are Withholding Past-Due Benefits – Court Case - 12/18/2024
Batch run: 12/18/2024
Rev:12/18/2024