Some veterans have received a letter from the Department of Veterans Affairs explaining how they intend to “recoup” the advance payments made to over 170K veterans last fall.
On Jan. 25, the VA began sending letters to veterans who received the advance payment. The letters are being sent in phases so as this writing not all affected veterans have been contacted yet.
In addition, a follow-up letter will be sent some time in the near future. A VA official suggested that veterans should wait until they receive the second letter before taking action. Based on the shifting sands of GI Bill policy I highly recommend that vets take that advice.
The following is a list of “recoupment” highlights which have been confirmed so far:
- Letters advising advance payment recipients of the reimbursement process were sent the week of January 25. Letters are being sent by e-mail and through the U.S. Postal Service.
- All advance pay recipients will receive a second letter from VA’s Debt Management Center that provides options for reimbursing VA for the advance payments.
- Deductions may be changed or suspended, as appropriate, if alternate repayment plans are established with the Debt Management Center or while waiver requests are being considered.
- The right to dispute the recovery of the advance and the right to request waiver of recovery will be explained (in the second letter).
- Individuals will be allowed 30 days to respond (to the second letter).
- Options will include establishing a monthly repayment plan.
- Repayment plans can extend as long as one year but each plan will be determined based on individual circumstances.
- If advance pay recipients are currently receiving education benefits and they do not establish a repayment agreement with the Debt Management Center :
- VA will deduct $750 from monthly education payments beginning April 1 (or the full amount if less than $750).
- Post-9/11 GI Bill tuition-and-fee payments to schools will not be affected. (but stipends will)
- Benefits payable as a result of enrollment changes or re-enrollments for additional terms will also be applied to recovery after 30 days.
- Arrangements must be made to repay any balance remaining at the end of the enrollment period, unless the Debt Management Center is notified of plans to re-enroll in the near future.
- Advance pay recipients not currently receiving VA educational benefits must make arrangements with the Debt Management Center to reimburse VA.
- When all efforts to recover are exhausted, the Debt Management Center will forward the remaining balance for collection by the Treasury Offset Program.
So there you have it. Be sure to carefully weigh your options. If you will be enrolled full-time for at least four months after April then you may decide to take no action and let the VA reduce your stipend or monthly MGIB payment. But the choice is yours on how to pay the VA back.
- Terry Howell
We just received the 2nd letter but have not received the first explaining anything and they are closed. How convenient. Why did they issue the money if they wanted it back? It didn't say it was a loan.
ya, no kidding that is what we are wondering, I dont get it!!!!!!!!!!!!!
They did say it was a loan. They called it an advance and they have always been up-front that it was not extra money. Did you think the governemnt was going to just "give" you $3,000?
It was a loan to get you some money quickly while the VA struggled to get on top of paying the flood of claims from the new GI Bill that started in 1 August.
If you do nothing, the VA will start collecting $750 per month beginning in April. If you want to arrange a different payment plan, then call the VA Debt Managment Center listed in your letter and make an alternative payment arrangement.
The ball is in your court. You can be proactive and call them or you can do nothing but piss and moan. Be asured the VA will get their money back one way or the other. If not though this means, they will get it via the IRS and your tax refund.
Well this i all confusing. To answer your question I would say yes I thought they were paying for the classes I have taken since the eligibility date started and I started to attend classes to pay tuition. Which is what I did with the money, paid tuition. Isn't that what the GI Bill is all about? SO let me get this straight. I have been attending class for almost 6 months now. The VA had paid nothing to the financial institute to date, or the book stipend. I take the $3k and pay the school, which by the way did not cover all the costs for the classes and now the VA wants the money back. What a crock of shit. By the way when they sent the money they stated it would be witheld from future payments once they got their act together. Well, what can you say, at least I can hold my head high. I served honorobly for 26 years in 2 war zones, sacrificed and upheld my integrity in the face of adversity. No reason we should expect honesty and integrity from the same system we served. I'll send you your money back, thanks for nothing. What a joke!
Well, one would think that an individual who had served 26 years would know better and have a CLUE about how the CH33 post 9/11 GI Bill works. IF you paid tuition, (Hopefully you served for 3 years after 9.11 and are getting 100%) out of your pocket and with that $3000 advance…thats your dumb fault. And if you haven't been paid after attending 6 months, WHICH I ******* doubt, then your are obviously not doing anything about it ar talking to anyone. If this is the case, the VA is not to blame, YOUR SCHOOL obviously is NOT submitting your certification paperwork for the classes you're attending. Therefore, they are not getting paid and NEITHER ARE YOU. If youre CH33, you DONT PAY FOR ANYTHING BUT FOR YOUR OBLIGATED PERCENTAGE. Sorry about your DUMB A** Luck
A huge idiot…
Thank you so much for your service!! Like you said, it is all confusing. Advance doesn't mean loan to me, if it said it was a loan, do you think veterans would be breaking their backs trying to get it, nope!! Why should we have to pay back something that it is entitled to us???? I could see if it was an overpayment, yes I would pay it back.
You are an idiot….
For one, they didn't issue the money, YOU HAD TO APPLY AND ASK FOR THE ADVANCE. TWO, it was clearly stated that YOU would have to pay this advance back at some point. Do you peaople ever read or do you just keep whining?
Exactly!!! I have been saying this all along!! When they first issued out the letter saying that emergency payments for veterans that have not paid their tuition, they did not say that it was a loan and it needs to be repaid, they did not start putting out the information until the end of the last semester, about "recouping" the emergency funds. My question is this, why would I have to pay something back if it was not given to me in the beginning?? For example, I had to go to two schools last semester, I have not received any stipend or book and supply stipend, the only thing that was paid was one of the schools tuition, which means I have another school an and books and supplies to pay for. I was already kicked out the classes I had for the second school due to waiting for the GI Bill to kick in. I was put back into the system to take classes in lieu of waiting for these funds. How I think of it is for both tuitions for both schools, books and supplies stipend, and the housing stipend each month for the semester is $3000!!!! Now I can see if it was an overpayment then yes of course I will have to pay back.
