20 C.F.R. § 422.401 What is the scope of this subpart?
This subpart describes the procedures relating to our use of administrative wage garnishment under 31 U.S.C. 3720D to recover past due debts that you owe.
Collection of Debts by Administrative Wage Garnishment
20 C.F.R. Part ..., Subpart E
in effectEffective: 2024-07-0120 C.F.R. § 422.402 What special definitions apply to this subpart?
(a) Administrative wage garnishment is a process whereby we order your employer to withhold a certain amount from your disposable pay and send the withheld amount to us. The law requires your employer to comply with our garnishment order.
(b) Debt means any amount of money or property that we determine is owed to the United States and that arises from a program that we administer or an activity that we perform. These debts include program overpayments made under title II or title XVI of the Social Security Act and any other debt that meets the definition of “claim” or “debt” at 31 U.S.C. 3701(b).
(c) Disposable pay means that part of your total compensation (including, but not limited to, salary or wages, bonuses, commissions, and vacation pay) from your employer after deduction of health insurance premiums and amounts withheld as required by law. Amounts withheld as required by law include such things as Federal, State and local taxes but do not include amounts withheld under court order.
(d) We, our, or us means the Social Security Administration.
(e) You means an individual who owes a debt to the United States within the scope of this subpart.
20 C.F.R. § 422.403 When may we use administrative wage garnishment?
(a) General. Subject to the exceptions described in paragraph (b) of this section and the conditions described in paragraphs (c) and (d) of this section, we may use administrative wage garnishment to collect any debt that is past due. We may use administrative wage garnishment while we are taking other action regarding the debt, such as, using tax refund offset under §§ 404.520-404.526 and 416.580-416.586 of this chapter and taking action under subpart D of this part.
(b) Exceptions. (1) We will not use this subpart to collect a debt from salary or wages paid by the United States Government.
(2) If you have been separated involuntarily from employment, we will not order your employer to withhold amounts from your disposable pay until you have been reemployed continuously for at least 12 months. You have the burden of informing us about an involuntary separation from employment.
(3) We will not use this subpart to collect a debt while your disability benefits are stopped during the reentitlement period, under § 404.1592a(a)(2) of this chapter, because you are engaging in substantial gainful activity.
(4) We will not use this subpart to collect a debt while your Medicare entitlement is continued because you are deemed to be entitled to disability benefits under section 226(b) of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 426(b)).
(5) We will not use this subpart to collect a debt if you have decided to participate in the Ticket to Work and Self-Sufficiency Program and your ticket is in use as described in §§ 411.170 through 411.225 of this chapter.
(c) Overpayments under title II of the Social Security Act. This subpart applies to overpayments under title II of the Social Security Act if all of the following conditions are met:
(1) You are not receiving title II benefits.
(2) We have completed our billing system sequence (i.e., we have sent you an initial notice of the overpayment, a reminder notice, and a past-due notice) or we have suspended or terminated collection activity in accordance with applicable rules, such as, the Federal Claims Collection Standards in 31 CFR 903.2 or 31 CFR 903.3.
(3) We have not made an installment payment arrangement with you or, if we have made such an arrangement, you have failed to make any payment for two consecutive months.
(4) You have not requested waiver pursuant to § 404.506 or § 404.522 of this chapter or, after a review conducted pursuant to those sections, we have determined that we will not waive collection of the overpayment.
(5) You have not requested reconsideration of the initial overpayment determination pursuant to §§ 404.907 and 404.909 of this chapter or, after a review conducted pursuant to § 404.913 of this chapter, we have affirmed all or part of the initial overpayment determination.
(6) We cannot recover your overpayment pursuant to § 404.502 of this chapter by adjustment of benefits payable to any individual other than you. For purposes of this paragraph, an overpayment will be deemed to be unrecoverable from any individual who was living in a separate household from yours at the time of the overpayment and who did not receive the overpayment.
(d) Overpayments under title XVI of the Social Security Act. This subpart applies to overpayments under title XVI of the Social Security Act if all of the following conditions are met:
(1) You are not receiving benefits under title XVI of the Social Security Act.
(2) We are not collecting your title XVI overpayment by reducing title II benefits payable to you.
