To authorize the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to collect overpayments of specially adapted housing assistance.

I 116TH CONGRESS 2D SESSION H. R. 6018 To authorize the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to collect overpayments of specially adapted housing assistance. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES FEBRUARY 28, 2020 Mr. CORREA introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Veterans’ Affairs A BILL To authorize the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to collect overpayments of specially adapted housing assistance. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa- 1 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2 SECTION 1. COLLECTION OF OVERPAYMENTS OF SPE- 3 CIALLY ADAPTED HOUSING ASSISTANCE. 4 Section 2102 of title 38, United States Code, is 5 amended by adding at the end the following new sub- 6 section: 7 ‘‘(f)(1) Whenever the Secretary finds that an over- 8 payment has been made to, or on behalf of, a person de- 9 scribed in paragraph (2), the Secretary shall determine— 10 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:39 Mar 03, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H6018.IH H6018 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 6018 IH ‘‘(A) the amounts to recover, if any; and 1 ‘‘(B) who is liable to the United States for such 2 overpayment. 3 ‘‘(2) A person described in this paragraph is any of 4 the following: 5 ‘‘(A) An individual who— 6 ‘‘(i) applied for assistance under this chap- 7 ter; or 8 ‘‘(ii) under chapter 31 of this title who is 9 pursuing a rehabilitation program under such 10 chapter in acquiring adaptations to a residence. 11 ‘‘(B) An owner or seller of real estate related 12 to assistance under this chapter. 13 ‘‘(C) A builder, contractor, supplier, 14 tradesperson, corporation, trust, partnership, or 15 other person, related to assistance under this chap- 16 ter. 17 ‘‘(D) An attorney, escrow agent, or financial in- 18 stitution, that receives, or holds in escrow, funds re- 19 lating to assistance under this chapter. 20 ‘‘(E) A surviving spouse, heir, assignee, or suc- 21 cessor in interest of or to, any person described in 22 this paragraph. 23 ‘‘(3) Any overpayment referred to in this subsection 24 may be recovered in the same manner as any other debt 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:39 Mar 03, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H6018.IH H6018 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 6018 IH due the United States. In recovering the overpayment, the 1 Secretary may charge administrative costs, fees, and inter- 2 est, as appropriate, in a manner similar to the authority 3 under section 5315 of this title. 4 ‘‘(4) The recovery of any overpayment referred to in 5 this subsection may be waived by the Secretary. Waiver 6 of any such overpayment as to a person described in para- 7 graph (2) shall in no way release any other person de- 8 scribed in such paragraph from liability. 9 ‘‘(5) The Secretary shall waive recovery under this 10 subsection of any overpayment— 11 ‘‘(A) to a person described in paragraph (2)(A), 12 or a dependent or survivor of such person; and 13 ‘‘(B) that arises from administrative error de- 14 scribed in paragraph (7)(A). 15 ‘‘(6) Nothing in this section shall be construed as pre- 16 cluding the imposition of any civil or criminal liability 17 under this title or any other law. 18 ‘‘(7) The Secretary shall prescribe in regulations 19 what constitutes an overpayment for the purposes of this 20 subsection, which, at a minimum, shall include— 21 ‘‘(A) administrative error that results in an in- 22 dividual receiving assistance to which that individual 23 is not entitled; 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:39 Mar 03, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H6018.IH H6018 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 4 •HR 6018 IH ‘‘(B) the failure of any person described in 1 paragraph (2) to— 2 ‘‘(i) perform or allow to be performed any 3 act relating to assistance under this chapter; or 4 ‘‘(ii) compensate any party performing 5 services or supplying goods relating to assist- 6 ance under this chapter; and 7 ‘‘(C) any disbursement of funds relating to as- 8 sistance under this chapter, that, in the sole discre- 9 tion of the Secretary, constitutes a misuse of such 10 assistance. 11 ‘‘(8) Prior to collecting an overpayment under this 12 subsection, the Secretary shall provide to the person whom 13 the Secretary has determined liable for such overpay- 14 ment— 15 ‘‘(A) notice of the finding by the Secretary of 16 such overpayment; 17 ‘‘(B) a reasonable opportunity for such person 18 to remedy the circumstances that effectuated the 19 overpayment; and 20 ‘‘(C) a reasonable opportunity for such person 21 to present evidence to the Secretary that an overpay- 22 ment was not made. 23 ‘‘(9) For the purposes of section 511 of this title, a 24 decision to collect an overpayment from a person other 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:39 Mar 03, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H6018.IH H6018 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 5 •HR 6018 IH than a person described in paragraph (2)(A), or a depend- 1 ent or survivor of such person, may not be treated as a 2 decision that affects the provision of benefits.’’. 3 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:39 Mar 03, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H6018.IH H6018 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS