PBarSr

Thank you Berta! I followed your guidance, and did BOTH of the things you recommended. It seems both options are going to take anywhere from 2 weeks to a month to get a response, but at least I'm shaking things up! Again, Thank you for the advice! Pat

Let me begin with some timeline points, before I get to my question. 1999 Exited the Air Force Honorably. Married at the time with two kids (hers from previous marriage) 2000 Filed for VA disability for a few items. 2001 was granted 50% disability. Marriage went south (divorced 2003) May 2018 my lawyer sent the VA a letter of Intent to File. June 2018 my lawyer filed several claims for various disabilities. July 2018 I receive a dependents update form from the VA. I fill it out and return it. (Reflects remarried with one child) Late July 2018 I receive a letter from the VA saying I was over payed since 2001 for dependent pay I wasn't entitled to, to the tune of $16,000+. I immediately call my lawyer and he checks my C file and determines that on two occasions, I formally requested that the VA remove my dependents and pay me as a single disabled vet.They didn't change my dependents until 2018 when I returned the form. Lawyer formally argued that due to formalities, they should waive the debt. August I attended C&P exams for newly filed disabilities. Sept 2018 VA begins withholding my entire benefit to satisfy my debt. Dec 19, 2019 VA Board of waivers grants my waiver for $15,000+ and denies $1000+, effectively reducing my amount owed the VA to a grand, which they have already more than satisfied by the 4 months of benefit they have already withheld. January 23, 2019 VA awards me 80% for new disabilities and pays retroactive pay for the extra amount they withheld from me the last few months. (Nearly $3000). Feb 2019 I receive my first updated amount of benefit. ($1860-ish) I do not receive retro pay to May of 2018. Late Feb 2019 I receive a letter from the VA debt management office saying that a payment of $5700+ dollars has been paid towards my debt of $16000+ ??? I call lawyer. He checks into it and assures me that it will get ironed out. After all, I have a letter saying the debt was waived. I call the VA debt management office and inquire why the retro pay was sent to them. They can't answer. Say they will audit my file and it will take a month or longer to do that. Also call VA and ask why my retro payment was sent to the Debt management office. They assure me that they will put in an inquiry. Today I called the VA and inquired with them about a status update. Clueless. They show no request for an inquiry. GRRRRRRR... I breathe deep and calm myself. I ask them to please do an inquiry and find out where that money is and get it to me as quickly as they can. The kind VA rep complies and gives me an inquiry #. I remember when I was active duty, and even when I was civil service, the government wasn't efficient all the time, but 90% of the time, stuff got done to the satisfaction of the commander, or butts got chewed on... Why is the VA so horribly botched up? I received a waiver of Debt in mid Dec, and an award in late January, and they mailed my retro payment to the VA debt management office, but YET, managed to pay me my new 80% disability payment on Feb 1... It blows my mind on how incompetent this govt agency is. What repercussions do I have against a government agency? Are there any actions I could take to speed up this quagmire? I need that retro money for some very necessary home repairs... Thanks for reading this small novel, lol.

It was at the regional office level I reckon. I did claim low back pain in 2006 but I don't think I had a nexus to tie it to military service. I finally found the fellow who I was with in Korea when the injury happened and got him to write me a buddy statement verifying my claim with exact dates and everything. Still got denied service connection.

It's been a while since my last post. Regarding the debt, they did indeed reimburse me for the withholding they kept. In the mean time, I've had a claim recently approved (23 January 2019) granting me 80%, up from 50%. They granted me 50% for PTSD as well as 30% for sinusitis. I also claimed injury to my back, supplemented by a buddy statement from a friend I was deployed with who witnessed me hurt it jumping off the back of a deuce and a half during an exercise, as well as tinnitus, but both were denied. All of these upgrades to my disability, I owe to the VA lawyer I hired. My percentage shows 80% since 23 January on ebenefits. My "Intent to file" date was 31 May 2018. When should I expect to see the lump payment direct deposited to my account? What should be my next step on the back pain and tinnitus claim which were denied SC? Thank you all for your input. I read A LOT on this forum and have learned tremendously from my limited time here.

Official correspondence from the Debt management center and the Waiver Comittee! They agree with my assessment and agreed to waive $15,356,48, leaving a balance of $1421.00, which since they began withholding my entire entitlement back in September, was paid months ago. I'll look for them to reimburse me for what they withheld, minus the $1421 in the next couple of months. On a side note, I applied for an increase in my disability back in June for Sinusitis, Tinnitus, PTSD, low back pain, and radiculpathy in both legs. I received a C&P exam for sinusitis, tinnitus, and PTSD but not for the back and leg pain. I even included a buddy statement on official VA form 21-4138 from a coworker who witnessed me injure my back on exercises in South Korea back in 1997. I was urged NOT to seek medical attention unless I was a xxxxx, and my younger guillable self followed along and self treated my condition. ENT doctor concurred that I indeed have a verifiable worse case of sinusitis, and a shrink suggested that I indeed have a legitimate case of PTSD that would benefit from therapy. I'm a 50% disabled vet right now, and by mine and my lawyer's best guess, I'll be increased to 80% pending appeal of the low back and legs pain issue. Anyhow... just sharing my experience with yall regarding my request for a waiver. Oh yeah, I'm not certain if it made a difference or not, but I did reach out to my local US congressman and he did respond and contact the VA on my behalf.

