14 CFR 1261.409 – Contracting for collection services
(a) When NASA determines that there is a need to contract for collection services, the following conditions shall apply:
Terms Used In 14 CFR 1261.409
- Contract: A legal written agreement that becomes binding when signed.
- Fair Debt Collection Practices Act: The Fair Debt Collection Practices Act is a set of United States statutes added as Title VIII of the Consumer Credit Protection Act. Its purpose is to ensure ethical practices in the collection of consumer debts and to provide consumers with an avenue for disputing and obtaining validation of debt information in order to ensure the information's accuracy. It is often used in conjunction with the Fair Credit Reporting Act. Source: OCC
- Litigation: A case, controversy, or lawsuit. Participants (plaintiffs and defendants) in lawsuits are called litigants.
(1) The authority to resolve disputes, compromise claims, suspend or terminate collection action, and refer the matter for litigation must be retained by NASA.
(2) The contractor shall be subject to the Privacy Act of 1974, as amended, to the extent specified in 5 U.S.C. § 552a(m), and to applicable Federal and State laws and regulations pertaining to debt collection practices—for example, the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (15 U.S.C. § 1692), and 26 U.S.C. § 6103(p)(4) and applicable regulations of the Internal Revenue Service;
(3) The contractor must be required to account strictly for all amounts collected; and
(4) The contractor must agree to provide any data contained in its files relating to collection actions and related reports, current address of debtor, and reasonably current credit information upon returning an account to NASA for subsequent referral to the Department of Justice for litigation.
(5) The debt must not be subject to mandatory transfer to the Department of the Treasury for collection. See 31 CFR 901.5(a) and (b).
(b) NASA shall use Government-wide debt collection contracts to obtain debt collection services provided by private collection contractors. See 31 CFR 901.5(b).
(c) NASA shall fund private collection contractor contracts in accordance with 31 U.S.C. § 3728(d) or as otherwise permitted by law. See 31 CFR 901.5(c).