WAC 388-410-0033   How and when does the department collect a Basic Food or WASHCAP overpayment?  (1) When we set up an overpayment because you received more Basic Food or WASHCAP benefits than you were supposed to receive, we start to collect the benefits you were overpaid. This includes when we:

     (a) Modify an established overpayment to an amount we would not have to set up under WAC 388-410-0030(5); or

     (b) Set up an overpayment that we do not have to set up under WAC 388-410-0030(5).

     (2) You can repay your overpayment by:

     (a) Paying the entire amount at once;

     (b) Having us take the amount of your overpayment out of your EBT account;

     (c) Making regular payments under a scheduled repayment agreement as described in subsection (4) of this section; or

     (d) Having your current Basic Food or WASHCAP benefits reduced.

     (3) If you have an inactive EBT account and we cancelled Basic Food or WASHCAP benefits in the account under WAC 388-412-0025, we use the cancelled benefits to reduce the amount of your overpayment.

     (4) If your AU currently receives Basic Food or WASHCAP benefits, you can repay your overpayment by making monthly payments. The payments must be more than we would recover through us reducing your benefits. Your AU or the department can request a change to the agreement if necessary.

     (5) If you are responsible for repaying an administrative or inadvertent household error overpayment, we automatically reduce your monthly benefits unless you:

     (a) Pay the overpayment all at once;

     (b) Set up a repayment agreement with us; or

     (c) Request a hearing and continued benefits within ninety days of the date you received your collection action notice.

     (6) If you are responsible for an intentional program violation (IPV) overpayment, you must tell us how you want to repay this overpayment within ten days of the date you receive your collection action notice. If you do not do this, we will reduce your current monthly benefits.

     (7) If you receive ongoing Basic Food or WASHCAP benefits, we can reduce your monthly benefits to repay the overpayment. We do not reduce your first Basic Food or WASHCAP allotment when we first approve your application for benefits.

     (a) If you have an administrative or inadvertent household error overpayment, we reduce your benefits by the greater of:

     (i) Ten percent of your monthly benefits; or

     (ii) Ten dollars per month.

     (b) If you have an IPV overpayment, we reduce your benefits by the greater of:

     (i) Twenty percent of your monthly benefits; or

     (ii) Twenty dollars per month.

     (8) If you do not meet the terms of a repayment agreement with the department, we automatically reduce your current benefits unless you:

     (a) Pay all overdue payments to bring your repayment agreement current; or

     (b) Ask us to consider a change to the repayment schedule.

     (9) If your overpayment claim is past due for one hundred eighty or more days, we refer your overpayment for federal collection. A federal collection includes reducing your income tax refund, social security benefits, or federal wages. We do not count your overpayment as past due if you:

     (a) Repay the entire overpayment by the due date;

     (b) Have your monthly benefits reduced to repay the overpayment; or

     (c) Meet the requirements of your scheduled repayment agreement.

     (10) If you no longer receive Basic Food or WASHCAP benefits, we can garnish your wages, file a lien against your personal or real property, attach other benefits, or otherwise access your property to collect the overpayment amount.

     (11) We suspend collection on an overpayment if:

     (a) We cannot find the responsible AU members; or

     (b) The cost of collecting the overpayment would likely be more than the amount we would recover.

     (12) We can negotiate the amount of an overpayment if the amount you offer is close to what we could expect to receive from you before we can no longer legally collect the overpayment from you.

     (13) We write off unpaid overpayments and release any related liens when:

     (a) We can not possibly collect any more funds;

     (b) We agreed to accept a partial payment that left an unpaid balance after this payment; or

     (c) There is an unpaid balance left after an overpayment case has been suspended for three consecutive years unless a collection may be possible through the Treasury Offset Program.

     (14) If your AU has an overpayment from another state, we can collect this overpayment if the state where you were overpaid does not plan to collect it and they give us the following:

     (a) A copy of the overpayment calculation and overpayment notice made for the client; and

     (b) Proof that you received the overpayment notice.



[Statutory Authority: RCW 74.04.050, 74.04.055, 74.04.057, 74.04.510, 74.08.090. 06-20-062, § 388-410-0033, filed 9/29/06, effective 11/1/06. Statutory Authority: RCW 74.04.057, 74.04.500, 74.04.510, 7 C.F.R. 273.18. 02-06-090, § 388-410-0033, filed 3/1/02, effective 4/1/02.]