Citation Nr: 19116409 Decision Date: 03/07/19 Archive Date: 03/06/19 DOCKET NO. 16-58 394A DATE: March 7, 2019 REMANDED Entitlement to a waiver of indebtedness for an overpayment in the amount of $4,622.00, to include whether the creation of the debt was valid, is remanded. REASONS FOR REMAND The Veteran served in the Army National guard from September 1988 to September 1996 and from August 2000 to January 2007, with initial active duty for training (IADT) from March 1989 to June 1989. He had periods of active duty for training (ACDUTRA) from July 2005 to August 2006 and in September 2005. He had additional service in the Army Reserve, with ACDUTRA from August 2008 to September 2008. This matter comes before the Board of Veterans’ Appeals (Board) on appeal from an August 2016 decision issued by the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) Committee on Waivers and Compromises (COWC).   1. Entitlement to a waiver of indebtedness for an overpayment in the amount of $4,622.00, to include whether the creation of the debt was valid is remanded. The Veteran seeks entitlement to a waiver of indebtedness for an overpayment in the amount of $4,622.00, to include whether the creation of the debt was valid. Remand is required for issuance of a statement of the case. In June 2016, the Veteran was sent notice of an overpayment resulting from concurrent drill pay in Fiscal Years 2008, 2009, 2010, and 2011. The notice letter also showed that drill pay adjustments were made at various dates in 2015 and 2016. Later that month, VA’s Debt Management Center (DMC) issued a first demand letter informing the Veteran of a $4,007.40 overpayment and apprising him of his rights. In July 2016, the Veteran timely requested a waiver of this debt on a financial status report form. On a separate piece of paper, he wrote that he has a debt from adjusted drill pay for the years of 2015 and 2016, and he believed this debt to be false since he had not drilled since 2011. In August 2016, the COWC issued a Decision of Waiver on Indebtedness which denied the waiver request for a debt in the amount of $4,622.00; the Veteran’s $4,007.40 debt from drill pay had been combined with an additional $614.60 debt incurred from receiving a higher retroactive payment than entitled. The Veteran timely appealed this decision, and, in December 2016, a statement of the case (SOC) was issued denying the waiver of indebtedness. The SOC did not, however, consider the validity of the debt. The Board finds the Veteran’s July 2016 statement that he believed his debt to be false to constitute an informal challenge of the validity of the debt which was received within a year of notice of the debt. 38 C.F.R. § 20.302(a). Where an appellant challenges the validity of the debt and also seeks a waiver, the agency of original jurisdiction (AOJ) must first fully review the debt’s validity and, if the office believes the debt to be valid, prepare a written decision fully justifying the validity of the debt before referring the waiver request to the COWC. A SOC considering the validity of the debt has not been issued. Accordingly, remand is required for the issuance of a SOC concerning the validity of the debt. VAOPGCPREC 6-98 (Jul. 24, 1998); Schaper v. Derwinski, 1 Vet. App. 430, 434, 437 (1991); 38 C.F.R. § 19.9(c). The matter is REMANDED for the following action: Issue a SOC concerning whether the indebtedness created against the Veteran’s account in the amount of $4,622.00 is valid. If the Veteran perfects an appeal by submitting a timely VA Form 9, the issue should be returned to the Board for further appellate consideration. D. JOHNSON Veterans Law Judge Board of Veterans’ Appeals ATTORNEY FOR THE BOARD Mike A. Sobiecki, Associate Counsel