(3) We have completed our billing system sequence (i.e., we have sent you an initial notice of the overpayment, a reminder notice, and a past-due notice) or we have suspended or terminated collection activity under applicable rules, such as, the Federal Claims Collection Standards in 31 CFR 903.2 or 31 CFR 903.3.
(4) We have not made an installment payment arrangement with you or, if we have made such an arrangement, you have failed to make any payment for two consecutive months.
(5) You have not requested waiver pursuant to § 416.550 or § 416.582 of this chapter or, after a review conducted pursuant to those sections, we have determined that we will not waive collection of the overpayment.
(6) You have not requested reconsideration of the initial overpayment determination pursuant to §§ 416.1407 and 416.1409 of this chapter or, after a review conducted pursuant to § 416.1413 of this chapter, we have affirmed all or part of the initial overpayment determination.
(7) We cannot recover your overpayment pursuant to § 416.570 of this chapter by adjustment of benefits payable to any individual other than you. For purposes of this paragraph, if you are a member of an eligible couple that is legally separated and/or living apart, we will deem unrecoverable from the other person that part of your overpayment which he or she did not receive.
20 C.F.R. § 422.405 What notice will we send you about administrative wage garnishment?
(a) General. Before we order your employer to collect a debt by deduction from your disposable pay, we will send you written notice of our intention to do so.
(b) Contents of the notice. The notice will contain the following information:
(1) We have determined that payment of the debt is past due;
(2) The nature and amount of the debt;
(3) Information about the amount that your employer could withhold from your disposable pay each payday (the payment schedule);
(4) No sooner than 60 calendar days after the date of the notice, we will order your employer to withhold the debt from your disposable pay unless, within that 60-day period, you pay the full amount of the debt or take either of the actions described in paragraphs (b)(6) or (7) of this section;
(5) You may inspect and copy our records about the debt (see § 422.420);
(6) You may request a review of the debt (see § 422.425) or the payment schedule stated in the notice (see § 422.415); and
(7) You may request to pay the debt by monthly installment payments to us.
(c) Mailing address. We will send the notice to the most current mailing address that we have for you in our records.
(d) Electronic record of the notice. We will keep an electronic record of the notice that shows the date we mailed the notice to you and the amount of your debt.
20 C.F.R. § 422.410 What actions will we take after we send you the notice?
(a) General. (1) We will not send an administrative wage garnishment order to your employer before 60 calendar days elapse from the date of the notice described in § 422.405.
(2) If paragraph (b) of this section does not apply and you do not pay the debt in full or do not take either of the actions described in § 422.405(b)(6) or (7) within 60 calendar days from the date of the notice described in § 422.405, we may order your employer to withhold and send us part of your disposable pay each payday until your debt is paid.
(3) If you request review of the debt or the payment schedule after the end of the 60 calendar day period described in paragraph (a)(2) of this section and paragraph (b) of this section does not apply, we will conduct the review. However, we may send the administrative wage garnishment order to your employer without further delay. If we sent the administrative wage garnishment order to your employer and we do not make our decision on your request within 60 calendar days from the date that we received your request, we will tell your employer to stop withholding from your disposable pay. Withholding will not resume before we conduct the review and notify you of our decision.
(4) We may send an administrative wage garnishment order to your employer without further delay if:
(i) You request an installment payment plan after receiving the notice described in § 422.405, and
(ii) We arrange such a plan with you, and
(iii) You fail to make payments in accordance with that arrangement for two consecutive months.
(b) Good cause for failing to request review on time. If we decide that you had good cause for failing to request review within the 60-day period mentioned in paragraph (a)(2) of this section, we will treat your request for review as if we received it within that 60-day period.
(1) Determining good cause. In determining whether you had good cause, we will consider—
(i) Any circumstances that kept you from making the request on time;
(ii) Whether our action misled you;
(iii) Whether you had any physical, mental, educational, or linguistic limitations (including any lack of facility with the English language) which prevented you from making a request on time or from understanding the need to make a request on time.
(2) Examples of good cause. Examples of facts supporting good cause include, but are not limited to, the following.
(i) Your serious illness prevented you from contacting us yourself or through another person.
(ii) There was a death or serious illness in your family.