I also reached out to my local Congressional representative and got a response from him today saying that he is inquiring with the VA on my behalf. I sent him my version of what happened, as well as the letter from my lawyer and I, requesting a waiver with all the supporting info included. I told him what I would like to see happen (a full waiver of the debt as well as back pay for what the VA has withheld). I'll post any updates on here for anyone who is interested.

So I spoke with the VA Debt Management center today. They agreed to an extended repayment plan (first and foremost) as well as refunding me $700. They also accepted my request for a waiver. If my complete amount is waived they will refund everything they have withheld to this point. At least it's something!

First some background. I filed for disability based on obstructive sleep apnea back in 2000 and was granted 50% disability in 2001. I was granted married rate with two dependents (step sons) but that same year we divorced. I immediately sent written notification to the VA, which shows up in my VA file, that I would like to change my dependent status to single and zero dependents. I spoke to a VA representative later that year to make certain i was receiving the correct amount of monthly benefit and they verified it as accurate. In 2006 the VA sent me another verification of dependents form and I returned it marked single and zero dependents. This also shows up in my VA file. I am now a father since 2011 and remarried since 2015, but I didn't think to contact the VA to update my dependent info. Now fast forward to this year... I hired an attorney, Andrew McKeown on the suggestion of an Air Force buddy, to try to get me more disability on some items that were given service connection, but were given 0%. Two months after hiring him, and the new claim was active, I received a "verification of dependents" form, which I filled out showing both my son and my wife and their respective date of birth and date of marriage. I received back from the VA a notification that they had received this form, and that I had been over payed since 2001! The supposed debt was to the tune of $16,777. The letter explained that I could dispute the debt and that if I didn't, they would assume it is valid and would start withholding my monthly entitlement until the debt was satisfied. I immediately forwarded this to my lawyer and he responded to them via fax and email with a letter disputing the debt which cited the two separate occasions that I reached out to them voluntarily to update my dependents to try to avoid this very scenario. He was able to verify that these documents were in my VA file. On August 1, sure enough, I didn't get a disability check. When I call the VA debt management office, they give a standard answer that I can "submit a financial statement and get a reduction of the amount they are withholding". But by law, they aren't supposed to be withholding my check at all until a decision on the validity of the debt is made. My lawyer argued that the debt should be waived due to "equity and good conscience". Below is a copy of his letter to the VA: July 10, 2018 Veteran, Patrick Barnes XXX-XX-XXXX, challenges the validity of the debt described in the letter dated June 29, 2018 from the VA Debt Management Center in the amount of $16,777.48. Additionally, he requests the $16,777.48 be waived as “equity and good conscience” indicate that the debt should not be collected. A review of the Veteran’s file shows that the Veteran submitted a VA Form 21-4138 dated June 21, 2001 requesting that his wife and her two children be removed from his service connected award and that he be paid as a single service-connected Veteran. This was because he was recently awarded service connection and his wife, who is also a Veteran, was previously claiming him as well as her dependent children. On that 4138 is a handwritten note, ostensibly written by a VA employee, stating “Called + left message for vet that info is correct + to call VA if he has additional questions -CB.” Veteran in good faith fully attempted to receive only that to which he was entitled. As far as he knew, he was fully entitled to the amounts he later received. Further, on page 14 of a VA Form 21-526 submitted April 19, 2006, Mr. Barnes indicated that he had “No” dependent children. Thus, on separate submissions to the VA, Mr. Barnes informed the agency that he had no dependents for which he believed he was entitled to additional benefits. It is only because of administrative error on the VA’s part in not taking timely and appropriate action to adjust his award, that the current overpayment was generated. There is no evidence that Mr. Barnes actively or passively sought to collect benefits to which he was not entitled. Although there is a VA Form 21-0820 dated February 2, 2010 stating, “Veteran verified married to wife Kimberly w/ 2 dependents Zachary + Mario,” Mr. Barnes has no recollection of confirming this information to any VA employee around this date. Further, the unknown (and therefore unaccountable) VA employee failed to certify that he or she properly identified the caller using the ID protocol or that he or she notified the person contacted that the purpose of the call was evidentiary and any statements was could result in a change to his VA benefits. Therefore, this incomplete 21-0820 has no probative value on whether Mr. Barnes had any knowledge that he was receiving anything but what he was entitled to. The first indication of overpayment Mr. Barnes received was in the form of a letter from the VA dated June 18, 2018, which informed Mr. Barnes that he was overpaid for his benefits. The letter also informed him that he would be receiving a separate letter detailing the overpayment. Additionally, it informed him that a separate letter from the VA’s Debt Management Center would inform him of the amount of overpayment and how to repay this debt. Although he has received a letter informing him of the amount of overpayment, he has receiving no explanation for the reasons the VA determined him to have been overpaid. It is only based on our own review of Mr. Barnes file that we have concluded that the overpayment resulted from additional amounts paid based on Mr. Barnes former wife and her children. This was information that Mr. Barnes, on his own initiative, submitted to the VA to avoid the very scenario he now finds himself in. To require Mr. Barnes to be forced to pay back $16,777.48 that he was unaware he was not entitled to would be against equity and good conscience. As such the amount should be found invalidated due to VA administrative error and waived. ___________________________________ VA Accredited Attorney Andrew J. McKeown, Esq. VA POA Code# 38803 CA Bar # 309535 I guess my question is, what recourse do I have? They have not responded to my lawyer as of this time. He has verified that they did in fact receive this correspondence, but meanwhile I'm still not getting my disability check. Does anyone on these forums have any suggestions on what I should do next? I thank you in advance if you've read this far, and I appreciate any guidance you may provide. Thanks, Pat