If the representative payee fails to contact us concerning the overpayment or does
not return the check during the due process period, we will attempt to collect the
overpayment via direct benefit withholding if they are entitled on our records. When
the representative payee for a Title II benefit is not entitled on our records and
has an eligible debt, the payee is loaded into the Non-Entitled Debtors (NED) database.
We will attempt to recover the overpayment from representative payees by sending a
billing notice and then using the TOP/ECO collection tools including Tax Refund Offset,
Administrative Offset, Credit Bureau Reporting, Administrative Wage Garnishment, and
Federal Salary Offset.
NOTE: When a check remains unnegotiated after 12 months from the check’s issue date and
no F-stop is input, we receive a limited payability credit from the Department of
the Treasury for the unnegotiated check in the 13th month after the check’s issue date (for limited payability information, see GN 02401.901).
The PC will apply the limited payability credit to the representative payee’s overpayment
on the MBR by coding the SSA-4208, Reclamation Data Input form, with the RTC-B to
change the RCLRN to B. This coding instructs the system to reduce the overpayment
amount. If the payment center (PC) is unable to process the SSA-4208/exception, a
MADCAP action is necessary to reduce the overpayment manually.