You know the military does not give anything for free except headaches
Get this…….if your going to a school that certifies you by the quarter and not semesters, debt management is going to recoup all of the money even though your signed up for classes for the next quarter……they tell you on the phone there is nothing they could do about that since your not certified for the next quarter as yet. So I want to know why the hell they didn't figure that shit out before they start recouping monies that we can't afford to pay back.
if what I have read is correct, the $3,000 was a means for those that had paperwork backlogged to attend classes, so the VA "fronted" the money to those who had not started receiving the payments for school. SO, in essence you should have been "double paid" for school, thus why they're asking for the money back after the paperwork clears…
you're not paying back an allowance, you're paying back ADVANCE PAY, THAT YOU HAD TO MAKE THE CHOICE TO RECEIVE. Like most, the option for the Adv Pay was because of the backlog with getting payments issued. NOW, thank goodness, the VA has the right programs and the right people on the job and the paperwork is being processed with a couple of weeks after your school certifies you. Mine for one has run like clockwork since the first of the year.
Well, it's a good thing we know which side the VA stands on……. What about veterans, such as myself, who still have not received our money from the post 9-11 but are given letters to pay back the 3,000.00? It is my opinion that the VA should have calculated the 3,000.00 to come out of the veterans future entitlements and not from the current entitlement that most veterans have been waiting so long to get. If the 3,000.00 advance was calculated to 4 months of benefits, and a veteran had 27 months of benefits left, why didn't they just readjust the veteran to have 23 months of benefits? This would save the VA money as the veteran would still be able to drop or withdraw from school but keep remaining entitlements without being buried in debt.
Good opinion, BUT, the VA is not taking your $3000 back or going to make you pay unitl the VA HAS CAUGHT UP AND PAID YOU ALL THAT YOU ARE OWED. They pay you back pay and if you're taking more than a half load in 8-9 week terms vs traditional 16 week college classes, you even get paid for the week or so breaks in between terms. Finished last Dec on the 13th and started back next term on Jan 10th, Got paid for the whole OFF period and then began receiving regular end of month BAH checks. Jsut started school in Aug, and think they have done a great job to get to this point in only a few months. NEW PROGRAM FOLKS, things do tak time but they are on top of the ball now.
Congrats Bryant. But yes NEW PROGRAM PEOPLE. The system worked for you and you got your money etc. But in my case the va lost my paperwork. I took the advance and i never received my award letter.
Now the letter from the debtman got to me quick no problem. Here is the problem. I am not working right now and my retirement is my only income. Now i am waiting for another award letter. But do you think the debtman waited. NOOOO. i have to pay $300.00 a month and pay for my school and hope the letter arrives has been almost two months and nothing. So yeah you think the system is fine but it did not cause you any hardship like me and many others.
That is true. I am so sorry that you have not YET received anything. Last semester is what messed me up. But this semester they are paying my stipends on time, why didn't they just keep it?? Instead of waiting to April 1st to start taking back funds, I say this because the semester is almost over (Jan-May) or people that attend 8 weeks which they have at Fort Campbell(that is considered a semester). That way if we did pay it back, at least our debt would be down some. Just thinking….
dmitri 100% agree with you just
sorry about the fat fingers. Not enough coffee yet. :)
why would they issue this "alleowane" than say that you werent supposed to get it? This really does not make any sense to me!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!1
LISTEN TO ONE WHO HAS BEEN ARGUING WITH VA FOR NEARLY 50 YRS.
DENIED DENTAL,DENIED EDUCATIONAL BENEFITS AFTER ONE CHANGE,
DENIED TINITUS,DENIED HEARING LOSS AND NOW WAS CHANGED TO
CO/PAY AT VA HOSPITAL. YOU WILL SPEND YOUR LIFE BURIED IN THE
BUREAUCRACY RED TAPE AND ULCERS. (KOREAN SERVICE). ACCEPT
THIS AND MOVE ON WITH YOUR LIFE. YOU CANNOT WIN.
New Motto for the VA: Lies, More Lies and Damn Lies! I agree with you Morack. Better to move on with life rather than waste time fighting a faceless, mindless, ignorant bureaucracy. This action the VA is taking makes absolutely no sense. The real shame is that they are now creating hardships for the same people they are supposed to be helping. They sent the letter to Vets basically stating to apply for the advance (which really is not an advance for those that have been going to school for mearly 6 months without their entitlements paid). Those who applied, received the money and paid their schools (who by the way have been patiently waiting ot be paid for services rendered) ar ebeing asked to pay it back. The VA has still not paid the original entitlements, the Vet has taken the $3k and paid the institution and now the Vet needs to come up with $3k to pay the VA back who still has not paid what the Vet was entitled. Ridiculous! I should have known better!!! Liars!
I received about 1500 in the last two weeks……does this mean that I have to give it back????
I am totally confused…….please somebody help as I been trying to get someone on the phone at the VA office but is imposible they always busy for a change lololol
also do they pay the school or do I use this money for the tuition???
