[Code of Federal Regulations]
[Title 5, Volume 2, Parts 700 to 1199]
[Revised as of January 1, 2001]
From the U.S. Government Printing Office via GPO Access
[CITE: 5CFR845.302]

[Page 332]
 
                    TITLE 5--ADMINISTRATIVE PERSONNEL
 
          CHAPTER I--OFFICE OF PERSONNEL MANAGEMENT (Continued)
 
PART 845--FEDERAL EMPLOYEES RETIREMENT SYSTEM--DEBT COLLECTION--Table of Contents
 
             Subpart C--Standards for Waiver of Overpayments
 
Sec. 845.302  Fault.

    A recipient of an overpayment is without fault if he or she 
performed no act of commission or omission that resulted in the 
overpayment. The fact that the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) or 
another agency may have been at fault in initiating an overpayment will 
not necessarily relieve the individual from liability.
    (a) Considerations. Pertinent considerations in finding fault are--
    (1) Whether payment resulted from the individual's incorrect but not 
necessarily fraudulent statement, which he or she should have known to 
be incorrect;
    (2) Whether payment resulted from the individual's failure to 
disclose material facts in his or her possession, which he or she should 
have known to be material; or
    (3) Whether he or she accepted a payment that he or she knew or 
should have known to be erroneous.
    (b) Mitigation factors. The individual's age, physical and mental 
condition or the nature of the information supplied to him or her by OPM 
or a Federal agency may mitigate against finding fault if one or more of 
these factors contributed to his or her submission of an incorrect 
statement, a statement that did not disclose material facts in his or 
her possession, or his or her acceptance of an erroneous overpayment.