Revoking Poa While Claim Is At Bva

[free_spirit_etc]

I appointed a VSO at the time of my hearing. The hearing was awful. I felt comfortable with the judge. But the VSO treated me like an idiot. I know I should have fired the VSO immediately. But I did not.

We were granted 3 months, until December 3, to provide additional evidence in support of my claim. The VSO had told me to obtain copies of my husband's military personnel files. I have now done that. I also hoped he might actually read my claim in the interim.

I called the VSO today to inform him I had received the files he had requested I obtain and to see where we stood on my case. He told me that he had submitted everything to the judge already and that it was DONE. He said he had already done what he needed to do on my claim.

I asked him what he submitted, and he said he wouldn't know that without looking at the file -- and he couldn't "jump around like that."

I asked him to send me a copy of what he sent to the judge and he told me he is NOT REQUIRED to send me anything. He was very curt and told me if I want copies of what he submitted I have to contact my Regional Office and get them from them.

I want to revoke his POA IMMEDIATELY -- and so I will fax a revocation to the BVA. Should I be specific as to why? Or just state I want to revoke his POA?

I hope he didn't hurt my case really bad by arguing against my claim. I don't know why he refuses to send me a copy of what he submitted. I don't know if that is because he submitted something he knows I wouldn't like, or if he actually has no idea what is going on with my claim, didn't want to bother to look before he returned my call -- and just told me he submitted everything without even checking - and felt like he was put on the spot when I asked for a copy.

OMG! I was shaking when I got off the phone!!!

Edited November 6, 2013 by free_spirit_etc

[Philip Rogers]

Probably because he did very little, if anything!!! Remember he had your POA and had full power to do whatever he felt. At best he may have restated your case and said he had nothing else to add. Good luck w/that!

Again, this is why I have no use for "most" VSO's.

pr

[free_spirit_etc]

I sent this immediately to get that guy OFF as my VSO:

(I found it in a post by Carlie. Thanks Carlie!)

November 6, 2013

To: Department of Veterans Affairs

My Power of Attorney is currently held by the American Legion.

Effective immediately, I revoke any and all Power of Attorney held by any person or organization.

I will continue to seek just and fair adjudication on all aspects of my claims for VA benefits under 38 CFR and The United States Code on a pro se basis.

I request that I still be granted the remainder of the 90 day period of time the judge allowed to submit additional evidence / argument in support of my claim.

Respectfully submitted,

XXXX

But - the information you get from the BVA says you have to show good cause for appointing or changing representation after the 60 day time frame they give you to do so.

So I don't know if I need to follow up with a "good cause" request. And I have been hesitant to do that because you don't know how closely aligned the national VSOs are to the attorneys / judges.

[free_spirit_etc]

Probably because he did very little, if anything!!! Remember he had your POA and had full power to do whatever he felt. At best he may have restated your case and said he had nothing else to add. Good luck w/that!

Again, this is why I have no use for "most" VSO's.

pr

I can only hope he re-stated my case, instead of messing it up, or withdrawing my appeal or something. The more I think about it, the more I wonder if he even has done anything on the case. He returned my call immediately - and told me that he had already done everything that was needed and submitted it to the judge. But then when I asked what he had submitted, he said he wouldn't know that without pulling the file. So he hadn't even looked at the file before calling me. So he might just tell everyone he had "done everything needed" and the case is with the judge -- regardless of what he has done.

But it is odd because he said he wanted to look at my husband's service personnel files -- and told me to order them. I ordered them and was going to tell him I had them -- but he said he had already submitted everything. As the judge gave us 90 days (until December 3) to submit additional evidence, it seems odd that he would work my claim prior to that deadline and submit something before he even got the records he told me to obtain.

But this guy makes me very nervous - and he is very rude.

He did say I could go ahead and submit evidence to the judge. So I don't think he withdrew my appeal. But he was bound and determined that he won't send me copies of anything he says he submitted.

Edited November 6, 2013 by free_spirit_etc

[ketchup56]

I revoked my poa while i was at the bva with no problems. You have every legal right to pro se representation while at bva. What i did was,call bva and find out what team your case is assigned to and then ask for the fax number for that team, then fax that letter you have to that number. On top of that form make sure you put your va file number(ssn) and attn: team (whatever team your'e on). I also faxed them a waiver of aoj with the revocation to be on the safe side. In about 7-10 days it should reflect on ebenefits appeal status as correspondence received. I also sent the same to my poa in washington,dc. My case was remanded 5/12 and has since been returned to bva 7/12 BUT my revocations was noted on remand decision the date i had revoked my poa. I'm also assuming your'e using va form 21-4138(statement in support of claim).

Good Luck.....

[free_spirit_etc]

Thanks ketchup. I faxed a copy to the general BVA number. I didn't have the team number on it. I am also sending a follow up requesting a copy of what the VSO submitted, and to try to assure I still have time to submit my remaining argument.

But as far as revoking a representative - I wasn't sure if I had to show good cause.

§ 20.1304

(b) Subsequent request for a change in representation, request for a personal hearing, or submission of additional evidence— (1) General rule. Subject to the exception in paragraph (b)(2) of this section, following the expiration of the period described in paragraph (a) of this section, the Board of Veterans' Appeals will not accept a request for a change in representation, a request for a personal hearing, or additional evidence except when the appellant demonstrates on motion that there was good cause for the delay. Examples of good cause include, but are not limited to, illness of the appellant or the representative which precluded action during the period; death of an individual representative; illness or incapacity of an individual representative which renders it impractical for an appellant to continue with him or her as representative; withdrawal of an individual representative; the discovery of evidence that was not available prior to the expiration of the period; and delay in transfer of the appellate record to the Board which precluded timely action with respect to these matters. Such motions must be in writing and must include the name of the veteran; the name of the claimant or appellant if other than the veteran (e.g., a veteran's survivor, a guardian, or a fiduciary appointed to receive VA benefits on an individual's behalf); the applicable Department of Veterans Affairs file number; and an explanation of why the request for a change in representation, the request for a personal hearing, or the submission of additional evidence could not be accomplished in a timely manner. Such motions must be filed at the following address: Director, Management and Administration (01E), Board of Veterans' Appeals, 810 Vermont Avenue, NW., Washington, DC 20420.

Edited November 7, 2013 by free_spirit_etc

[ketchup56]

You should be okay, because you have awhile before bva even picks up your case for review,and when the judge finally picks it up they will see this, plus if you submit this now and you have ebenefits your appeal status will confirm receipt of this by correspondence recieved in your appeal status detail.Once this happens you are on records as a pro se. Again i would not worry about the good cause,90 day bva knows that cases aren"t heard in under 90 days....Make sure you also send this revocation to your current poa, so they can remove you from their roles. Call them back in 30 days to see if they have indeed removed themslves as your poa... Good Luck....