California Department of Social Services - State Hearings Division
Notes from the Training Bureau - October 9, 2001

Reference: Public Law 104-193; ACL 00-59; Lomeli v. Saenz

This ACL provides instructions for changes to food stamps regulations resulting from final federal rules on claims establishment, claims collection and other provisions. When counties have not issued a demand for repayment on an overissuance claim by August 1, 2001, they must apply these new regulations to establish and calculate the amount of overissuance

Overissuance claims calculation may include amounts up to six years before the date of discovery of the overissuance. The earned income deduction will not apply to inadvertent household error claims calculations. [No amendment was made to §63-801.111 which limits actions of non-IPV overissuances to three years from the date of discovery by computation, of the overissuance.]

A new regulation has been added to define a "delinquent claim" at MPP §63-102(d)(3) and a new section 63-801.45 has been added to determine when a claim is delinquent. Section 63-801.431 adds several items to the initial notice of action requesting repayment. Among the items added to the notice of action are the following: if the claim is not paid it may be sent to other collection agencies that may use various methods to collect the claim; if the claim is not paid it may be sent to the federal government for collection; and if the claim becomes delinquent, the household may be subject to additional processing charges and subject to involuntary collection.

MPP §63-801.7 adds the following as methods to recoup overissuances: joint collections, interception of unemployment compensation benefits and repayment by public service if authorized by a court. Section 63-801.222 addresses compromise of overissuance claims pursuant to Lomeli v. Saenz.

These regulations are effective August 10, 2001. They were distributed as Manual Letter FS 01-03.