Question about VA Bennies and collections

[chknltl]

I am a 60 year old Viet Nam Era vet with a recently granted 70% disability pension. After 6 months of use I get a letter from the VA saying that they were docking me near $2000 because they overpaid me for schooling back in the early 1980s. There was a number to call so I called it. The agent who answered after a mere hour's wait informed me that I did indeed owe that money and could adjust payment so that only $180 a month would be removed from my pension of $1300. He gave me the number for the VA education benefits department so I could get the facts and figures for why I owed this debt.

I tried hard to recall how I could have earned such a debt back then. I went to school full time on the GI Bill plus I took up a bunch of odd jobs because the GI bill didn't pay out much monthly. Although my grades were high I did stumble and get a D in a statistics class which I ended up repeating twice more before getting a B.

So I called the number to the VA education benefits department and they looked me up on their records. Nope, they could find utterly no reason on their end, must be some sort of mistake they told me. The next day I re-called the number to the VA department that had sent me the letter saying they were docking my pension. Another hours wait got me a different agent. I informed her that the very education benefits department I had been sent to knew utterly nothing about this and according to their records I owed them nothing....and if she would be so kind could fix the problem for me.

Much to my surprise she said NO!!! and went on to inform me that the very department that I supposedly owed this money to was in error. The fact that they had no records proving I owed anything did not matter and they were docking my pension $180 a month (it started happening June) and that I have NO ability to contest this. When I asked how she knew I owed this money she could not tell me but she was certain I owed it and equally certain it would be collected!

So here are my two questions:
Assuming I actually owe that money, (and I truly don't think this is the case), isn't there some sort of statute of limitations on such a debt? She claimed that there WAS a statute of limitations on my contesting the debt btw. (Honestly, the first I even heard of this debt was that damned letter I just got from them last May!)

What recourse do I really have? IMO the collection agency for the VA sounded like a private agency who were unwilling to help me in any way shape or fashion and could care less if the debt were legitimate, they wanted that money PERIOD and were gonna take it.


Thanks ahead of time for any who read this.

[donco]

1. Sorry but you're

going to have to call back the "VA education benefits department "and have them send you written proof that you owed them nothing.When dealing with the VA always get it in writing.

[chknltl]

3. regarding that

My OP was getting lengthy so I cut out a bit where when discussing it with the collection agency lady she did offer to send me an audit of the debt, (I accepted), and that it would be here in a mere six weeks. I am just passing six weeks since I spoke to her but so far nothing yet. If I see nothing in another week I will do as you suggest.

[donco]

7. While you're

waiting, if there is VFW or American legion post near you, it would probably be a good idea for you to contact them and explain your situation. Lotsa luck.

[pinboy3niner]

2. Contact your Senator or Rep to have them initiate a congressional inquiry

Where you can't get a straight answer, federal agencies and departments are very responsive to members of Congress. You want them to verify the alleged debt and give a full accounting of the overpayments and the reasons for them.

Good luck!

[chknltl]

4. Thanks pinboy3niner

I'll wait another week to see if a requested audit of the debt actually arrives. If it doesn't I may need to do something as drastic as you suggest. I've requested aid from my Congressman for far less than this and Congressman Norm Dicks (now retired) got quick n happy results for me too!

[MADem]

5. I'll tell you a little secret....

The best way to deal with this is to go over ALL their heads.

Write a very polite letter to your senior senator, and make the subject of the letter something like REQUEST FOR ASSISTANCE WITH A VETERAN'S ADMINISTRATION ISSUE--as the VA has been in the news, your business will go to the top of the pile.

Explain everything you've explained here, make it as clear and as brief as possible, and provide, in addition to your address, your phone number(s) where you can be reached. Then provide, as enclosures, copies of all the documentation you can get your hands on. If you have the names of the people you spoke with on the phone, be sure to NAME NAMES. If it's too difficult to put all that in the letter, try writing out your recollections of the conversation(s) and make that an enclosure to your letter. Make sure your letter is typed, try to keep the main points on one page, if possible, and fill in the details with the enclosures. Sign it Very Respectfully -- they always love that military bearing.


Here is what will happen to your letter--it will be SHOT over to the OLA (Office of Legislative Affairs), put on a tickler, and someone from OLA will RIDE the VA until they resolve these issues. Then, your senior senator will write you a letter back when it's all settled.

Understand that everything you write will be xeroxed by your Senator's office and sent to OLA, and xeroxed by OLA and sent over to the VA. Someone at VA HQ will be calling the people with whom you spoke and they'll be riding them like a tired hoss.

Now, will you win? Not sure--I seem to remember getting a D kind of knocked you off the rails--if you got more than one D, that could have impacted an entire semester or more, but I just don't remember so I can't really tell you. The larger point here, though, is that you are getting two sets of guidelines and one says "YOU OWE" and the other says "YOU DON'T OWE" and that needs to be resolved.

Please come back and let us know how you make out with this.

[chknltl]

6. Thanks MADem

That damned statistics class! I majored in Anthropology because of my math phobia. No, I never flunked any other classes, got more 'A' s than 'B's. I got called on the carpet for getting a 'D' in that class TWICE! I got through it the third time with the aid of a very patient tutor-that poor first year teacher likely remembers this ordeal too. This all relates to my GI Bill because we got paid per credit hour. I was enrolled and was paid for a full load of classes. Had I instead enrolled for five less credits for any particular semester my pay would have expected a decrease. This is the ONLY thing in my memory that may have incurred that debt. That was back in 1982 or '83 so I could not say today if that $2000 debt was equal to six months of part time status at the rates they had back then. Even so, I attended every one of those classes and if by chance this is what they are docking me for then maybe they have a case. I don't know.

I noted in an above response that I had made a request for audit during my second conversation with the VA's collection Agency. She said it would take six weeks and we are just passing the sixth week mark now. If possible, I want to see that audit first before I start writing letters to my Congressman. That said, that audit might not come either and if it does not appear shortly I may indeed call on my Congressman. Everything I said in the OP is accurate btw and if I do call/write him I will review your advice.

thanks again MADem