Your $1500 was most likely back pay for your filing period , done by your college VA certifying official. No, you don't give it back and NO< YOU DO NOT PAY FOR ANY OF YOUR SCHOOL IF YOU ARE 100% qualified under 9/11. Depends on your months of active service after 9/11. 3 years or greater = 100%, YOu can check and see what the percentages are fairly easy. THe ADVANCE PAY is $3000 period. YES, that has to be paid back, but in the end, YOU WILL STILL RECEIVE YOUR MONTHLY BAH payment for the period in the form of BACK PAY until you are all caught up and the VA has you receiving BAH payment of a regular EOM basis
they will take the money out of your monthly alotment BAH over the next 3-4 months. goin through the same thing
nope i took out 3000 and last month they took my whole 1400.00 had no idea till i called today…crooks
they did the SAME thing to me!!! i could't pay rent!!! they royally f*ed my family!!! i blew up their phone (literally called over 100 times a DAY for 3 DAYS to get a PERSON instead of a busy signal!!) and the person acted like I was a nutcase for going off!!!
What the fuck….I am going to fight this shit.. I never even got the first letter
if you live in texas send a message here!!!!
http://cornyn.senate.gov/public/index.cfm?p=Conta…
THE NUMBER IS ALWAYS BUSY!!!!
WTF!!!
i called 0ver 100 times every day for 3 days to get thru…..
FELLOW CALIFORNIANS
TELL EM HOW THIS MAKES YOU FEEL!
http://gov.ca.gov/interact#email
DISSENT IS YOUR RIGHT.
DO NOT LIE DOWN AND BE TRAMPLED UPON.
also http://www.sen.ca.gov/~newsen/senators/senators.h…
I just got off the phone with 1800-gibill1 and they said I didnt get my payment cuz they accidentally took the WHOLE THING for this 'DEBT' I now have. If anyone would have said to me 'The Post 9/11 GI BILL is a great way to accumulate a false sense of security and EVEN MORE DEBT' I would have never signed up, better yet, I would have never even enlisted in the first place.
But you see, I was promised a grand and triumphant ease of life after my enlistment, So I signed on, did my time, paid my dues, stood at attention, fixed master chiefs IVCS Terminal countless times, cranked in the mess hall and many other things I COULD NEVER BE PERSUADED TO DO WITHOUT THESE BENEFITS. and now… I ask YOU DEBT MANAGEMENT CENTER… WHERE THE HELL IS *MY* Money?
AMEN TO THAT!!!! EXACT SAME BOAT, RIGHT HERE!!!!
sad you could only be persuaded to defend your country through money. It's called service for a reason. Glad I didn't have a half hearted soldier like you fighting next to me.
Even my phone company sends me a bill before they take my money!
I cant pay my RENT!
Yay another homeless veteran.
Don't laugh, YOU COULD BE NEXT.
Spare a dime, shipmate?
THIS WHOLE THING IS FISHY AND A CROCK OF SH*T!!!! i'm always exasperated at how the gov't takes their time when THEY owe YOU money, but when YOU owe THEM—HOLD ON TO YOUR @$$ES CUZ YOU'LL BE BROKE TIL THE COWS COME HOME!!!!
Listen guys, I'm sorry for ranting.
Its ok, I'm sure my 1 Year Old Daughter will make lots of new playmates when we go to sleep at the YMCA.
O good, I finally got through, then it 'dials an extension' and tells me that 'due to technical difficulties they cant take my call, call us back tomorrow'
WTF SO NOW YOU JUST STOP ANSWERING THE PHONE??
THATS A FINE WAY TO TREAT SOMEONE WHO YOU OWE BENEFITS AND ARE TRYING TO SAY OWES YOU!! DECEIT!! TREACHERY!!! THIS IS WRONG!
and now they are closed. 4pm CST, yea well that makes their office hours for californians 5:30am to 2pm PST. THIS IS F-ING RIDICULOUS!
People, IF YOU SPEAK TO ANYONE regarding this advance BS, I would encourage you to tell them it should not be repaid but rather subtracted from your total months of coverage. I think we all were allowed to *hope* this would happen and IT IS THE MOST REASONABLE THING TO DO! How can you reasonably expect to incur debt on such an individual while delivering on late promises and making up for your own DEBT. We have waited for our BENEFITS. VA can *wait* too, we cannot.
perhaps if enough of us show them we simply cant afford/allow this, perhaps they will realize they must amend the repayment terms to merely subtract the adequate number of months of coverage from the end!
Dont forget YOU CAN ASK TO WAIVE REPAYMENT!! here is the details:
http://www1.va.gov/debtman/page.cfm?pg=16
Please post updates if you have em, people are listening.
I was under the impression it was going to come off the back end, so instead of 36 months of payments we would get 33 or whatever ya know? Doesnt that make sense? I feel betrayed…I just dont have it guys….The ol government just wont fully take the D out of our A's will they?
I hear ya, others have said the same and I completely agree. Be proactive dude, it helps all of us, we all need to keep calling and let them know this is not going to work billing us a debt when us and our families depend on this income.
I just filled out the waiver request and I'm faxing it before they even open tomorrow (7:30am CST) and once they open I'm ringin em and tellin them 'I can't pay and right now I cant even drive to school or have a buck for the bus, you see, I was SUPPOSED to get this payment and well it got withheld over this advance and now I am looking at surviving rent unpaid, bills stacking for 30+ days… HOW? IT CANT BE DONE!
We need to blow up their fax machines with these requests!
"We need to blow up their fax machines with these requests! "
That won't help.
As much as I am against the privatization of government services, there is a time and place for contractors in government…and a temporary and drastic increase in workload is one of them. They really should have gone with the original plan and used contractors to process chapter 33 claims last summer. With more manpower to handle things in a more discriminating manner a lot of the errors that are coming to light now probably would not have happened. Coulda shoulda hadda woulda, I guess.
Yep just got the first one…..
This would be funny if it weren't so sad. I think imma take a vow to never take any sort of "benefit(s)" from the "va"g. They just seriously hit an all-time low.
Them and all they "stand for" is complete garbage. Sorry if this is offensive to anyone but when I think of the "va"g…… I think of dog do-do. Yuck. anyway im not paying this, they can sap it outta my taxes like they tried to last year. They need to disappear in some mysterious, horrific manner.
