Retention Date: 02/06/2027
Summary of Changes
Minor language changes throughout to provide clarity.
Section A - Added additional purpose; guidance for handling inquiries about the Campos settlement notice.
Section B - Added additional information about the Campos Settlement, Campos Class Members, and the Campos Settlement notice.
Section C - Replaced previous section with new section to provide guidance for how to handle inquiries about the Campos settlement notice.
Section D:
- Incorporated FO guidance (previously in Section C), OHO guidance (previously section D) and OAO guidance (previously Section E).
- Added additional overpayment references.
Section E - Incorporated into Section D.3.
A. Purpose
The purpose of this emergency message (EM) is to provide:
1. Guidance for handling inquiries about the Campos settlement notice. This revision replaces instructions in EM-24061, Handling Campos Litigation Inquiries.
2. Instructions requiring field office (FO) technicians, Office of Hearings Operations (OHO), and Office of Appellate Operations (OAO) personnel to consider and document an individual’s alleged circumstances related to the COVID-19 pandemic that may have prevented the individual from reporting changes.
FO technicians, OHO, and OAO personnel must follow instructions in Section D when making a fault determination on a waiver request for a Title II or Title XVI overpayment incurred in any month since March 2020 that is not eligible for a “Campos Waiver,” as defined in Section B.
3. A reminder for FO technicians to follow established policy and procedures when adjudicating waiver requests for overpayments that do not qualify for a ”Campos Waiver” under the Campos settlement, including GN 02250.000, GN 02270.000, and EM-20037 SEN REV 7.
B. Background
On January 20, 2024, the United States District Court for the Eastern District of New York approved a settlement agreement in Campos v. Kijakazi, No. 21-cv-05143. The case involved Title XVI overpayments incurred during the COVID-19 pandemic. Information on the Campos settlement is available in the fact sheet in Section C1.
A Campos class member is someone who incurred a Title XVI overpayment for any month from March 2020 through April 2023.
Importantly, some Campos class members have a qualifying overpayment and will receive a “Campos Waiver.”
A Campos Waiver is an N TAC of debt that will be applied to an individual’s Supplemental Security Record (SSR). Once the N TAC is applied, the individual will no longer be required to pay back the overpayment and any collected amounts will be returned in accordance with our normal underpayment policies and procedures.
A qualifying Title XVI overpayment for a Campos Waiver is one that:
· was incurred in any month(s) between March 2020 and September 2020; and
· was the result of a manual action (i.e. not the result of an interface such as through Veteran’s Affairs or Social Security that does not require manual action); and
· was not the result of fraud, similar fault, or payee misuse; and
· has not already been waived.
IMPORTANT: An individual with a qualifying Title XVI overpayment eligible for a Campos Waiver (N TAC) does not need to take any action. Most of these N TACs will be applied by Systems. Instructions will follow for a subset of overpayments that will require an FO technician to apply the N TAC manually.
Title II overpayments incurred between March 2020 and September 2020 are not eligible for a Campos Waiver. Technicians should continue to follow instructions in EM-20037 SEN REV 7 for Title II overpayments.
On February 12, 2025, we will begin mailing Campos settlement notices to Campos class members. The notices will be staggered over 13 weeks, with final notices mailed in May 2025. The Campos settlement notice will be available to view in the Online Retrieval System (ORS) by selecting ACCESS BY SSN and entering the recipient’s SSN or ACCESS NOTICE BY BNC and entering the BNC number from the notice. The notice is titled “Campos Settlement Notice”.
C. Handling Inquiries About the Campos Settlement Notice
1. FO
i. For general inquiries about the settlement, you may provide an individual with the following Campos Fact Sheet.
An individual may also visit https://www.ssa.gov/campos .
ii. If an individual contacts the FO and asks about the Campos notice and how it affects them or wants to know whether they qualify for (or have received) a Campos Waiver, review the current and previous Supplemental Security Record(s) (SSR) to determine if there is an overpayment in the period March 2020 - April 2023.
After reviewing the SSR(s), refer to the chart below to determine next steps.
| 1. The individual does not have a Title XVI overpayment incurred in the months between March 2020 -September 2020. | Explain to the individual:
“You do not have an overpayment that qualifies for a waiver without making a waiver request. You can make a request for waiver of any existing overpayments at any time.”
If the individual wishes to file a waiver request, accept the waiver request, and follow instructions in Section D.1 |
| 2. The individual has a Title XVI overpayment incurred in the months between March 2020 - September 2020, but the overpayment has already been waived in full and any collected amounts released, as appropriate. | Explain to the individual that all overpayments that may have qualified for a Campos Waiver have been waived in full. If applicable, explain that recovered funds were released, as appropriate.
