The county department shall establish a claim on an
overpayment before the last day of the quarter following the quarter in which
the overpayment was discovered.
A. An
overpayment shall be adjusted if there is a record of any underpayment(s) for a
prior period. The hierarchy of such adjustments shall be:
1. Fraud or IPV claims first,
2. Client error claims second; and,
3. Administrative error claims
last.
B. Liability for
an overpayment must be legally established. Methods for legally establishing an
overpayment include but are not limited to:
1. An executed promissory note;
2. A court judgment;
3. A final agency action;
4. A signed public assistance repayment
agreement form.
C.
Failure to sign the public assistance repayment agreement form shall be handled
as follows:
1. If the client against whom a
collection action has been initiated is currently participating in any Adult
Financial program and does not respond to the public assistance repayment
agreement form within eleven (11) calendar days of the date the notice is
mailed, grant payment reduction shall begin with the first month following the
timely noticing period without further notice as described in Section 3.585
.A.2.
2. If the client against whom
a collection action has been initiated is not participating in the program when
a collection action for a claim is initiated or if a collection action has been
initiated for repayment of a claim and no response is made to the public
assistance repayment agreement form within eleven (11) calendar days of the
date the notice is mailed, the county department shall pursue all legal
recovery methods as described in Section 3.585 in order to recover the
overpayment. Legal remedies include, but are not limited to, judgments,
garnishments, claims on estates and the State income tax refund intercept
process.
D. The amount
of the overpayments involving income shall be calculated to allow for income
disregards described in Sections 3.533, 3.544, and 3.549 based on the Adult
Financial program from which the client received grant payments.
E. Computation of the overpayment for Adult
Financial grant payments is based on the amount received that a client was
originally eligible to receive. All earned and unearned income received by the
client and any resources are taken into consideration in the computation.
In the instances where the overpayment is the direct result
of actions tied to the determination of IPV and/or fraud, which resulted in
receipt of grant payments in error, or grant payments received that the client
was not eligible to receive, the overpaid grant payments shall be recovered
from the client and/or a liable individual pursuant to the requirements of
3.583.
F. The calculation
of overpayment shall begin in the month that the overpayment occurred.
1. Start with the amount issued to the
client;
2. Determine the correct
payment according to program rules at Sections 3.520.78, 3.533, 3.544, 3.549,
and 3.581.D.
3. Compare the amount
issued to the client to the correct payment amount.
a. If the amount issued to the client is
greater than the correct payment amount, the difference is the overpayment
amount.
b. If the amount issued to
the client is less than the correct payment amount, the difference is the
underpayment amount, as addressed in Section 3.581.G.
4. If the client is over the resource limit
in any month, the client is totally ineligible for that month. Any payment
received in such month(s) is an overpayment.
5. If a client does not meet the
non-financial eligibility requirements in any month, the client is totally
ineligibile for the month. Any payment received in such month(s) is an
overpayment.
G. When the
county department has determined that a client has received an overpayment, the
department shall:
1. Take action to research
the overpayment and determine the amount of the overpayment.
2. Determine if the overpayment is to be
recovered as described in Section 3.585.
3. Document the facts and situation that
produced the overpayment. Document whether the overpayment is to be recovered.
Retain all associated documentation and notices until the overpayment is repaid
in full.
4. Determine whether there
was willful withholding of information, fraud, or IPV as described in Sections
3.583 and 3.584.
5. Provide the
client with timely or adequate notice as required by Section 3.554 of the
amount due and the reason for the recovery including:
a. The liable individual(s) responsible for
the repayment;
b. The amount of the
claim;
c. The period the claim is
for;
d. The reason for the
overpayment including whether the overpayment is a result of fraud/IPV, client
error, or administrative error;
e.
The client's rights and responsibilities;
f. The method of repayment;
g. How to obtain free legal assistance;
and
h. The applicable rules
concerning the overpayment.
6. Send quarterly statements with the balance
due.
Notes
9 CCR 2503-5-3.582
37
CR 13, July 10, 2014, effective 8/1/2014
37
CR 17, September 10, 2014, effective
10/1/2014
38
CR 04, February 25, 2015, effective
3/20/2015
38
CR 04, February 25, 2015, effective 4/1/2015
38
CR 09, May 10, 2015, effective 6/1/2015
38
CR 15, August 10, 2015, effective 9/1/2015
38
CR 23, December 10, 2015, effective 1/1/2016
39
CR 17, September 10, 2016, effective
10/1/2016
40
CR 03, February 10, 2017, effective
2/14/2017
41
CR 05, March 10, 2018, effective
4/1/2018
41
CR 15, August 10, 2018, effective
9/1/2018
41
CR 19, October 10, 2018, effective
11/1/2018
42
CR 01, January 10, 2019, effective
2/1/2019
43
CR 01, January 10, 2020, effective
1/1/2020
43
CR 03, February 10, 2020, effective
3/1/2020
43
CR 11, June 10, 2020, effective
7/1/2020
43
CR 23, December 10, 2020, effective
1/1/2021
44
CR 03, February 10, 2021, effective
3/2/2021
44
CR 13, July 10, 2021, effective
8/1/2021
45
CR 03, February 10, 2022, effective
3/2/2022
45
CR 05, March 10, 2022, effective
4/1/2022
45
CR 13, July 10, 2022, effective
7/1/2022
45
CR 15, August 10, 2022, effective
8/10/2022
45
CR 15, August 10, 2022, effective
8/30/2022
46
CR 01, January 10, 2023, effective
12/10/2022
46
CR 01, January 10, 2023, effective
1/1/2023
46
CR 03, February 10, 2022, effective
3/2/2023