Be it enacted by the General Assembly of Virginia:
1. That §60.2-633 of the Code of Virginia is amended and reenacted as follows:
§60.2-633. Receiving benefits to which not entitled.
A. Any person who has received any sum as benefits under this
title to which he was not entitled shall be liable to repay such sum to the
Commission. For purposes of this section, "benefits under this title"
includes benefits under an unemployment benefit program of the United States or
of any other state. In the event the claimant does not refund the overpayment,
the Commission shall deduct from any future benefits such sum payable to him
under this title. However, if an overpayment of benefits under this chapter,
but not under an unemployment benefit program of the United States or of any
other state, occurred due to administrative error, the Commission shall have
the authority to negotiate the terms of repayment, which shall include (i)
deducting up to 50 percent of the payable amount for any future week of
benefits claimed, rounded down to the next lowest dollar until the overpayment
is satisfied; (ii) forgoing collection of the payable amount until the
recipient has found employment as defined in §60.2-212; or (iii) determining
and instituting an individualized repayment plan. The Commission shall collect
an overpayment of benefits under this chapter caused by administrative error
only by offset against future benefits or a negotiated repayment plan; however,
the Commission may institute any other method of collection if the individual
fails to enter into or comply with the terms of the repayment plan.
Administrative error shall not include decisions reversed in the appeals
process. In addition, the overpayment may be collectible by civil action in the
name of the Commission. Amounts collected in this manner may be subject to an
interest charge as prescribed in §58.1-15 from the date of judgment and may be
subject to fees and costs. Collection activities for any benefit overpayment
established of five dollars $5 or less may be suspended. The
When a benefit overpayment is not caused by fraud on the part of the claimant,
pursuant to §60.2-618 or 60.2-632, collection activities shall be suspended
and the Commission shall, at the earliest of the following, determine as
uncollectable and discharge the benefit overpayment from its records if it
remains unpaid (i) after the expiration of [ three five
] years from the last day of the benefit year, as defined in §60.2-206, in
which the overpayment was made; (ii) immediately upon the death of such person;
or (iii) upon such person's discharge in bankruptcy occurring subsequently to
the determination of [ payment overpayment ] . In
any other circumstance, the Commission may [ , for good cause, ]
determine as uncollectible and discharge from its records any benefit
overpayment which [ (a) ] that remains unpaid [ (a)
] after the expiration of seven years from the date such overpayment was
determined, or last day of the benefit year, as defined in §60.2-206,
in which the overpayment was made; (b) immediately upon the death of such
person; [ or ] (c) upon his such person's
discharge in bankruptcy occurring subsequently to the determination of
overpayment [ ; or (d) at any time where, pursuant to rules and regulations
promulgated by the Commission, the Commission finds such overpayment to be
uncollectible or the recovery of such overpayment to be administratively
impracticable ] . Any existing overpayment balance not equal to an even
dollar amount shall be rounded to the next lowest even dollar amount.
B. The Commission is authorized to accept repayment of benefit overpayments by use of a credit card. The Virginia Employment Commission shall add to such payment a service charge for the acceptance of such card. Such service charge shall not exceed the percentage charged to the Virginia Employment Commission for use of such card.
C. Final orders of the Commission with respect to benefit overpayments may be recorded, enforced and satisfied as orders or decrees of a circuit court upon certification of such orders by the Commissioner as may be appropriate.