Acutally now I take it back about it being sad. Its just funny to me. They're not doing this because they believe we "owe" them. They're doing it because they're BROKE!!
Losers
Oh and whoops. Why do I have this letter explaining to me that they'll deduct the advance funds from my GI Bill the day I got the advance?
Hmmm……funny how that all worked out.
I thought the whole point of the advance pay was to catch up on the payments we have not received yet. I didn't receive my first BHA payment until January, so I believe the VA still owes me from Sept, Oct, Nov. and Dec. So if my calculations are correct, they still owe me $1,000 plus after deducting the $3000. I should have known better when the advance payment option barely had any details about what it was all about, that it was to good to be true. So here I sit with a $3000 bill, when the whole point of all this GI BIll post 9/11 was to better assist the veteran with their education, NOT put the veteran under undo stress and DEBT !!!
ok this is sooooo bullcrap… look at what i found
http://www.gibill.va.gov/advpayqa.htm
Question: Will I have to pay this advance payment back to VA?
Answer: The payment will be recouped from your future VA payments. However, if you stop attending school during the semester or reduce your course load to a level that affects your monthly benefit, full recoupment by VA may not be possible, and you will have to repay any remaining balance.
http://www.gibill.va.gov/advpay.htm
The advance payments will be reconciled with future education payments owed to you.
we have been trying to call the office for 3 days now… always busy!!
We are real people with real concerns. If you cannot be helpful then stay out of it!
I got through to both offices today and here is what I learned guys….They are taking back 400 a month from me which I can afford because I am using the OLD gi bill. But my problem was that my tuition was 1500 every 2 months so if they took 750 from me a month I would only be left with 1200 to pay for tuition. The kicker is, I wouldnt have enough to pay for tuition so I would have to come out of pocket but if I dont then my college wont let me continue me education, and if that happens I wont get any more checks from the VA to garnish. Make sense to you? Because it doesnt to me Here is what I am doing guys, and I suggest the same if you can financially afford it. I am swithcing colleges and using federal student loans to pay back the VA right away and then when my checks go back to normal I will take whatever I have left over and pay off the student loan. The whole process will take me 2 months and it wont cut into my budget, so I suggest that if your credit is ok. Hope this helps guys….By the way, where are all our congressmen when all this is going on? hhhhmmmm??
Brian
I can top everyone here. I did take the emergency check, and knew full well that if they never took it out of my future payments, they might come after me in letters. So $3000 isn't too bad if the monthly payment arrangement is reasonable.
However, for some reason, before I even got a letter saying I owe them $3000 (that letter mentioned nothing of the emergency check nor what to do about) I had received FOUR OTHERS saying I owed the full tuition for Fall '09 and Spring '10 (which I am in the middle of right now). As well as the full grand for books and supplies.
So, yeah. The VA says I owe them =/-$10k. The letters for tuition mention that I was informed of a change in my benefits, however the only change I am aware of is my declining of Chapter 30 for Chapter 33. Th weird thing is, if I – for some malevolent reason – were not supposed to be getting Chapter 33, why haven't they claimed that I owe them for the BAH they've been paying me?
Even weirder, they actually overpaid the school tuition by ~$4,000.
I have called and got the busy tone. I have sent snail mail – and got a letter yesterday saying my debt was wrong by ~$123. I have also emailed.
The VA person at the Bursar's Office was no help. I wouldn't be so freaked if it weren't for the fact I'm expecting huge medical bills soon. I think it's time to mail some representatives, congressmen, and some national news outlets. I don't ask for much as a vet. Only that the country that I served doesn't treat me like their own GD piggy bank.
So it seems I'm not the only person who got one of these letters while not owing anything. (And in my review of all the payments it looks like I'm actually owed somewhere in the neighborhood of 300-700 dollars).
It seems to me that all of this could have been avoided if whoever had sent out the letters had bothered to check their mailing list and whatever list was sent to debt collection against the actual balances on the accounts. Or if they aren't planning on actually deducting from people who don't have a debt, they could have said something like "if this money has not already been deducted it will be deducted at such and such rate" rather than freaking everyone out. Because as it stands, people like me, who aren't even sure whether they have a problem, are clogging up the phone lines for people who definitely do have problems.
This is the fault of one person or one small group of people, making things more difficult for every beneficiary and every other VA employee.
And not having more information about this situation on any of the VA web sites is completely idiotic. How many phone calls could they be rendering unnecessary right now?
Oh lovely. They do have a notice on the debt management page now. With helpful information about how you can pay your debt more expediently. BECAUSE THAT IS WHAT PEOPLE WERE HAVING TROUBLE WITH.
There is also a link for how to request a waiver, which I suppose is what a lot of you guys are looking for, but nothing at all about disputing the very existence of the debt, which is what I and some other posters here are looking for.
I got through. Sounds like if you received this notice in error, it is the education department's fault. I was told that they should be able to clear any erroneous debt collections, since they sent the debts in the first place. I was also told that I should send in a written request, and that to do so I just need to write a letter.
If you're in the same situation as me (I believe I am actually owed money, not the reverse) and you just needed to know what to do about it, well, you can probably skip this one phone call, but you've probably got others to make now.
AMEN TO THAT spoonybard.hahs!
I sure hope they open up more lines. I keep getting a busy signal. This is getting ridiculous. Has anyone gotten through to the debt management center? I am trying to make payment arrangements so they don't gouge my housing payment. I only work part time and cutting my housing payment would kill my finances. I agree with the previous posts, they should have just reduced everyone's benefits by the amount paid in advance. Are they broke or something? They send these letters out as if they made a mistake.
KEEP CALLING, THE NUMBER DOES WORK I HAVE GOTTEN THROUGH BEFORE. Still trying this morning as I've been broke for a WEEK now and RENT IS DUE!
