Citation Nr: 21028956 Decision Date: 05/12/21 Archive Date: 05/12/21 DOCKET NO. 18-06 828 DATE: May 12, 2021 REMANDED Whether the request for a waiver of an overpayment in the amount of $2,147.39 for educational assistance benefits under 38 Chapter 33 (Post-9/11 GI Bill) was timely received is remanded. REASONS FOR REMAND The Veteran served on active duty in the U.S. Army from June 2005 to January 2010. This matter comes before the Board of Veterans' Appeals (Board) on appeal from a January 2017 decision by the Committee on Waivers and Compromises (COWC) at the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) Regional Office (RO), which found that the Veteran's request for a waiver of overpayment was not timely received. Pursuant to the Veteran's request, a hearing before a Veterans Law Judge was scheduled for March 2021. He did not appear and no good cause for missing the hearing was provided. The request is thus deemed withdrawn. 38 C.F.R. § 20.603(d). 1. Whether the request for a waiver of an overpayment in the amount of $2,147.39 for educational assistance benefits under the Post-9/11 GI Bill is remanded. The basis of VA's denial of the Veteran's request for waiver of an overpayment for educational assistance benefits is that he did not timely file a waiver request. That is, he did not file a waiver of indebtedness within 180 days of being notified by the Debt Management Center (DMC) of the indebtedness. 38 C.F.R. 1.963. In denying his waiver request, the DMC informed the Veteran that he had been notified of his debt on November 30, 2015 and the increase on December 14, 2015 along with the right to request a waiver and the 180-day time limit for filing an application for waiver. The record shows that the Veteran's waiver request was not received until September 2016. The record includes a copy of the November 2015 DMC notification letter, which informed the Veteran that he had a debt in the amount of $32.09. However, the Veteran asserts that he never received the December 2015 letter reflecting an increase in his debt. Importantly, the record does not include a copy of the December 2015 DMC notification letter. Furthermore, the December 2017 statement of the case (SOC) refers to the Centralized Accounts Receivable On-line System (CAROLS), which is used by the DMC, to indicate that the Veteran was sent the November 2015 and December 2015 notification letters; however, the SOC did not discuss that those letters were actually a part of the record. The purpose of the DMC notification letters is to inform the Veteran of the amount of the overpayment and his waiver rights, to include that he has 180-days in which to request a waiver. Currently, the record only shows that the Veteran was informed of his initial debt in the amount of $32.09 and does not reflect whether he was subsequently informed of the increase in the debt, which amounted to $2,147.39, along with his waiver rights. Given the above, the Board finds that in order to make a fully informed decision regarding whether the Veteran was provided with adequate notice of the amount of his debt, his rights to dispute his debt, and/or request a waiver within the 180-day time limit, a remand is required to attempt to locate a copy of the December 2015 DMC notification letter. The matter is REMANDED for the following actions: 1. Undertake the appropriate steps to obtain a copy of the December 14, 2015 DMC notification letter reflecting an overpayment of education benefits in the amount of $2,147.39. 2. Then, readjudicate the issue on appeal. If the benefits sought are not granted to the Veteran's satisfaction, then the Veteran and his representative should be provided a supplemental statement of the case and an opportunity to respond. If necessary, return the case to the Board for further appellate review. LESLEY A. REIN Veterans Law Judge Board of Veterans' Appeals Attorney for the Board Journet Shaw, Counsel The Board's decision in this case is binding only with respect to the instant matter decided. This decision is not precedential and does not establish VA policies or interpretations of general applicability. 38 C.F.R. § 20.1303.