42 U.S.C. § 1008
Section 1008 · Overpayments and underpayments
This is § 808 of the Social Security Act of 1935
Amended 3 times on record
Applied in 3 court decisions — leading case Burger v. Social Security Board (1946)
Most recently applied in Burger v. Social Security Board (May 1946)
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.
Whenever the Commissioner of Social Security finds that more or less than the correct amount of payment has been made to any person under this subchapter, proper adjustment or recovery shall be made, as follows:
(1) With respect to payment to a person of more than the correct amount, the Commissioner of Social Security shall decrease
(2) With respect to payment of less than the correct amount to a qualified individual who, at the time the Commissioner of Social Security is prepared to take action with respect to the underpayment—
(A) is living, the Commissioner of Social Security shall make payment to the qualified individual (or the qualified individual's representative payee designated under section 1007 of this title) of the balance of the amount due the underpaid qualified individual; or
(B) is deceased, the balance of the amount due shall revert to the general fund of the Treasury.
In any case in which more than the correct amount of payment has been made, there shall be no adjustment of payments to, or recovery by the United States from, any person who is without fault if the Commissioner of Social Security determines that the adjustment or recovery would defeat the purpose of this subchapter or would be against equity and good conscience.
A disbursing officer may not be held liable for any amount paid by the officer if the adjustment or recovery of the amount is waived under subsection (b) of this section, or adjustment under subsection (a) of this section is not completed before the death of the qualified individual against whose benefits deductions are authorized.
(1) In general
With respect to any delinquent amount, the Commissioner of Social Security may use the collection practices described in sections 3711(e), 3716, and 3718 of title 31, as in effect on October 1, 1994.
(2) Definition
For purposes of paragraph (1), the term “delinquent amount” means an amount—
(A) in excess of the correct amount of the payment under this subchapter; and
(B) determined by the Commissioner of Social Security to be otherwise unrecoverable under this section from a person who is not a qualified individual under this subchapter.
For provisions relating to the cross-program recovery of overpayments made under programs administered by the Commissioner of Social Security, see section 1320b–17 of this title.
Editorial notes U.S. Code · Office of the Law Revision Counsel
Prior Provisions
For prior provisions, see note set out under section 1001 of this title.
Amendments
2004—Subsec. (a)(1). Pub. L. 108–203, §210(b)(2)(A), substituted “any payment” for “any payment—”, struck out “(A)” before “under this subchapter”, substituted “section 3720A of title 31.” for “section 3720A of title 31; or”, and struck out subpar. (B) which read as follows: “under subchapter II of this chapter to recover the amount in excess of the correct amount, if the person is not currently eligible for payment under this subchapter.”
Subsec. (b) to (d). Pub. L. 108–203, §210(b)(2)(B), redesignated subsecs. (c) to (e) as (b) to (d), respectively, and struck out heading and text of subsec. (b). Text read as follows: “In any case in which the Commissioner of Social Security takes action in accordance with subsection (a)(1)(B) of this section to recover an amount incorrectly paid to an individual, that individual shall not, as a result of such action—
“(1) become qualified for benefits under this subchapter; or
“(2) if such individual is otherwise so qualified, become qualified for increased benefits under this subchapter.”
Subsec. (e). Pub. L. 108–203, §210(b)(2)(B), (C), added subsec. (e) and redesignated former subsec. (e) as (d).
Effective Date of 2004 Amendment
Amendment by Pub. L. 108–203 effective Mar. 2, 2004, and effective with respect to overpayments under subchapters II, VIII, and XVI of this chapter that are outstanding on or after such date, see section 210(c) of Pub. L. 108–203, set out as a note under section 404 of this title.