(iii) Fire or other accidental cause destroyed important records.
(iv) You did not receive the notice described in § 422.405.
(v) In good faith, you sent the request to another government agency within the 60-day period, and we received the request after the end of that period.
(3) If we issued the administrative wage garnishment order. If we determine that you had good cause under paragraph (b) of this section and we already had sent an administrative wage garnishment order to your employer, we will tell your employer to stop withholding from your disposable pay. Withholding will not resume until we conduct the review and notify you of our decision.
20 C.F.R. § 422.415 Will we reduce the amount that your employer must withhold from your pay when withholding that amount causes financial hardship?
(a) General. Unless paragraph (d) of this section applies, we will reduce the amount that your employer must withhold from your pay when you request the reduction and we find financial hardship. In any event, we will not reduce the amount your employer must withhold each payday below $10. When we decide to reduce the amount that your employer withholds, we will give you and your employer written notice.
(1) You may ask us at any time to reduce the amount due to financial hardship.
(2) If you request review of the payment schedule stated in the notice described in § 422.405 within the 60-day period stated in the notice, we will not issue a garnishment order to your employer until we notify you of our decision.
(b) Financial hardship. We will find financial hardship when you show that withholding a particular amount from your pay would deprive you of income necessary to meet your ordinary and necessary living expenses. You must give us evidence of your financial resources and expenses.
(c) Ordinary and necessary living expenses. Ordinary and necessary living expenses include:
(1) Fixed expenses such as food, clothing, housing, utilities, maintenance, insurance, tax payments;
(2) Medical, hospitalization and similar expenses;
(3) Expenses for the support of others for whom you are legally responsible; and
(4) Other reasonable and necessary miscellaneous expenses which are part of your standard of living.
(d) Fraud and willful concealment or failure to furnish information. (1) We will not reduce the amount that your employer withholds from your disposable pay if your debt was caused by:
(i) Your intentional false statement, or
(ii) Your willful concealment of, or failure to furnish, material information.
(2) “Willful concealment” means an intentional, knowing and purposeful delay in providing, or failure to reveal, material information.
20 C.F.R. § 422.420 May you inspect and copy our records related to the debt?
You may inspect and copy our records related to the debt. You must notify us of your intention to review our records. After you notify us, we will arrange with you the place and time the records will be available to you. At our discretion, we may send copies of the records to you.
20 C.F.R. § 422.425 How will we conduct our review of the debt?
(a) You must request review and present evidence. If you receive a notice described in § 422.405, you have the right to have us review the debt. To exercise this right, you must request review and give us evidence that you do not owe all or part of the debt or that we do not have the right to collect it. If you do not request review and give us this evidence within 60 calendar days from the date of our notice, we may issue the garnishment order to your employer without further delay. If you request review of the debt and present evidence within that 60 calendar-day period, we will not send a garnishment order to your employer unless and until we consider all of the evidence and send you our findings that all or part of the debt is overdue and we have the right to collect it.
(b) Review of the evidence. If you request review of the debt, we will review our records related to the debt and any evidence that you present.
(c) Our findings. Following our review of all of the evidence, we will send you written findings, including the supporting rationale for the findings. Issuance of these findings will be our final action on your request for review. If we find that you do not owe the debt, or the debt is not overdue, or we do not have the right to collect it, we will not send a garnishment order to your employer.
20 C.F.R. § 422.430 When will we refund amounts of your pay withheld by administrative wage garnishment?
If we find that you do not owe the debt or that we have no right to collect it, we will promptly refund to you any amount withheld from your disposable pay under this subpart that we received and cancel any administrative wage garnishment order that we issued. Refunds under this section will not bear interest unless Federal law or contract requires interest.
20 C.F.R. § 422.435 What happens when we decide to send an administrative wage garnishment order to your employer?
(a) The wage garnishment order. The wage garnishment order that we send to your employer will contain only the information necessary for the employer to comply with the order. This information includes:
(1) Your name, address, and social security number,
(2) The amount of the debt,
(3) Information about the amount to be withheld, and
(4) Information about where to send the withheld amount.
(b) Electronic record of the garnishment order. We will keep an electronic record of the garnishment order that shows the date we mailed the order to your employer.