OK THIS IS BS. now they are routing the phone # to the website with an automated msg once you are able to get in.
at least the website has suicide prevention hotline right there @ the top for *emergencies* lol… not gettin rid of me that easily VA.
O im sorry VA, I had no idea serving my country would land me in such horrible debt.
I called debt management and they had 'started the process' of refunding my unethically withheld entire benefit for the month of february (i should have recieved nearly $2,000 on Mar 1st). They told me it somehow takes the US Dept Of Treasury up to 10 days to make a direct deposit. Truly amazing when you consider that it only takes starbucks or am/pm payroll a few seconds to pay their employees.
I asked this person if their is any emergency aid available for us and she said I had to call the normal GIbill line and ask them, but to not expect my money this month until at least the 8th or 9th. So I call up the normal gibill line 888gibill1 and they answer and I tell them what happened and the woman basically just went 'no… no… no…there is no emergency program'.. and I said 'so nobody can help me?' and she gleefully replied 'NOPE'
I fucking hate the va now.
LETS CALL THE PRESIDENT EVERYONE DO THIS TO COMPLAIN MAYBE IT WILL HELP…
You can also call or write to the President:
The White House
1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW
Washington, DC 20500
Please include your e-mail address
Phone Numbers
Comments: 202-456-1111
Switchboard: 202-456-1414
FAX: 202-456-2461
I'm callin! Lets do this!
Lets let em know we wont be quiet, I dont expect Mr Obama to jump in and save us, but we all know if we dont holler loud enough, no one will hear our pleas!
Ok guys, I just FAXED the president.
I have an easy to perform way to get your message to him as well.
I used OpenOffice (you can also use word but OpenOffice is free) and created a letter to President Obama in which I detailed the problem we are having. Saved it to my hard drive and then opened my browser to gotfreefax.com ( I AM NOT SPAMMING ) they will let you either type in or attach a .DOC or .RTF and fax anywhere in the US/CANADA for free 2 per day. They dont spam, its totally free and I use em for faxing resumes so might wanna bookmark em.
So there you go, make a .doc of your gripes and FAX it to the number Bob so graciously supplied us with: 202-456-2461 goto the site I mentioned (if you dont have a way to send faxes already) and send your doc via fax. It will show up like any normal fax and the whitehouse wont know you sent it from the internet so it will be treated as a real fax. of course, for all I know that may mean that it gets thrown in the incinerator. but at least we are trying! I bet if they get 100+ faxes in a weekend they wont be so smug on monday.
just in case anyone needs any ideas on what to say, here is what I sent, I removed my personal details name, address, etc.. make sure if you use this text that you modify it to be relevant to your actual situation and not just a copy of mine.
I suggest including your name/address/email on any official correspondence with the white house, as I think thats the only way it gets taken seriously and/or answered.
Dear Mr President,
When I phoned 1-888-GIBILL1 and inquired as to why my Post 9/11 Housing Stipend was not received, I was told that it had been withheld, IN ITS ENTIRETY, to repay the Housing Stipend Advance. The representative told me that I should have received a letter detailing repayment, I have received no such notice. She also informed me that it SHOULD have been withheld starting in April and that only $750 should have been withheld. She told me that I must call 1-800-827-0648, and ask to have my stipend released and my deduction reduced to a more manageable payment plan. After receiving a busy signal for SEVERAL HOURS, I managed to get through and find out it was withheld completely to cover this $3,000 which is now being referred to as DEBT. I fail to understand how I can accumulate a massive debt by participating in a program where I receive BENEFITS.
Thus far, my Housing Stipend I should have received on Feb 28th or March 1st of roughly $1,800 was withheld completely and is causing me terrible hardship. I have a 1 year old daughter and my rent alone is $1,225 which now I have nothing to pay it with. I put my complete faith in the fact that if I made sure to maintain my educational good status that I would not be left in the cold,so to speak. The VA has done exactly that, left me shivering and alone when I thought my military service had entitled me to this particular security.
I cannot possibly convey the distress it has caused me to know this method of collection would be used, so soon after the advance, and without any warning, Myself and several others I have spoken with all believed the most likely way to recover the advance would be to subtract them from the total months of coverage remaining, instead of creating an abrupt and unwarranted interruption of benefits.
Please look into this pressing matter which currently affects MANY VETERANS. I am only 30 years old, I am not looking to become a homeless vet when I have so much potential still to be harnessed through my education. The VA debt management team tells me they have referred the matter to the US Treasury and are processing my refund of $1,566 (my normal benefit minus a $250 payment) but they tell me it will take until the 9th to complete. Today is the 4th, and my rent is now accruing late fees, and on the 7th my landlord will likely file for eviction due to non payment. In addition to this, a few very small debit card payments have bounced (ON THE VERY DAY MY DEPOSIT WAS DUE) and caused me over $300 in overdraft charges. The VA has done everything but come over and set my house on fire personally, and that might be less insulting. I am not the only veteran suffering. Please help us.
grrrrr still broke as a joke
Hi, just an update, no money yet, but I did get this nifty eviction notice. THANKS VA!
Well I finally received all of my housing allowance for Fall 2009 in mid December….but nothing since……because some idiot overlooked the fact that I took a combination of on campus and online courses. The idiot at the VA thinks I only took online classes so now the VA says I OWE them close to $9,000 because they want all of Fall BAH returned and I am not receiving any of my housing allowance for the Spring 2010 semester. So until it is corrected I am once again dipping into my emergency savings that I replenished after the VA disaster in the Fall left me with nothing. I am also racking up the credit card bills and crossing my fingers I don't have to wait until I graduate (2 more years) for the VA to get their act together to get my money without any issues.
