by Benjamin Stolz, Esq. | Nov 5, 2017 | SBA, SBA Loan Default, Treasury Debt Defense
Owing the federal government a debt can be a frightening experience. Once your defaulted SBA loan makes it was to the Treasury, it is likely that you will soon be contacted by one of the collection agencies that handles the collection of government debts. The calls and the letters can be intimidating, but more dangerous can be the entreaty to simply setup a payment plan to pay an amount you can afford. While this is not always a bad idea, it is important to understand the risks. A collection agency may threaten wage garnishment, a remedy that is allowed under federal law, even if your state’s law would ordinarily bar it. However, if you simply make voluntary payments you need not worry about the trauma and embarrassment of administrative wage garnishment. This sounds appealing and perhaps even a reasonable bargain, but is it?
If your SBA debt is very old, it may be that the SBA and Treasury no longer have the right to file a lawsuit against you. This concept is called a limitations period or statute of limitations and this limits the time a creditor has to file a lawsuit against you. However, if you are in a state where your homestead equity is not completely protected, a lawsuit might result in a judgment against you. With a judgment in hand, the government could, in fact, quite possibly force the liquidation your home. Even though you did not pledge your home as collateral for the SBA loan, the judgment may give them the power to take what they otherwise could not reach. Fortunately, the SBA has only 6 years to file suit (how to measure this is something to discuss with your attorney). But, if you make a voluntary payment to the government, even if this period has expired, it is possible that you will revive the statute of limitations. If you do so, you may open yourself up to a lawsuit where previously none was possible.
When the government’s collection agency says only pay what you can afford, the price for peace of mind may end up costing you far more than you can afford. If you receive a notice or collection letter purporting to be collecting on a defaulted SBA loan, contact your attorney before making any admissions or payments to the collection agency. Have your attorney explain the ramifications of entering into the payment plan and be sure it is in your best interests to do so. Payment plans are not always a bad idea, but forewarned is forearmed.
by Benjamin Stolz, Esq. | Sep 18, 2016 | SBA, SBA Loan Default, Treasury Debt Defense, Treasury Offset Program
General notification
Before referring a debt for collection by administrative offset, a creditor agency must provide each debtor with:
(a) a written notification of the nature and the amount of the debt, the intention of the agency to collect the debt through administrative offset, and an explanation of the debtor’s rights;
(b) an opportunity to inspect and copy the records of the agency;
(c) an opportunity for review within the agency; and
(d) an opportunity to enter into a written repayment agreement.
Can they offset my tax refund and then tell me after the fact?
Yes, after the debt has been referred for administrative offset and an offset is taken, the disbursing official conducting the offset must notify the debtor/payee that the offset has occurred (including the amount and type of payment that was used to pay the debt) and the identity of the creditor agency requesting the offset, including a contact name. The specific timing of the notice is not mandated for tax refund offsets.
What if I did not receive a notice at all?
Regardless of the type of payment, failure of the debtor to receive notice will not affect the legality of the offset (withholding).
by Benjamin Stolz, Esq. | Jul 28, 2016 | Administrative Wage Garnishment, SBA
If you received a Notice of Intent to Initiate Administrative Wage Garnishment (AWG), you must act quickly. You have a right to contest the garnishment action, but if you wish to have the garnishment action suspended pending a hearing on the matter, you must file a timely request for hearing. The key word here is “timely”, so its very important to understand the definition and to understand that it will depend on how you transmit that request. It works as follows:
Timely. A hearing request is timely if the request for hearing is postmarked (if mailed) or received (if not mailed – e.g., fax, commercial delivery service [FedEx] or in person delivery) within 15 days of date of the AWG notice. If the hearing request is timely, AWG cannot proceed until the hearing is completed and the decision is communicated to the debtor
Untimely. A hearing request is untimely if the request for hearing is postmarked (if mailed) or received (if sent any other way) more than 15 days after the date of the AWG. If the request is untimely, garnishment will not be stopped, unless the hearing decision is not issued within 60 days.
As you can see, filing your hearing request quickly is essential, but if you still missed the boat, don’t despair – Treasury rarely gets to the hearings in 60 days and so while it is not guaranteed that the garnishment will be stopped in the interim, it frequently still does get put on hold. Therefore, even if you failed to act within the 15 days, you may still have a shot and putting the garnishment on hold. Avoiding garnishment is well worth the effort because one you are being garnished ofttimes Treasury will not bother discussing voluntary payment options that might avoid the distress of a enforced collections.
by Benjamin Stolz, Esq. | Sep 20, 2015 | SBA, Treasury Offset Program
We have had quite a few clients ask us how a defaulted SBA loan might affect their business dealings with the government. In this post we are going to look at this question from the perspective of a client who has one or more contracts with the federal government under which they receive payments for services rendered.
