Section 165.44  Acceptable Forms of Food Stamp Payments

The Department shall collect food stamp overpayments by one or more of the following forms of payment:

a)         Reduction of benefits prior to issuance. This includes allotment reduction and offsets to restored benefits.

b)         Reduction of benefits after issuance.  These are benefits from electronic benefits transfer (EBT) accounts.

1)         Prior to collection from active accounts, written permission will be obtained from the household, or oral permission will be obtained for a one time only reduction.  If oral permission is used, a receipt will be sent to the household within 10 days.

2)         Prior to collection from stale accounts, a written notice will be sent telling the household that the benefits will be used to reduce existing overpayment claims if they do not respond within 10 days.

c)         Cash payment or any of its generally accepted equivalents.

d)         Offsets and intercepts of various State payments, including, but not limited to, wage garnishments, income tax refunds and lottery winnings.

e)         Public Service in lieu of paying the claim, when ordered by a court.

f)         Collections through the US Department of the Treasury's collection programs.  (See Section 165.104(e)).

g)         Offset of Unemployment Compensation Benefits if the household agrees or if ordered by a court.

See Section 165.82 for methods of food stamp claim repayment for currently participating households and Section 165.104 for methods of involuntary repayment for nonparticipating households.

(Source:  Amended by peremptory rulemaking at 33 Ill. Reg. 11336, effective July 15, 2009)