@Shelly,
It makes me devastatingly sad to know this has happened to you. It is good you have savings but, I am sure, of little comfort with such uncertainty lying ahead.
I hope we all get this sorted out, I hope we are all allowed to continue our lives without fear. I hope this salvation comes before it is too late.
I would urge you to continue pressing them daily via phone or fax. It seems the only way I have gotten any response.
The topic GI Bill "Advanced Pay" Payback Details | Military.com is totally new for me, but it sounds very interesting. I will read more about this topic and make me my own opinion. Thanks, Wein Smith
UPDATE:
Still no money. VA Debt Management (800-827-0648) says it should be here on the 9th or 10th (today is the 8th,been calling since the 1st). I told them I'm about to be evicted and they are faxing a letter with VA letterhead to my landlord, stating that this is 'their fault' and that my funds were 'withheld incorrectly' and they are emailing me a copy as well.
So at least I got them to admit that this is all their wrongdoing and none of this is my fault. I'll post the email here once I get it since the VA admitting they borked up is clearly a monumental event. lol
POSTMAN – the $225.02 is your Book Stipend. You can get up to $1000 per year. Can't figure out yet why they're throwing in the extra 2 cents though. Guess they are having a bit of humor (2 cents worth) to deal with a lot of idiots out here (Vets) who keep constantly complaining about this deal. Obv, your location e5 BAH is 1180 OR you don't receive 100% benefits if you're disputing the 1180.
Book Stipend:
$41.67 X # of credit hours
$41.67 X 24 credits = 1000.08
(continuing from my first response)
I had a VA Rep call the Education Center and the Debt Management and was told that the $3000 will be taken any way regardless, even if they have to dip into the compensation or social security, and then later once it is paid off and they see that you don't owe that much they will send you the money back!!! WTF!!! Excuse the french. I am so disappointed in this new GI Bill it is ridiculous!! Makes me want to stop going to school. I have done everything that I was supposed to do to make sure that my application was in on time and any other information that they needed, and not only me but other veterans, that are working just as hard to get an education and take care their families, are probably just as disappointed as well.
I can understand most people's frustrations, but the nagging question i see is where did that money go when you recieved it? Mine went to pre-paying bills as well as getting caught up. So in my case I had a surplus that kept my head above water. Now I am, like everyone else, barely making ends meet. Only difference, I knew that this "emergency advance" was to be paid back. I too, want it to come off the end of my entitlement, but there is no guarentee that Ill use the whole entitlement with todays economy. I fully understand the VA's method and agree with it too. BTW call center said today that they have just started to slow down in volume. great time to haggle. Im disabled, working, and going to school. My advice is Suck it Up, and Drive on Soldier. HOO-AHH!!
How about you shut the F up. you can go suck it up off your boyfriend you ***.
HEREs where the money goes…to life. heard of that..maybe you should get one.
What emergency advance???… there was advanced pay for GI bill. Why would we have to pay back the goverment.NOBAMA—for something i payed for while serving this country that is going to sht…
KEEP YOUR STUPID ADVICE TO YOURSELF UNLESS SOMEONE ASKS FOR IT
Check your bank statements folks and do the math on how many BAH payments you should have received. I received nearly $4000 in back pay in December after I got my $3000, so I know that I owe back the money no question.
If they owe you money, then request a refund. If not, then pay back what you owe.
I had to pay back thousand bucks cause I had a nonpunitive grade, and also the 3000 from the advance pay. I paid in full,luckly I had some savings built up..so there goes that now!..my last bah recieved was for Feburary. None since then, so why did they stop my BAH???? Thank you.
***Just got through to them!! They dropped my deduction to 250/mo..I was told that 122,000 letters were sent out and there are only 26 associates available to answer the phones!!
***Also, you CAN elect to have the 3,000 deducted from your remaining benefits if you fill out the debt waiver. Good luck brothers!! I got through at 9:17 EST
The number is ALWAYS busy. Ive been trying to get through for weeks. This is BULLSHIT. Their just going to take $750 out and im going to be fucking broke. So I ill probably need to get a job and I wont have as much time for school. So much for my 4.0 GPA. Assholes
So I'm glad that I am not in this big load of BS myself. In my case I took the advance pay knowing that if I was fully backpaid that I would have to repay the 3k….however, I was not ever backpaid they still owe me money, now they are trying to keep it from me. In addition I have been calling for 2 weeks trying to get through. I work full time and im sure my employer is not real happy with me making phone calls ever 15 or 30 min…I really don't have time to play these games…I should have listend to a buddy when he recommended not taking the advance…he said "Man you know that they are going to F*** that up like they do everything else"…Now I'm kicking myself.
You’re not the only one. My buddy said the same thing to me…now I am kicking myself with both feet.
I'm with you, what up with the 225.02. I got 250.02, whaere does that come into play????
VA failed to back pay me for three months worth of BAH and the book stipend from last semester. I received the advance check thinking that maybe it would all equal out somehow. Then all of a sudden they tell me I owe THEM $3,000. I'm almost certain I owe them a little money, maybe $500 to $1000, but I know it is not the full amount of the emergency check.
I went on and set up the $250 recoupment plan… just to bide the time until I can find something better to do. Thinking I may have to give up the apartment to continue going to school. My job covered everything but my rent… that's what my BAH payment took care of.
Gonna go get some ramen noodles now.
I submitted my waiver 3 weeks before the cut off date……Debt Managment took all of my money before the April 1st date. They said they was starting with $750 but if your attending a school that go by quarters and not semesters they take all the money one time, I mean all….. I am enrolled in classes for the new quarter since January but the certifying officials don't certify you until the first week of classes. The Debt managment said that is our problem not thiers. This shit is so frustrating because they don't have their shit together and we have to pay for their mistakes.
