(a) Responsibility of the Commission as the Creditor Agency. When possible, salary offset through the centralized administrative offset procedures in 5 CFR 550.1108 shall be attempted before applying the procedures in this section. If centralized administrative offset is not possible, the Commission shall request recovery from the current paying agency. Upon completion of the procedures established in these regulations and pursuant to 5 U.S.C. 5514, 5 CFR 550.1109 the Commission must:

(1) Certify, in writing, that the employee owes the debt, the amount and basis of the debt, the date on which payment(s) is due, the date the Government's right to collect the debt first accrued and that the Commission's regulations implementing 5 U.S.C. 5514 have been approved by OPM.

(2) If the collection must be made in installments, the Commission also must advise the paying agency of the amount or percentage of disposable pay to be collected in each installment, and if the Commission wishes, the number and the commencing date of the installments (if a date other than the next officially established pay period is required).

(3) Advise the paying agency of the actions taken pursuant to 5 U.S.C. 5514(b) and give the date(s) the action(s) was taken (unless the employee has consented to the salary offset in writing or signed a statement acknowledging receipt of the required procedures and the written consent or statement is forwarded to the paying agency).

(4) Except as otherwise provided in this paragraph (a)(4), the Commission must submit a debt claim containing the information specified in paragraphs (a)(1) through (3) of this section and an installment agreement (or other instruction on the payment schedule), if applicable, to the employee's paying agency.

(5) If the employee is in the process of separating, the Commission must submit its debt claim to the employee's paying agency for collection as provided in 5 CFR 550.1104(l). Pursuant to 5 CFR 1101, the paying agency must certify the total amount of its collection and notify the creditor agency and employee. If the paying agency is aware that the employee is entitled to payments from the Civil Service Retirement and Disability Fund, or other similar payments, it must provide written notification to the agency responsible for making such payments that the debtor owes a debt (including the amount) and that the paying agency has fully complied with the provisions of this section. The Commission must submit a properly certified claim to the agency responsible for making such payments before the collection can be made.

(6) If the employee is already separated and all payments due from his or her former paying agency have been paid, the Commission may request, unless otherwise prohibited, that money due and payable to the employee from the Civil Service Retirement and Disability Fund (5 CFR 831.1801) or other similar funds, be administratively offset to collect the debt (See 31 U.S.C. 3716 and the FCCS).

(7) When an employee transfers to another paying agency, the Commission shall not repeat the due process procedures described in 5 U.S.C. 5514 and subpart B of this part to resume the collection. The Commission must review the debt upon receiving the former paying agency's notice of the employee's transfer to make sure the collection is resumed by the new paying agency. The Commission must submit a properly certified claim to the new paying agency before collection can be resumed.

(b) Responsibility of the Commission as the paying agency—

(1) Complete claim. When the Commission receives a properly certified claim from a creditor agency, deductions should be scheduled to begin at the next officially established pay interval. The Commission must notify the employee in writing that the Commission has received a certified debt claim from the creditor agency (including the amount) and the date salary offset will begin and the amount of such deductions.

(2) Incomplete claim. When the Commission receives an incomplete certification of debt from a creditor agency, the Commission must return the debt claim with notice that procedures under 5 U.S.C. 5514 and subpart B of this part must be provided and a properly certified debt claim received before action will be taken to collect from the employee's current pay account.

(3) Review. The Commission is not authorized to review the merits of the creditor agency's determination with respect to the amount or validity of the debt certified by the creditor agency.

(4) Employees who transfer from one paying agency to another. If, after the creditor agency has submitted the debt claim to the Commission and before the Commission collects the debt in full, the employee transfers to another agency, the Commission must certify the total amount collected on the debt. One copy of the certification must be furnished to the employee and one copy to the creditor agency along with notice of the employee's transfer.

(c) Responsibility of the Program Official.

(1) The Program Official shall coordinate debt collections and shall, as appropriate:

(i) Arrange for a hearing upon proper petition by a federal employee; and

(ii) Prescribe, upon consultation with the General Counsel, such practices and procedures as may be necessary to carry out the intent of this regulation.

(2) The Program Official shall be responsible for:

(i) Ensuring that each certification of debt sent to a paying agency is consistent with the pre-offset notice (§204.33, Pre-offset notice).

(ii) Obtaining hearing officials from other agencies pursuant to §204.36, Granting of a pre-offset hearing.

(iii) Ensuring that hearings are properly scheduled.

[58 FR 38520, July 19, 1993, as amended at 66 FR 54132, Oct. 26, 2001]