Request Same Dro?

[Buck52]

IF a Veteran request NOD & is Granted DRO hearing at RO..and wins his claim & awarded IU P&T......THEN later years later that veteran gets letter from RO a propose reduction in rating & that veterans File NOD and is granted DRO hearing at same RO .....> Can the veteran request the same DRO he had before?

Asknod? Ms Berta? Chuck 75? Strech? N Kelly? Pete? Phillip Rogers?John999, Ms Carlie? Gastone? any elder members that's been doing Veterans Claims for years anybody???

Thanks in Advance for your input!

[Philip Rogers]

Sure, he can request it. The DRO is a senior position and therefore the DRO may have retired by then, depending on how long it's been. If they are requesting a review and a proposed reduction, I generally file a claim for increase or if the claimant is 100% or TDIU, I file for P&T. To me the best defense is to attack!! Remember, if the claimant has been w/o improvement for 5yrs or more, the VA is supposed to consider P&T. jmo

pr

[Berta]

In 2005 I asked the VA to CUE itself because they ignored ALL of my evidence to include an IMO from Dr. Bash.

They immediately gave me a double DRO review.

I Faxed the CUE request to them as well as sent it as a complaint to IRIS.

But the second DRO review was with the DRO who didnt read my evidence in the first place.

At the time I found an M21-1MR excerpt that said a second "double" DRO review must be done by a different DRO,not the same one.

This would be found in M21-1MR, as to whether you can get the same DRO or not.Maybe the reg I found has changed by now.

I think more importantly , a vet, who receives a proposed reduction letter , has to ask for a hearing and gather strong evidence, to often include a strong IMO, so that whoever the DRO is, they have a prime facie argument against the proposed reduction.

Many ,if not all ,Proposed reductions involve the VA calling a CUE on itself over a past award.

In the case you presented this could mean that a DRO made a CUE in the last award so I would think another DRO would have to decide the outcome.

The M21-1MR link might be here somewhere but that was probably on the older hadit board.

[Berta]

Here it is:

M21

-

1MR, Part I, Chapter 4

4

-

2

1. General Information on Hearings

"Note

: If the DRO participated in the original decision, another DRO or acting

DRO must hold the hearing"

http://www.disabledveterans.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/08/140812-M21-1MR-Bates.pdf( page 188 of 395)

I didnt request a 'hearing' as such because my former vet rep said he would present my ignored evidence directly to the DRO during this second DRO review. Which I guess you could call a 'hearing'.

He had started out here locally but got a promotion to the same building the VARO was in and said he would represent me and my evidence and give it to the DRO

The SSOC indicates that either he lied and never showed up, or the DRO still didnt know how to read.

The SSOC never listed any of my evidence to include the IMO again.

I got a copy and Paste of her first decision in the SSOC.

I filed a complaint against the Vet rep with OGC .

He is no longer employed with this vet rep outfit. And he also had caused the CUE claim I filed on a 1998 decision.

I won the claim double DRO review claim at the BVA.

The CUE was awarded at the Phila RO.

Edited December 11, 2014 by Berta (see edit history)

[Berta]

"I filed a complaint against the Vet rep with OGC"

and the Governor of NY.

The main reason for the complaint was that I received an illegal VCAA letter.

I asked the vet reps to get it corrected by the VA.

They (4 reps) questioned my credibility right up to even their director ( I have his long BS letter as evidence of that)

without even reading my VCAA letter in my POA file.

This is the sole reason this claim took 6 years to be awarded, then another 8 months to get the retro.

When the VCAA is violated,to the point that it is extremely detrimental to the claimant. any good VSO or rep or lawyer should get on them right away.

I do not take having my credibility questioned well at all.I take action on that crap.

Apparently None of these vet reps nor their director had ever read the VCAA regulation in total.

And none of them had even read the letter I got in my POA file,.

I asked the BVA to remand right away due to this error,. They agreed with the error but my evidence was so probative, they awarded anyhow.

Meantime there was quite a shuffle at this state vet org outfit and the Director was suddenly replaced in an announcement by the Governor I think , at a Veterans Day ceremony.

But that is only because I knew what the letter should have asked me for....

I love litigation and was going to see my lawyer to see if I had a basis to sue the stste of NY.

But within that same week, I got my BVA award letter.I had mitigated the damages of the VCAA problem with probative evidence.

I still have no idea how many claimants they pulled this BS on.

One vet rep actually finally read my VCAA letter in riont of me (unlike those other POA clowns) and he immediately said 'Hey this isnt right at all..it is illegal...'

and I quoted him in my OGC complaint.

The entire VCAA regs are here at hadit and the ones for survivors are different then the veteran VCAA regs.

The VCAA notice is so important that it is one of the first things the BVA pours over and will cause a remand if it is not proper.

It should be one of the first things a POA rep reads as well, as soon as they get a copy of it from the VARO the same time you do.

I cannot stress this enough that we all must read the VCAA letters carefully.

VA locks themselves into the evidence they ask for.

It might take leg work to give them what they want but it can mean the difference between a possible VARO award or a long long trek to the BVA, only to be remanded due to the VCAA violation.

years and years can pass when that happens.

Edited December 11, 2014 by Berta (see edit history)

[Buck52]

WOW ms Berta you been through a lot haven't you!

Thanks for the info!