I did contact my Congresswoman since my son was not paid from Aug 09 to Feb 10. I don't think she really cared-but the VA still wants its $2000 back starting April 1. There is not a more screwed up government program out there, its hurting alot of people
Today is the first I have heard of this April 1st thing. I woke up this morning checked my account and lookie there, I'm missing $750 of my BAH. I only received $350!!! How the hell am I suppose to pay rent with $350?? Where is my letter that I was supposed to have received?? I guess thats my problem and not theirs as usual. I cannot believe they are not held accountable for wrecking veterans lives….Look out bridge here I come!! Fucking VA!!!!
Contact IAVA and write them a letter telling them what happened! I got my letter just before deadline date and sent back my report and they still took $750 from me too. IAVA is taking all vets complaints to congress about this so just contact them.
See the latest post on the GI Bill recoupment glitches.
I e-mailed in the form that allows payment over 12 months. The 250 was taken out this month. Worked okay for me, so far. Gool luck to all of you.
I have not recieved any letters at all and yet they took the 750 dollars out this month without any notice. I am in the same boat as the rest of you, way over budget and can't even pay child support now. What is this number I am supposed to call?
Contact IAVA.org
See the post on the latest issues caused by recoupment – GI Bill Recoupment Glitch
PLEASE HELP ME OUT
I am a graduate student seeking my Master’s degree in Social Work at California State University, Northridge. I am also a 10 year Army veteran.
The purpose of the survey found by clicking the link below is to gather information about veterans' experience with the Post 9-11 GI BILL. In addition, there are a few questions that ask your opinion about how the receipt of emergency funds affected you personally.
https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/DGQRQP6
All your responses will be kept confidential within reasonable limits.
Completion and return of this survey indicate voluntary consent to participate in this study.
Questions about this study can be directed to me at leah.mcgowan.72@my.csun.edu
Thank you for taking the time to assist me in this research.
LT LM,
I completed the survey however you should definitely double check for grammar.
PART 1: I WAS PART OF THE 15TH MEU (SOC) BLT1/1. WE WERE THE FIRST UNIT ON THE GROUND IN AFGANISTAN. I EASed BEFORE ALL THIS NEW GIBILL STUFF STARTED. SO I DON'T KNOW MUCH ABOUT THAT. HOWEVER DUE TO A FAMILY EMERGENCY I HAD TO DROP OUT OF CLASSES NOW I OWE MONEY. IT WAS MY UNDERSTANDING THAT IF I PAID IT BACK IT WOULD JUST GO BACK INTO MY ACCOUNT AND IT WOULD BE AVAILIABLE TO ME AGAIN. NOW THERE IS ALL THIS POST 9/11 GI BILL STUFF THAT WAS NOT IN PLACE WHEN I STARTED SCHOOL. I SHOULD RATE IT AFTER ALL WE WERE THE FIRST ONES THERE. MY UNIT EVEN CAPTURED THAT TRAITOR JONNY WALKER. NOW I WANT WHAT I AM ENTITILED TO BUT NO ONE HAS ANY ANSWERS. I PAID FOR THIS IN BLOOD LITERALLY AND OWER FALLEN BROTHERS TOO. JUST TO COME HOME AND GET EMPTY PROMISES AND LIES. I AM NOW IN DEBT BECAUSE I SERVERD MY COUNTRY AND NO ONE CAN SEEM TO POINT ME IN THE RIGHT DIRECTION. A LITTLE HELP IS ALL I NEED
.PART2: AFTER WW1 VETERANS MARCHED ON WASHINGTON FOR THE PROMISES THAT THE GOVERMENT MADE BUT NEVER FOLLOWED THROUGH WITH. THEY HAD TO CAMP OUT IT TOOK SO LONG. THEY EVENTUALLY GOT CHASED OFF BUT THAT MAY BE WHAT IT TAKES FOR US TO GET WHAT WE WERE PROMISED. IT IS SICKENING THAT THE GOVERMENT CAN PICK AND CHOOSE WHICH PARTS OF OUR CONTRACTS TO HONOR BUT IF I WAS TO DO THE SAME I WOULD BE LOCKED UP OR IN SOME OTHER SERIOUS SITUATION. WE NEED TO BAND TOGETHER. I AM WILLING TO TAKE ANY ACTION THAT WILL GET OUR VETS, OUR BROTHERS WHAT THEY WERE PROMISED, WHAT THEY EARNED, EVERY THING WE DO AND TAKE FOR GRANTED VETERANS PROVIDED. IT IS TIME THEY GET WHAT THEY DESERVE. I WOULD JUST BE HAPPY WITH WITH WHAT I WAS PROMISED.
i did not get my dic up grade for 2010, what happen. evelyn
i'm impressed they ONLY took the $750!! they took ALL of MY benefits for April AND may!!! AFTER I SET UP THE PAYMENT 'PROGRAM'! the VA and gov't are full of SAHIT!
i got through!!!! Keep dialing. I filled out the collection by offset form so they'd take 225/month off of the top of my monthly stipend instead of the $750 I was surprised by on April 1st. Things look good for me now.
i hope somebody important hears all of us out…this $3000 advance pay was complete BS from the beginning…nobody should have to repay this when the VA knew this was all going to happen. At one Ft. Hood bank alone they cashed out over $30,000 in these checks before someone thought about it and put a stop to it. The VA is just taking it out on soldiers and vets that they made this mistake. I want somebody to tell me ONE…just ONE…soldier or vet that isnt going to take advantage of $3000…also any of us who came in before this new GI bill and paid for the old GI bill pretty much legally own all rights to these benefits…we f***ing paid for them! And on top of that anyone whos served in combat has paid well over what should ever be paid for education benefits. If you really look closely at all of this it looks way too much like the VA set this up for their own benefit in some way
…If anyone could possibly find the original web pages that were used to apply for the advance pay they can clearly see that one page says nothing about who it was specifically for and the page where you submit application finally states it at the very bottom in tiny print. Also, how did they not track who was and wasnt entitled to this? Even though we all should be. Finally, if they want it repaid they should take months off of the benefits as others have stated. Most of them being vets themselves should understand the needs of soldiers, and the issues soldiers face especially during a time war. Debt is the main cause of all issues in the military. The VA knows this and doesnt give a S**T. Probably cuz most of them are a bunch of POG'S and arent true vets, they just think they are with their 180 days active duty or their 20+ years with no deployments to a f***ing war zone. F**k this whole f***ing thing. I know nobody will fix this or help us but i have every right to voice my god d***ed f***ing opinion on this! 8===D
how do i get hold of these people??????the number is busy !!! and all other numbers say all reps are busy to try call again???????
