Iowa Admin. Code r. 871-25.8

Current through Register Vol. 47, No. 11, December 11, 2024
Rule 871-25.8 - [Effective 12/18/2024] Recovery of benefit overpayments when benefits are erroneously received
(1)Good faith overpayment. The department shall recover good faith overpayments. The department shall issue the overpayment decision to the claimant's last-known address or through the claimant's preferred contact method. Once the overpayment amount has been established, an overpayment schedule will be established to leave an audit trail even if the claimant fully repays the overpayment in one payment.
a. The department shall mail a first statement of overpayment to the claimant's last-known address. This statement will request full repayment.
b. If a claimant fails to respond to the first statement of overpayment, a demand letter shall be sent 30 days later notifying the claimant that full repayment must be made. If the claimant cannot make full repayment, the department will consider a monthly repayment agreement.
c. If an individual has acted in good faith and is without fault in claiming federal unemployment compensation under Unemployment Compensation Federal Employees (UCFE), Unemployment Compensation Ex-servicemembers (UCX), Trade Readjustment Allowances (TRA), or Disaster Unemployment Assistance (DUA), and it is subsequently determined that the individual is not entitled to the benefits, the department has the right to recover the benefits in accordance with the procedure outlined in subrule 25.8(1). Any federal unemployment compensation overpayments recovered will be credited to the appropriate account of the United States. Three years after the federal unemployment compensation overpayment, if the department concludes that continued collection efforts would result in diminishing returns, then the unrecovered amount will be removed from the department accounting records. An administrative record will be maintained for possible collection through offset or other appropriate method. If no collection action has taken place during the three years after the department has removed the overpayment from its accounting records, then the overpayment will be disposed of.

Any overpayment of TRA, Trade Adjustment Assistance, or DUA will be offset at the rate of 50 percent of the benefit amount otherwise payable to the individual for unemployment insurance, extended benefits, or any other federal unemployment compensation program.

(2)Misrepresentation.
a. The department may attempt to collect the overpayment by filing a lien on the claimant in the manner provided in Iowa Code section 96.14(3).
b. The employer's account may be relieved of overpayments caused by fraud or misrepresentation.
c. If it is found that an individual has received benefits through misrepresentation and has been assessed with an overpayment under UCFE or UCX, and criminal charges are not involved, the department will limit deduction from future benefits to a two-year period following the original determination of overpayment. If an individual is convicted for fraud, the department shall have the right to recover any resulting overpayment in accordance with the procedure outlined in subrule 25.8(2).

This rule is intended to implement Iowa Code sections 96.7(2), 96.11(1), 96.11(11), 96.11(13), 96.14(3), 96.16, 96.20, and 96.29.

Iowa Admin. Code r. 871-25.8

Amended by IAB August 2, 2017/Volume XL, Number 3, effective 9/6/2017
Amended by IAB August 30, 2017/Volume XL, Number 5, effective 10/4/2017
Amended by IAB December 18, 2019/Volume XLII, Number 13, effective 1/22/2020
Amended by IAB May 6, 2020/Volume XLII, Number 23, effective 6/10/2020
Adopted by IAB November 13, 2024/Volume XLVII, Number 10, effective 12/18/2024