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503.8 TANF MANUAL 7/22 Page 4a

E. Prompt Correction of Overpayments - An overpayment must be recouped or recovered as soon as administratively feasible. One of the following actions must have occurred by the end of the calendar quarter following the quarter in which the overpayment was first identified.

1. Repayment must have already been accomplished.

2. Action to locate and/or recover from a former recipient must have been initiated.

3. Repayment from current recipient occurring either through recoupment or voluntary repayment.

If instances occur where none of the three actions have been taken by the time stated above, the overpayment must still be recouped or recovered.

If prosecution for an IPV occurs, then the amount of court ordered restitution will be the amount of the overpayment to be recovered from that case.

If the court charges interest fees on court-ordered restitution and includes the interest in payments made to the local agency, the agency must retain the funds.

F. Determining Intentional Program Violations (IPV) - A client error may or may not be an IPV, which exists when there is evidence clearly establishing that the recipient willfully withheld information or gave false information affecting his eligibility or the amount of assistance. (See Section 102 for further procedures.)

G. Reporting Overpayments - In instances where the assistance payment is reduced or suspended to recoup an overpayment previously repaid to the Department of Social Services, or cash amounts are received as recovery of money previously repaid to the Department of Social Services from local funds, an adjustment must be reported on LASER in order that the locality can recover local funds paid to the State. The amount of the deduction made from the current payment, the amount of the suspended payment, or the cash amount received as recovery should be shown as an addition to expenditures in LASER.

H. Retention of Overpayment Records - All overpayment records must be maintained for three years after the claim is paid, administratively closed, or written off. (See 100.4 for information about the Library of Virginia schedule for retention of specific types of information). All documentation pertinent to the overpayment should be attached to the screen print of the overpayment and maintained in the case file. The file should contain the following screen prints: the “Liable Person” screen, which will include the individuals liable for the claim and the “Benefits Adjustment” screen showing the calculation.

* 45 CFR 233.20(a)(13)(ii)

TANF Transmittal 74