31 U.S.C. § 3719
Section 3719 · Reports on debt collection activities
Amended 2 times on record
Applied in 4 court decisions — leading case United States v. Ettrick Wood Products, Inc. (1988)
Most recently applied in United States ex rel. Holloway v. Heartland Hospice, Inc. (June 2019)
How often courts cite this section
Court decisions citing this, by year.Markers show enactment, consequential amendments, and circuit splits over this section — watch for a citation surge after a change or a disagreement. The dip in the last several years is a data-coverage gap, not a real trend — our corpus holds fewer opinions from the most recent years, so recent citations are undercounted.
(a) In consultation with the Comptroller General of the United States, the Secretary of the Treasury shall prescribe regulations requiring the head of each agency with outstanding nontax claims to prepare and submit to the Secretary at least once each year a report summarizing the status of loans and accounts receivable that are managed by the head of the agency. The report shall contain—
(1) information on—
(A) the total amount of loans and accounts receivable owed the agency and when amounts owed the agency are due to be repaid;
(B) the total amount of receivables and number of claims at least 30 days past due;
(C) the total amount written off as actually uncollectible and the total amount allowed for uncollectible loans and accounts receivable;
(D) the rate of interest charged for overdue debts and the amount of interest charged and collected on debts;
(E) the total number of claims and the total amount collected; and
(F) the number and total amount of claims referred to the Attorney General for settlement and the number and total amount of claims the Attorney General settles;
(2) the information described in clause (1) of this subsection for each program or activity the head of the agency carries out; and
(3) other information the Secretary considers necessary to decide whether the head of the agency is acting aggressively to collect the claims of the agency.
(b) The Secretary shall analyze the reports submitted under subsection (a) of this section and shall report annually to Congress on the management of debt collection activities by the head of each agency, including the information provided the Secretary under subsection (a).
Editorial notes U.S. Code · Office of the Law Revision Counsel
In subsection (a), before clause (1), the words “of the United States” are omitted as surplus. The words “the head of” are added for consistency in the revised title and with other titles of the United States Code. In clause (1)(C), the words “uncollectible loans and accounts receivable” are added for clarity. In clause (1)(F), the words “Attorney General” are substituted for “Department of Justice” for consistency in the revised title and with other titles of the Code, including 28:503, 509.
In subsection (b), the word “submitted” is substituted for “received by each agency” for clarity.
Amendments
1996—Subsec. (a). Pub. L. 104–134, §31001(aa)(3)(A)(i), amended first sentence generally. Prior to amendment, first sentence read as follows: “In consultation with the Secretary of the Treasury and the Comptroller General, the Director of the Office of Management and Budget shall prescribe regulations requiring the head of each agency with outstanding debts to prepare and submit to the Director and the Secretary at least once each year a report summarizing the status of loans and accounts receivable managed by the head of the agency.”
Subsec. (a)(3). Pub. L. 104–134, §31001(aa)(3)(A)(ii), substituted “Secretary” for “Director”.
Subsec. (b). Pub. L. 104–134, §31001(aa)(3)(B), which directed that subsec. (b) be amended by substituting “Secretary” for “Director”, was executed by making the substitution to both places where “Director” appeared.
Consolidation of Reports
Section 31001(aa)(4) of Pub. L. 104–134 provided that: “Notwithstanding any other provision of law, the Secretary of the Treasury may consolidate reports concerning debt collection otherwise required to be submitted by the Secretary into one annual report.”