No further action is needed. |
3. The individual has a Title XVI overpayment incurred in the months between March 2020 - September 2020 and:
SSR shows:
a. The OPDD segment lists an N TAC with DO code L24 for an overpayment incurred from March 2020 -September 2020; and
b. Remark: CAMPOS COURT CASE-SPECIAL HANDLING-FOLLOW EM-24005 REV 2 is on the SSR and/or CS25 is in the CG field.
c. If applicable, recovered funds were released, as appropriate.
ORS includes a notice titled:
d. Campos Waiver Notice.
o If the information in (a) and (b) is on the SSR but there is no letter in ORS, explain that we will mail a notice to those who have received a Campos Waiver, but it might take some time to receive this notice, depending on when the Campos Waiver was applied.
| Explain to the individual that they received a Campos Waiver and Campos relief is complete.
FO action needed if:
1. All in box 3 is true, but there is still a UPX on the record, due for release, related to the N TAC.
o Release the UPX via an A-OTP (SM 01901.015) using existing policies and procedures related to underpayments.
|
| 4. The individual has a Title XVI overpayment incurred in the months between March 2020 - September 2020, but there is no N TAC on the overpayment(s) nor identifiers listed in box 3b. | If the overpayment meets the administrative waiver provisions in GN 02250.350, waive the overpayment.
IMPORTANT: If there is a case pending at the hearing or Appeals Council level that covers an overpayment incurred between March 2020 - September 2020, do not waive the overpayment, even if it meets the administrative waiver provisions.
Instead, contact the Hearing Office or Appeals Council (see below for contact information) to alert them to the case. Hearings and appeals level adjudicators will issue a decision on the overpayment following GN 02250.350.
To contact OHO, contact the Hearing Office where the case is pending.
To contact the Appeals Council, send an email to ^DCARO OAO with the case information and citation to EM-24005 REV 2 C.1.4.
If the overpayment does not meet the administrative waiver provisions, explain that it will take time to determine if an overpayment will receive relief and to provide the relief because of the size and complexity of the settlement. If the individual qualifies for a Campos Waiver, they will not need to recontact us to have the waiver applied and will receive a notice once it is applied.
If the individual insists upon filing a waiver request now, take the waiver request following instructions in section D.1. |
2. OHO
For general inquiries about the settlement, follow the instructions in C.1.i above.
If an individual contacts OHO and asks about the Campos notice and how it affects them or wants to know whether they qualify for (or have received) a Campos Waiver, instruct them to contact their local FO.
3. OAO
For general inquiries about the settlement, follow instructions in C.1.i, above. If an individual contacts OAO and asks about the Campos notice and how it affects them or wants to know whether they qualify for (or have received) a Campos Waiver, instruct them to contact their local FO.
D. Consideration of COVID-19 Circumstances – Fault Determination
IMPORTANT: The Campos settlement refers only to Title XVI overpayments and only a Title XVI overpayment can qualify for a Campos Waiver. However, the instructions in this section refer to both Title XVI and Title II overpayments.
1. FO Instructions
When making a fault determination on a waiver request for an overpayment incurred in any month since March 2020, that does not qualify for the Campos Waiver detailed in Section B, technicians must consider any circumstances related to the COVID-19 pandemic that an overpaid individual alleges prevented the individual from reporting changes.
When COVID-19 circumstances are alleged, technicians must document the individual’s allegations of COVID-19 circumstances that prevented the individual from reporting changes in the file.
Technicians should continue to follow established procedures for determining whether an individual was at fault in causing the overpayment (refer to reminder, below).
As part of their determination, technicians must consider all the circumstances surrounding the overpayment in each individual case, including but not limited to an individual’s ability and efforts to comply with reporting requirements.
For waiver requests involving overpayments incurred in any month since March 2020, when considering all circumstances that may be relevant to a fault determination, technicians should consider any circumstances resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic that an overpaid individual alleges prevented the individual from complying with reporting responsibilities.
Examples of circumstances related to the COVID-19 pandemic that may have prevented an individual from complying with Title II or Title XVI reporting requirements include, but are not limited to, the following scenarios.
The overpaid individual:
· attempted to contact us but was unable to visit a FO, mail us information, reach us by phone, or get transportation because of the COVID-19 pandemic;
· was unable to contact us because of government-imposed COVID-19 travel restrictions;
· was unable to contact us because of child-care or family-care changes due to COVID-19 stay-at-home orders or school-at-home requirements;
· was unable to contact us because of the overpaid individual’s COVID-19 illness or related serious illness;
· was unable to contact us because the overpaid individual’s representative payee died or became seriously ill due to COVID-19 or serious illness related to COVID-19; or
· was unable to contact us because the overpaid individual’s immediate family member died or became seriously ill due to COVID-19 or related serious illness.
NOTE: This list is not exhaustive. An individual may allege other COVID-19 related circumstances that prevented the individual from complying with reporting requirements.
Example:
Barbara received a Title XVI overpayment notice for $2,100 for the months of February 2021 to May 2021. Barbara requested a waiver by completing the SSA-632-BK, Request for Waiver of Overpayment Recovery, and provided it to the local FO.
