| Mr. Carl W. S. Chun | Director | |
| Mr. William Blakely | Analyst |
| Mr. Melvin H. Meyer | Chairperson | ||
| Mr. Eric N. Andersen | Member | ||
| Mr. John T. Meixell | Member |
2. The applicant request, in effect, that he be reimbursed $4,860.65 of a government debt that was erroneously collected from his pay.
3. The applicant states, in effect, that he originally submitted an Application for Remission or Cancellation of Indebtedness (DA Form 3508-R) in September 1997, when he was assigned to Fort Stewart, Georgia, requesting that his debt be cancelled. He claims that at that time collection of the debt was suspended; however, a year later subsequent to his reassignment to Fort Carson, Colorado, the debt was activated. At that time he submitted a second DA Form 3508-R, after discovering the first one had been lost, and this application was ultimately approved. He claims that he was advised by finance office personnel at
Fort Stewart and Fort Carson that he should wait until he had evidence of the approval before applying to this Board for relief. In support of his application, he submits two Defense Finance and Accounting Military Leave and Earnings Statements (LES) and a Memorandum signed by the Chief, Special Actions Branch, Total Army Personnel Command (PERSCOM), dated 26 April 2002.
4. The applicant’s military records show that as of the date of his application to this Board he was serving on active duty and assigned to, Fort Carson, Colorado.
5. In 1997 while serving in Germany, the applicant was notified by the Finance and Accounting Officer that he was indebted to the government in the amount of $18, 146.98 due to an overpayment of Overseas Housing Allowance (OHA) and Basic Allowances for Quarters (BAQ).
6. The applicant’s 31 January 2002 LES confirms that he paid a total of $4,860.65 towards his debt to the government and his balance was $13,286.33.
7. The 26 April 2002 Memorandum signed by the Chief, Special Actions Branch, PERSCOM, confirms that the applicant’s application for remission or cancellation of indebtedness was approved for the total amount of his original debt to the government of $18,146.98.
8. Army Regulation 600-4 provides instructions for submitting and processing applications for remission or cancellation of indebtedness to the United States Army. Applications must be based on injustice, hardship, or both. This includes debts caused by errors in pay to or on behalf of a soldier. Chapter 3 provides the administrative procedures for submitting an application for remission/cancellation of indebtedness. Paragraph 3-4 outlines the responsibilities of the Finance and Accounting Officer in the application process. It states, in pertinent part, that he/she will ensure collection of the debt is stopped until a final decision is made.
CONCLUSIONS:
1. The Board notes the applicant’s contention that the collection of his debt should have been suspended and that he should now be reimbursed for the collected portion of the debt based on the final approval of his application for remission/cancellation of his debt; and it finds these claims have merit.
2. By regulation, if a soldier decides to submit an application for remission/cancellation of indebtedness and properly notifies unit and finance officials, the debt collection process should be suspended until a final decision is made on the application.
3. The evidence of record confirms that once the applicant was notified that he was indebted to the government in the amount of $18,146.98 due to an overpayment of OHA and BAQ, he began the process of preparing and submitting an application for remission/cancellation of indebtedness. However, it is clear that this did not result in the timely suspension of the debt collection, as is required by regulation.
4. In view of the facts of this case, and given the applicant’s request for remission/cancellation of indebtedness was ultimately approved by PERSCOM on the merits for the total amount of the debt, the Board concludes that it would be appropriate to grant the requested relief at this time.
5. In the opinion of the Board, the applicant’s record should be corrected to show that his application for remission/cancellation of indebtedness of $18,1460.65 due to an overpayment of OHA and BAQ was approved in full, as if the collection of the debt had been properly implemented at the time of application, and as if no amount of the debt had been collected prior to the approval. In addition, the applicant should be reimbursed any amount of the debt that was erroneously collected prior to the date of the approval.
6. In view of the foregoing, the applicant’s records should be corrected as recommended below.
RECOMMENDATION:
That all of the Department of the Army records related to this case be corrected by showing that the debt collection of the individual concerned was suspended at the time his original application for remission/cancellation of debt was submitted in September 1997, and remained suspended until the final approval of his application on 26 April 2002; that his application for remission/cancellation of indebtedness of $18,146.98 due to the overpayment of OHA and BAQ was approved for the full amount of the debt and by reimbursing him any portion of that total debt that was erroneously collected.
BOARD VOTE:
__MHM__ __ENA __ __JTM__ GRANT AS STATED IN RECOMMENDATION
________ ________ ________ GRANT FORMAL HEARING
________ ________ ________ DENY APPLICATION
___Melvin H. Meyer__
CHAIRPERSON
| CASE ID | AR2002076560 |
| SUFFIX | |
| RECON | YYYYMMDD |
| DATE BOARDED | 2002/11/05 |
| TYPE OF DISCHARGE | (HD, GD, UOTHC, UD, BCD, DD, UNCHAR) |
| DATE OF DISCHARGE | YYYYMMDD |
| DISCHARGE AUTHORITY | AR . . . . . |
| DISCHARGE REASON | |
| BOARD DECISION | GRANT |
| REVIEW AUTHORITY | 128.100 |
| ISSUES 1. | |
| 2. | |
| 3. | |
| 4. | |
| 5. | |
| 6. |
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