Administrative offset means withholding funds payable by the United States to, or held by the United States for, a person to satisfy a debt owed by the payee.

Terms Used In 28 CFR 814.2

  • Corporation: A legal entity owned by the holders of shares of stock that have been issued, and that can own, receive, and transfer property, and carry on business in its own name.
  • Damages: Money paid by defendants to successful plaintiffs in civil cases to compensate the plaintiffs for their injuries.
  • Evidence: Information presented in testimony or in documents that is used to persuade the fact finder (judge or jury) to decide the case for one side or the other.
  • Garnishment: Generally, garnishment is a court proceeding in which a creditor asks a court to order a third party who owes money to the debtor or otherwise holds assets belonging to the debtor to turn over to the creditor any of the debtor
  • Personal property: All property that is not real property.

Agency means an executive department or agency; a military department; the United States Postal Service; the Postal Rate Commission; the United States Senate; the United States House of Representatives; any court, court administrative office, or instrumentality in the judicial or legislative branches of the Government; or a Government Corporation.

Creditor agency means the agency to which the debt is owed, including a debt collection center when acting on behalf of a creditor agency in matters pertaining to the collection of a debt (as provided in 5 CFR 550.1110).

Day means calendar day. For purposes of computation, the last day of the period will be included unless it is a Saturday, Sunday, or a Federal holiday, in which case the next business day will be considered the last day of the period.

Debt means an amount determined by an appropriate official to be owed to the United States from sources which include loans insured or guaranteed by the United States and all other amounts due the United States from fees, leases, rents, royalties, services, sales of real or personal property, overpayments, penalties, damages, interest, fines and forfeitures (except those arising under the Uniform Code of Military Justice), and all other similar sources.

Debt collection Center means the Department of the Treasury, Department of Agriculture’s National Finance Center or other Government agency or division designated by the Secretary of the Treasury with authority to collect debts on behalf of creditor agencies in accordance with 31 U.S.C. § 3711(g).

Debtor means a Federal employee who owes a debt to the United States.

Delinquent debt means a debt which the debtor does not pay or otherwise resolve by the date specified in the initial demand for payment, or in an applicable written repayment agreement or other instrument, including a post delinquency repayment agreement.

Director means the CSOSA Director who is responsible for overall Agency (CSOSA/Pretrial Services Agency for the District of Columbia (PSA)) compliance with employee salary offset regulations. The CSOSA Director delegates the processing and administration of employee salary offset procedures for PSA employees to the PSA Director.

Disposable Pay means that part of the debtor’s current basic, special, incentive, retired, and retainer pay, or other authorized pay, remaining after deduction of amounts required by law to be withheld (other than deductions to execute garnishment orders in accordance with 5 CFR parts 581 and 582). For purposes of calculating disposable pay, legally required deductions that must be applied first include: tax levies pursuant to the Internal Revenue Code (title 26, United States Code); properly withheld taxes, Federal Insurance Contributions Act (FICA), Medicare; health and life insurance premiums; and retirement contributions. Amounts deducted under garnishment orders, including child support garnishment orders, are not legally required deductions for calculating disposable pay.

Employee means any individual currently employed by CSOSA or PSA, as defined in this section, including seasonal and temporary employees and current members of the Armed Forces or a Reserve of the Armed Forces (Reserves).

Evidence of Service means information retained by the Agency indicating the nature of the document to which it pertains, the date of mailing the document, and the address and name of the debtor to whom it is being sent. A copy of the dated and signed written notice of intent to offset provided to the debtor pursuant to this part may be considered evidence of service for purposes of this part. Evidence of service may be retained electronically so long as the manner of retention is sufficient for evidentiary purposes.

FCCS means Federal Claims Collection Standards (FCCS), published in 31 CFR parts 900 through 904.

Hearing means a review of the documentary evidence to confirm the existence or amount of a debt or the terms of a repayment schedule. If the Director determines that the issues in dispute cannot be resolved by such a review, such as when the validity of the claim turns on the issue of credibility or veracity, the Director may provide an oral hearing.

Hearing official is an administrative law judge or a hearing officer not under the control of the Director of CSOSA (per 5 CFR 550.1104(d)(7)). A hearing official oversees paper (documentary) and oral hearings and provides a written decision on salary offset issues.

Paying agency means the agency employing the individual and authorizing the payment of his or her current pay.

Salary Offset means an administrative offset to collect a debt under 5 U.S.C. § 5514 owed by a Federal employee through deductions at one or more officially established pay intervals from the current pay account of the employee without consent.

Waiver means the cancellation, remission, forgiveness, or non-recovery of a debt owed by an employee to CSOSA or PSA or another agency as required or permitted by 5 U.S.C. § 5584, 8346(b), 10 U.S.C. § 2774, 32 U.S.C. § 716, or any other law.