[Code of Federal Regulations]
[Title 20, Volume 2]
[Revised as of April 1, 2004]
From the U.S. Government Printing Office via GPO Access
[CITE: 20CFR422.410]

[Page 1087]
 
                      TITLE 20--EMPLOYEES' BENEFITS
 
               CHAPTER III--SOCIAL SECURITY ADMINISTRATION
 
PART 422_ORGANIZATION AND PROCEDURES--Table of Contents
 
    Subpart E_Collection of Debts by Administrative Wage Garnishment
 
Sec. 422.410  What actions will we take after we send you the notice?

    (a) General. (1) We will not send an administrative wage garnishment 
order to your employer before 60 calendar days elapse from the date of 
the notice described in Sec. 422.405.
    (2) If paragraph (b) of this section does not apply and you do not 
pay the debt in full or do not take either of the actions described in 
Sec. 422.405(b)(6) or (7) within 60 calendar days from the date of the 
notice described in Sec. 422.405, we may order your employer to 
withhold and send us part of your disposable pay each payday until your 
debt is paid.
    (3) If you request review of the debt or the payment schedule after 
the end of the 60 calendar day period described in paragraph (a)(2) of 
this section and paragraph (b) of this section does not apply, we will 
conduct the review. However, we may send the administrative wage 
garnishment order to your employer without further delay. If we sent the 
administrative wage garnishment order to your employer and we do not 
make our decision on your request within 60 calendar days from the date 
that we received your request, we will tell your employer to stop 
withholding from your disposable pay. Withholding will not resume before 
we conduct the review and notify you of our decision.
    (4) We may send an administrative wage garnishment order to your 
employer without further delay if:
    (i) You request an installment payment plan after receiving the 
notice described in Sec. 422.405, and
    (ii) We arrange such a plan with you, and
    (iii) You fail to make payments in accordance with that arrangement 
for two consecutive months.
    (b) Good cause for failing to request review on time. If we decide 
that you had good cause for failing to request review within the 60-day 
period mentioned in paragraph (a)(2) of this section, we will treat your 
request for review as if we received it within that 60-day period.
    (1) Determining good cause. In determining whether you had good 
cause, we will consider--
    (i) Any circumstances that kept you from making the request on time;
    (ii) Whether our action misled you;
    (iii) Whether you had any physical, mental, educational, or 
linguistic limitations (including any lack of facility with the English 
language) which prevented you from making a request on time or from 
understanding the need to make a request on time.
    (2) Examples of good cause. Examples of facts supporting good cause 
include, but are not limited to, the following.
    (i) Your serious illness prevented you from contacting us yourself 
or through another person.
    (ii) There was a death or serious illness in your family.
    (iii) Fire or other accidental cause destroyed important records.
    (iv) You did not receive the notice described in Sec. 422.405.
    (v) In good faith, you sent the request to another government agency 
within the 60-day period, and we received the request after the end of 
that period.
    (3) If we issued the administrative wage garnishment order. If we 
determine that you had good cause under paragraph (b) of this section 
and we already had sent an administrative wage garnishment order to your 
employer, we will tell your employer to stop withholding from your 
disposable pay. Withholding will not resume until we conduct the review 
and notify you of our decision.