Bases for Closing Claims Arising Out of Judgments in Favor of the United States by Returning Those Claims to the Client Agencies

Claims arising out of judgments in favor of the United States that cannot be permanently closed as uncollectible (

see

JM 4-3.200

)  may be returned to the referring federal agency whenever:

All other claims arising out of the same transaction have also been reduced to judgment;

All monies collectible upon the claim(s) are payable to a single referring federal agency; and

The claim is uncollectible except by installment payments that debtors agree to make to the referring agency, or the claim can be enforced by other means, but such enforcement is forborne in consideration of the promise for installment payments; or the claim is presently uncollectible but has future collection potential, and the United States Attorney is not in a better position than the agency to keep the matter under surveillance.

Return is also subject to the following caveats:

The United States Attorney should be satisfied that, as a practical matter, the transfer will not adversely affect the chances of collection or the amount that will be collected.

The agency must be willing to accept the transfer and must understand that it is not authorized to undertake final settlement, reduction, or release of any unpaid balance without the specific authorization of the Department of Justice, and all judicial proceedings to enforce or release judgments are to be conducted by the United States Attorney; and

The United States Attorney should consider it unlikely that the claim will be returned to him/her for further proceedings.

[updated April 2018]