(a) General. Recovery of overpayments of any benefits made under laws administered by the VA shall be waived if there is no indication of fraud, misrepresentation, or bad faith on the part of the person or persons having an interest in obtaining the waiver and recovery of the indebtedness from the payee who received such benefits would be against equity and good conscience.
(b) Application. A request for waiver of an indebtedness under this section shall only be considered if made within one year following the date of a notice of indebtedness issued by the Department of Veterans Affairs to the debtor. The one-year period may be extended if the individual requesting waiver demonstrated to the Chairperson of the Committee on Waivers and Compromises that, as a result of an error by either the Department of Veterans Affairs or the postal authorities, or due to other circumstances beyond the debtor's control, there was a delay in such individual's receipt of the notification of indebtedness beyond the time customarily required for mailing (including forwarding). If the requester does substantiate that there was such a delay in the receipt of the notice of indebtedness, the Chairperson shall direct that the one-year period be computed from the date of the requester's actual receipt of the notice of indebtedness.
(Authority: 38 U.S.C. 5302(a) and (c); Pub. L. 117-328, Title II, Subtitle E, sec. 254 (Dec. 29, 2022), unless otherwise noted)
[39 FR 26400, July 19, 1974, as amended at 44 FR 59906, Oct. 17, 1979; 48 FR 27400, June 15, 1983; 50 FR 38803, Sept. 25, 1985; 58 FR 3840, Jan. 12, 1993; 90 FR 54235, Nov. 26, 2025]
Notes of Decisions
Cited in
28
cases (
1 in the last 5 years), 1982–2021 · leading case:
Barger v. Principi, 16 Vet. App. 132 (Vet. App. 2002).
Barger v. Principi, 16 Vet. App. 132 (Vet. App. 2002).
· cites it 10× “" 38 C.F.R. § 1.963 (b)(2). The regulation and the statute require that the appellant demonstrate that an error by VA or the postal service, or some other circumstance delayed her actual receipt of the June 1990 notice.”
Beauchesne v. Nimmo, 562 F. Supp. 250 (D. Conn. 1983).
· cites it 3× “38 C.F.R. § 1.963 (c) provides: “Third persons.”
McCullough v. Principi, 15 Vet. App. 272 (Vet. App. 2001).
· cites it 2× “See also 38 C.F.R. § 1.963 (b)(2)(2000) (“A request for waiver of an indebtedness .”
Shirley A. Edwards v. James B. Peake, 22 Vet. App. 57 (Vet. App. 2008).
· cites it 4× “, appeals through counsel an August 26, 2005, Board of Veterans' Appeals (Board) decision that determined she had not filed timely requests for waivers of indebtedness pursuant to the requirements set forth in 38 C.F.R. § 1.963 (2005) for two debts arising from overpayment of…”
Franklin v. Brown, 5 Vet. App. 190 (Vet. App. 1993).
· cites it 2× “967(a) are those within which an application for a waiver of an indebtedness must be submitted: within two years following the date of a notice of indebtedness where the VA issued the notice on or before March 31, 1983, or within 180 days following a notice of indebtedness where…”
Gordon v. Principi, 15 Vet. App. 124 (Vet. App. 2001).
“of any benefits under any of the laws administered by the Secretary whenever the Secretary determines that recovery would be against equity and good conscience, if an application for relief is made within 180 days from the date of notification of the indebtedness by the…”
Preston Lee Dent v. Robert A. McDonald, 27 Vet. App. 362 (Vet. App. 2015).
“See 38 C.F.R. § 1.963 (2015) (discussing waiver of indebtedness when recovery "would be against equity and good conscience").”
Brown v. Brown, 8 Vet. App. 40 (Vet. App. 1995).
“§ 5302 (c) and 38 C.F.R. § 1.963 . Farless, supra; see Smith (Barbara) v.”
Am. Fed'n of Gov't Employees v. Nimmo, 536 F. Supp. 707 (E.D. Va. 1982).
“Accord 38 C.F.R. § 1.963 (a) (1980). In applying this standard, the facility must consider six factors: (1) Fault of debtor.”
Gordon v. Gober, 14 Vet. App. 193 (Vet. App. 2000).
· cites it 2× “Instead, he relies solely, as did the Board, on the denial of the appellant’s claim on the ground that 38 C.F.R. § 1.963 (b)(2) (1999) sets forth a 180-day period that serves as a deadline for the submission of an application for a waiver and that, in this case, no such waiver…”
United States v. Walls, 633 F. Supp. 720 (S.D.W. Va 1986).
“§ 3102 ; see also 38 C.F.R. 1.963(a). This provision would appear to supply the Defendant with his only chance for success.”
15-02 554 (Board of Vet. App. 2015).
· cites it 8× “§ 5302 (c) (West 2014); 38 C.F.R. §§ 1.963 (a), 1.965(b) (2014). 3.”
— 38 C.F.R. § 1.963(a) — 1 case
United States v. Walls, 633 F. Supp. 720 (S.D.W. Va 1986).
“§ 3102 ; see also 38 C.F.R. 1.963(a). This provision would appear to supply the Defendant with his only chance for success.”
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