The technician contacts Barbara, who alleges trying to call the 800 number but never getting through to a live representative and not being able to visit an FO due to COVID-19 office closures.
The technician determines Barbara is not at fault in causing the overpayment because of COVID-19 related circumstances that prevented Barbara from complying with the reporting responsibilities and documents the allegations in the file.
Next, the technician determines if overpayment recovery from Barbara meets the criteria for deemed to defeat the purpose (GN 02250.110), against equity and good conscience (GN 02250.150) or the defeats the purpose provision (GN 02250.100) and documents the final waiver determination.
REMINDER: Technicians must continue to follow all applicable overpayment waiver instructions to adjudicate the waiver determination including:
2. OHO Instructions
If a waiver appeal is pending at the hearing level, OHO personnel will follow the instructions in Section D.1 along with the normal waiver determination procedures in 20 CFR 404.506 and 416.550. When making a fault determination on a waiver request for an overpayment incurred in any month since March 2020, Administrative Law Judges must consider any circumstances related to the COVID-19 pandemic that an overpaid individual alleges prevented the individual from reporting changes. See Section D.1 for more information on considering COVID-19 related circumstances. OHO personnel must also document the individual’s allegations of COVID-19 circumstances that prevented the individual from reporting changes in the written decision.
3. OAO Instructions
If a waiver appeal is pending at the Appeals Council level, OAO analysts and adjudicators will follow the instructions in Section D.1. along with the normal waiver determination procedures in 20 CFR 404.506 and 416.550. When reviewing a hearing decision on a waiver request for an overpayment incurred in any month since March 2020, the Appeals Council will review whether the hearing decision appropriately considered any circumstances related to the COVID-19 pandemic that an overpaid individual alleged prevented the individual from reporting changes. Additionally, OAO analysts and adjudicators will review the claim(s) file or hearing decision for proper documentation of the individual’s allegations of COVID-19 circumstances that prevented the individual from reporting changes. Lastly, OAO adjudicators will ensure the Appeals Council level decisions document the individual’s allegations of COVID-19 circumstances that prevented the individual from reporting changes.
Questions
OHO staff should direct questions through the office’s management chain. Regional office staff may direct questions about this matter to the Office of the Chief Administrative Law Judge’s Division of Field Procedures.
OAO staff should direct any questions regarding this EM through their management chain. OAO managers may direct additional questions to the Executive Director’s Office.
All others should direct all program-related and technical questions to your Regional Office (RO) support staff using vHelp or Program Service Center (PSC) Operations Analysis (OA) staff. RO support staff or PSC OA staff may refer questions, concerns, or problems to their Central Office contacts.
References
GN 02201.017 Explanation of a Title II Overpayment
GN 02250.000 Waiver Provisions for Title II and Title XVIII Overpayments
GN 02250.002 Processing a Waiver Request – Title II and Title XVI
GN 02250.005 Fault Determinations for Overpayment Waiver Requests – Title II and Title XVI
GN 02250.011 Unable to Locate Documents or Determine the Cause of an Overpayment – Title II and XVI
GN 02250.016 Presumptions of Not at Fault for Waiver Determinations – Title II and Title XVI
GN 02250.021 Fault Determinations for Commonly Occurring Overpayment Situations-Title II and Title XVI
GN 02250.023 Fault presumptions When an Overpayment was due to an Incorrect Benefit Rate or Computation of Insured Status – Title II and Title XVI
GN 02250.025 Fault Determinations When Overpayment is Due to Earnings – Title II
GN 02250.036 Fault Determinations for Overpayments due to Benefit Continuation During Medical Cessation Cases – Title II and Title XVI
GN 02250.061 Misinformation from an Official Source – Waiver – Title II and Title XVI
GN 02250.090 SSI Overpayment Waiver When Recipient’s Countable Resources Exceed the Limit
GN 02250.100 Defeats the Purpose (Ability to Repay) of Title II and Title XVI – Waiver Determination
GN 02250.110 Deemed to Defeat the Purpose (Ability to Repay) Title II and Title XVI
GN 02250.150 Against Equity and Good Conscience
GN 02250.315 Documenting Waiver Determinations on Form SSA-635 – Title II and Title XVI
GN 02250.370 Waiver Approval Notice – Title II and Title XVI
GN 02270.000 Personal Conference Procedures When Waiver Cannot be Approved
GN 02270.003 Overview of the Personal Conference – Title II and Title XVI
GN 02270.015 Initial Waiver Determination After Personal Conference – Title II & Title XVI
GN 02403.001 Overview of Field Office Remittance Process
EM-20037 SEN REV 7 Special Overpayment and Waiver Processing
SM 01311.280 Uncollectable and Erroneous Overpayment Decisions – N TAC and NT TAC
SM 01901.015 Steps to Issue a One Time Payment (OTP)