For example, a medical practice or surgical center might receive Medicare payments or a janitorial service might have a contract to clean the offices of certain federal buildings. Will defaulting on an SBA loan really affect any of those agreements? Yes.
Will I be barred from receiving government contracts?
Surprisingly, no, unless otherwise provided by law. Contracting officers shall not use the presence of the CCR debt flag indicator (see below) to exclude a contractor from receipt of the contract award or issuance or placement of an order. However, the government will take steps to ensure that delinquent funds are collected. And, they will be aggressive once they become aware of the delinquency.
Centralized Offset of Federal Payments
As we have just learned, you probably won’t lose your contract award because of defaulted SBA debt, but federal payments made to you are all but certain to be offset. When it is contemplated that the Government-wide commercial purchase card will be used as the method of payment, and the contract or order is above the micro-purchase threshold, contracting officers are required to verify whether the contractor has any delinquent debt subject to collection under the Treasury Offset Program (TOP). This check must be performed at the time of contract award or order placement.
Federal contracting officers are required to check the General Services Administration Central Contractor Registry (CCR) to determine whether a contractor owes a delinquent debt. When the Government contracts for goods or services and pays with a credit card, those payments are made to the card-issuing bank and cannot legally be intercepted for delinquent debts owed by the contractor.
The contracting officer, by law, may not authorize the Government-wide commercial purchase card as a method of payment during any period the CCR indicates that the contractor has delinquent debt subject to collection under the TOP. In such cases, payments under the contract shall be made in accordance with the clause at 52.232-33, Payment by Electronic Funds Transfer—Central Contractor Registration, or 52.232-34, Payment by Electronic Funds Transfer—Other Than Central Contractor Registration, as appropriate in order to assure that delinquent contractors are paid through a mechanism that can be offset or levied to collect the contractor’s debts.
The original law references CCR. What is SAM?
The CCR was the primary supplier database for the U.S. Federal government until July 30, 2012. On July 30, 2012, the CCR transitioned to the System for Award Management (SAM). SAM is now the Official U.S. Government system that consolidated the capabilities of CCR/FedReg, ORCA, and EPLS. For purposes of this post, all references to the original CCR process should now reflect SAM. If you had an entry in the CCR database, you now have an entry in SAM.
Owing unpaid federal debts can cause serious problems. If you would like more information on how the Treasury Offset Program (TOP) works, please contact the Perliski Law Group for a free initial consultation at (214) 446-3934 or use the Contact Us link at the top right of this page.
by Benjamin Stolz, Esq. | May 26, 2015 | SBA, Treasury Debt Defense
Depending on whether you are in a community property state or not, all or part of your income may be liable for the debts of your spouse, even those incurred prior to marriage. However, you personally are not liable for his/her debts. Sometimes that is of small consolation. In the case of tax refunds, you may or may not be entitled to the return of that portion of the refund associated with your income or at least some part of it. In order to determine whether you might have rights, it is important to understand a few things:
Who is taking my refund and why?
The Treasury Offset Program (“TOP”) is a centralized offset program, administered by the Bureau of the Fiscal Service’s (“BFS”) Debt Management Services (“DMS”), to collect delinquent debts owed to federal agencies. Fiscal Service is a bureau of the United States Department of the Treasury. Under TOP, the names and taxpayer identifying numbers of debtors included in a federal database are matched against the names and taxpayer identifying numbers of recipients of federal payments, including, in this example, a tax refund. If there are matches, the tax refund is reduced (known as an “offset”) to satisfy the delinquent debt.
What is an Injured Spouse?
An injured spouse is an individual:
1. Who filed a joint tax return (Form 1040) and
2. All or part of the refund overpayment was, or is, expected to be applied to a past-due obligation of the other spouse and
3. The non-obligated spouse wants his/her share of the joint refund
Injured Spouse Eligibility Requirements
The injured spouse:
1. Is not required to pay the past-due amount, and
2. Will report the income, and/or
3. Will report payments
Form 8379 Injured Spouse Allocation
1. IRS Form 8329 is filed by the non-obligated spouse on a joint tax return
2. Filed only if the taxpayer owes a past due, legally enforceable debt owed to IRS or a debt administered by BFS
How to File Form 8379
1. Submit with jointly filed Form 1040
2. Filed by itself after offset
3. Filed with Form 1040X only if original return (Form 1040) is to be amended/changed to request additional injured spouse refund.
What should happen next?
With Non-Tax Debts such as defaulted SBA loans:
BFS will:
1. Confirm and verify Federal non-tax debt offset
2. Furnish creditor agency information
Creditor Agency will:
1. Provide debt balance and establish payment agreements
2. Refund any money taken in error
3. Remove a debtor or change status of debt from the FMS debtor database
This can be a very complicated area. If you have additional questions about a defaulted SBA loan owed by your former spouse and ongoing tax refund offsets, contact our SBA loan default attorneys at the Perliski Law Group at (214) 446-3934.
