DEBTS AVOIDING THE TREASURY OFFSET PROGRAM (TOP).

WARNING: THE GOVERNMENT WILL COLLECT UNRESOLVED SCHOOL DEBTS. YOUR SCHOOL DEBTS MAY CAUSE UNINTENDED CONSEQUENCES. FAILURE TO ACT IS NOT AN OPTION.

7 REASONS FOR A SCHOOL DEBT 1. STUDENT NEVER ATTENDED CLASSES. 2. STUDENT COMPLETELY WITHDRAWS ON OR BEFORE THE FIRST DAY OF TERM. COMPLETELY = “THE WHOLE ENCHILADA”, EVERY CREDIT GONE, A TERMINATED CERT, NOT-A-CREDIT REMAINING, NOTHING LEFT 3. SCHOOL RECEIVES PAYMENT FOR THE WRONG STUDENT. 4. SCHOOL RECEIVES DUPLICATE PAYMENT.

7 REASONS FOR A SCHOOL DEBT 5.SCHOOL SUBMITS AN AMENDED CERTIFICATION THAT REDUCES TUITON AND FEES AND OR YELLOW RIBBON AMOUNTS. 6.STUDENT PASSED AWAY BEFORE OR DURING THE TERM. 7.VA INCORRECTLY PROCESSED THE CLAIM AND PAID TOO MUCH TO THE SCHOOL

THE 8 TH AND 9 TH AND 10 TH DEBT REASON 8.WE TOLD YOU TO SEND THE OVERPAYMENT TO THE ST LOUIS OFFICE IN 2009 AND 2010 AND MAYBE NOW YOU HAVE A DELAYED DEBT. 9.WE TOLD YOU TO SEND THE OVERPAYMENT TO THE STUDENT. WE WOULD COLLECT FROM THE STUDENT. 10.WE MISTAKENLY PROCESSED A STUDENT DEBT AND TURNED IT INTO A SCHOOL DEBT

WHAT TO DO…. ALWAYS KEEP DOCUMENTATION FOR ALL DEBTS. (LETTERS, CERTS, COPIES OF CASHED CHECKS, ETC) READ THE INFORMATION FROM ST LOUIS OR DMC AND DETERMINE THE ACCURACY OF THE DEBT. WHEN IN DOUBT OF THE ACCURACY, TIME IS MONEY…MONEY IS TIME. ACTION IS NECESSARY AS SOON AS POSSIBLE. CONTACT ST LOUIS PROCESSING IF YOU RECEIVE A SCHOOL DEBT LETTER AND YOU DO NOT AGREE. (SUBMIT A QUESTION, SCHOOLS ONLY CALL CENTER)

WHAT TO DO….(CONTINUED) IF YOU RECEIVE A DMC LETTER AND DON’T AGREE, CONTACT DMC THROUGH THEIR SCHOOLS ONLY ADDRESS. IF YOU HAVE CONTACTED - (1) THE SCHOOLS ONLY CALL CENTER, (2) SUBMIT A QUESTION AND (3) DMC, AND STILL ARE NOT SATISFIED, THEN CALL YOUR ELR. NOTE: IF YOU HAVE NOT RESOLVED THE ISSUE BY THE TIME THE SECOND DMC LETTER ARRIVES, YOU NEED TO CALL ELR AS SOON AS POSSIBLE.

IMPORTANT DMC STUFF SENDING CHECKS TO DMC SHOULD ALWAYS INCLUDE THE ORIGINAL TEAR OFF STUB (NOT A COPY OF THE STUB) DMC DOESN’T KNOW WHY YOU HAVE A DEBT. THEY ONLY KNOW THE AMOUNT. YOU CAN ASK THEM TO REFER YOUR CASE FOR AN AUDIT. DMC CAN GIVE YOU THE AMOUNT OF DEBT YOUR SCHOOL CURRENTLY HAS PENDING. YOU CAN UPLOAD DOCUMENTS TO DMC AS PROOF OF PAYMENT

IMPORTANT TREASURY OFFSET PROGRAM (TOP) STUFF ONCE TREASURY RECEIVES THE TRANSFERRED DEBT FROM DMC, THERE MAY NOT BE ANY WARNING LETTERS FROM TREASURY. THERE MAY BE AN ADMINSTRATIVE CHARGE THAT IS ALSO COLLECTED AS PART OF CLEARING THE DEBT. ($17) IF YOUR SCHOOL HAS THE SAME TAX ID NUMBER AS ANOTHER SCHOOL, TOP MAY GRAB THE MONEY FROM ANOTHER SCHOOL TO ELIMINATE YOUR DEBT.

SCHOOL DEBT IMPORTANT CONTACT INFORMATION Submit a Question (commonly referred to as Right Now Web) Make sure you are in the school queue !! Contact ELR if your answers take more the 3 days. Schools only Call Center Debt Management Center (schools only) Treasury Offset Program Chris Sutherland, ELR