§ 31.10 Request for repayment agreement.

(a) The Secretary does not initiate an offset under this part if the employee agrees in writing to repay the debt under terms acceptable to the Secretary and makes the first payment due under the agreement on or before the latest of—

(1) The seventh day after the date of the decision of the hearing official, if the employee timely requested a hearing under § 31.5 (a) and (d);

(2) The sixty-fifth day after the date of the pre-offset notice under § 31.3 if the employee did not timely request either a hearing in accordance with § 31.5 (a) and (d) or an opportunity to inspect and copy documents related to the debt under § 31.4; or

(3) The fifteenth day after the date on which the Secretary made available documents related to the debt, if the employee filed a timely request for documents under § 31.4.

(b) In the agreement, the Secretary and the employee may agree to satisfaction of the debt from sources other than an offset under this part, or may modify the amount proposed to be offset in the pre-offset notice or estimated in the decision of the hearing official.

(c) If the employee does not enter into a repayment agreement acceptable to the Secretary within the deadlines in this section, the Secretary may initiate an offset under this part. The Secretary continues to collect by offset until an employee enters in a satisfactory repayment agreement for the debt. The Secretary suspends an offset already commenced under circumstances described in § 31.5(a)(2).