(c) Employer certification. Along with the garnishment order, we will send your employer a certification form to complete about your employment status and the amount of your disposable pay available for withholding. Your employer must complete the certification and return it to us within 20 days of receipt.
(d) Amounts to be withheld from your disposable pay. After receipt of the garnishment order issued under this section, your employer must begin withholding from your disposable pay each payday the lesser of:
(1) The amount indicated on the order (up to 15% of your disposable pay); or
(2) The amount by which your disposable pay exceeds thirty times the minimum wage as provided in 15 U.S.C. 1673(a)(2).
(e) Multiple withholding orders. If your disposable pay is subject to more than one withholding order, we apply the following rules to determine the amount that your employer will withhold from your disposable pay:
(1) Unless otherwise provided by Federal law or paragraph (e)(2) of this section, a garnishment order issued under this section has priority over other withholding orders served later in time.
(2) Withholding orders for family support have priority over garnishment orders issued under this section.
(3) If at the time we issue a garnishment order to your employer amounts are already being withheld from your pay under another withholding order, or if a withholding order for family support is served on your employer at any time, the amounts to be withheld under this section will be the lesser of:
(i) The amount calculated under paragraph (d) of this section; or
(ii) The amount calculated by subtracting the amount(s) withheld under the withholding order(s) with priority from 25% of your disposable pay.
(4) If you owe more than one debt to us, we may issue multiple garnishment orders. If we issue more than one garnishment order, the total amount to be withheld from your disposable pay under such orders will not exceed the amount set forth in paragraph (d) or (e)(3) of this section, as appropriate.
(f) You may request that your employer withhold more. If you request in writing that your employer withhold more than the amount determined under paragraphs (d) or (e) of this section, we will order your employer to withhold the amount that you request.
20 C.F.R. § 422.440 What are your employer's responsibilities under an administrative wage garnishment order?
(a) When withholding must begin. Your employer must withhold the appropriate amount from your disposable pay on each payday beginning on the first payday after receiving the garnishment order issued under this section. If the first payday is within 10 days after your employer receives the order, then your employer must begin withholding on the first or second payday after your employer receives the order. Withholding must continue until we notify your employer to stop withholding.
(b) Payment of amounts withheld. Your employer must promptly pay to us all amounts withheld under this section.
(c) Other assignments or allotments of pay. Your employer cannot honor an assignment or allotment of your pay to the extent that it would interfere with or prevent withholding under this section, unless the assignment or allotment is made under a family support judgement or order.
(d) Effect of withholding on employer pay and disbursement cycles. Your employer will not be required to vary its normal pay and disbursement cycles in order to comply with the garnishment order.
(e) When withholding ends. When we have fully recovered the amounts you owe, including interest, penalties, and administrative costs that we charge you as allowed by law, we will tell your employer to stop withholding from your disposable pay. As an added precaution, we will review our debtors' accounts at least annually to ensure that withholding has been terminated for accounts paid in full.
(f) Certain actions by an employer against you are prohibited. Federal law prohibits an employer from using a garnishment order issued under this section as the basis for discharging you from employment, refusing to employ you, or taking disciplinary action against you. If your employer violates this prohibition, you may file a civil action against your employer in a Federal or State court of competent jurisdiction.
20 C.F.R. § 422.445 May we bring a civil action against your employer for failure to comply with our administrative wage garnishment order?
(a) We may bring a civil action against your employer for any amount that the employer fails to withhold from your disposable pay in accordance with § 422.435(d), (e) and (f). Your employer may also be liable for attorney fees, costs of the lawsuit and (in the court's discretion) punitive damages.
(b) We will not file a civil action against your employer before we terminate collection action against you, unless earlier filing is necessary to avoid expiration of any applicable statute of limitations period. For purposes of this section, “terminate collection action” means that we have terminated collection action in accordance with the Federal Claims Collection Standards (31 CFR 903.3) or other applicable standards. In any event, we will consider that collection action has been terminated if we have not received any payments to satisfy the debt for a period of one year.
Source: eCFRURL: https://www.ecfr.gov/api/versioner/v1/full/2024-07-01/title-20.xmlFetched: 7/26/2026