Hmmm… I thought the check was to cover everyone that did not get their normal payments. Now I am getting threats from the VA to turn me into the Credit Bureau. My plan was to graduate with no or very little debt. I can throw that out of the window. This cannot be legal.
What a relief to hear everyone having all of the same problems. I must have had some major luck because I called right at 7:30 (8:30 my time) and I spoke to "Frank"… not a very friendly guy either. He told me they didnt receive the financial form I filled out more than TWO months ago. So now I am getting threatening letters saying they will turn my account over to collections. Terrific!!!! My benefits expired last Nov so now I am liable for this debt. Even though more than one VA Rep told me I could extend my expiration date.
These people are so rude and incompetent… How hard is it to take out what was agreed to when I set up a payment plan. Now every month they take way too much and have added another debt by "accident" and this month took my disability.. WTF.. What's so hard about take what you agree to and let me live on the rest.. They get their money every month but by the time I have to pay late fees and overdrafts fees to my bank for bills bouncing I don't have enough to break even… YAY another homeless veteran.. Landlord gave me til the end of the year to be out and I already owe him 3 months in back rent. Thanks Debt Management for screwing over your veterans!!!
How many of you were not enrolled in school at all, still on active duty, stationed at a base somewhere, was able to fill out the application on the VA website, got a $3000 check 3 days later, and now 9 months later, start taking it out of your base pay, I'am an E-4 with a family of 5, I don't retire till 2013, I'm PCSing in 2 months, and the VA took out $390 out of my base pay, so we have no money now for the holidays, anyone else in the same boat?
and this is why i hate anything to do with payment paper work or anything to do with personal gain or personal prosperity threw the gov.! they dont care and they have shit bags working that dont care because its gov. work! i drives me insane!!
Obama is an anti-colonialist who is WORKING to make sure America is in financial, economic, & governmental ruins by the time he is out of office. Look at his horrific policies! The stimulus FAILED to produce jobs (it made a ******** of gov. Jobs which just adds to the debt, the bailouts.. FAILURES, Obamacare mandate was just deemed UNCONSTITUTIONAL by a federal judge in Florida who took the suits from the 26 states that sued the federal gov’t, & now he is trying to cripple the ultimate force on the planet.. the United States Armed Forces! And I will be damned if he sees it through. We have to stop this man!
I was stationed at Fort Hood im a E-4 and my NCO told me about it he said hey u want a extra $3k? im like from were and how? hes like u fill this form out online and the VA sends u a check its yours because when i was going through Basic and AIT they take that $ so you can have it later. I'm like oh ok cool. so i did it and i read it the original page to do it on said FOR ALL ACTIVE DUTY SOLDIERS, it didnt say prior active duty either, so im like ok cool filled it out got check and 3 months later got the letter saying i owe that shit im like WTF?? so yea the whole thing in my opinion was a scam to make $ fast companies do it all the time . or maybe there trying to also get more $ because of that fun doomsday theory about 2012 and they want a ticket to survive and they need more $ to get the ticket LOL each tickets roughly 5 billion!! this is Horse Shit!!!!!! -_-
i had to drop out of college because i could no longer attend clinicals because i am pregnant. i was only in school for about 25 days, i was unaware of my pregnancy before i officially started attending. im told i might end up having to pay back some money for the CH 33 GI BILL that my father transfered to me. is this true? if so what exactly am i paying back? am i paying back the money they gave me for BAH?
I do not get this. I withdrew from classes due to mitigating circumstances from my Military service. I actually spoke with my Counselor, GI Bill Customer Service and they both told me I could waiver due to mitigating circumstances. I was in summer school!!! If you miss two days you have basically failed due to attendance. They never told me that I would lose my monthly BAH due to this. I went to part time at work and now just basically work for insurance and take 15 hours of school. We served our country and this is the thanks we get. I was treated better by Iraqi's. What am I saying I loved my Military service. This is ridiculous though. I have a family. Complete BS. Dealing with the VA is a battle in itself. At least in combat you feel like you are accomplishing something. These folks work at there own pace and could care less what we are going through. They know they are getting paid. Last I was told my waiver was in D.C. Looks like I'm going to write my congressman and see the local VSO.
How do I find out the balance of what I owe? They been taking money for over two years now!!
I to have had to pay $41,000.00 Dollars back to debt management two times over from offsets from my disablity va checks. In 1998 I was informed that my ex-wife reported me to va for an award on a settlement agreement that va said I recieved in 1995,whitch I never saw any c kind of settlement money untll 1998. But va was so hard at it to go with my wifes accusasions that they would not listen to any thing I had to say.Thay took my benefits in 1998 till2006. after I started my benefits again they started takeing 300 per month and in 2010 I recieved my 100% service connection and they took the whole $41,000.00 out of my 62 back pay. Can any one tell me how I can get my money back that va stoled from me? I surely would be graetful. SIGHNED<BADLY MESSED OVER
how about we dont give up. how about we dont the goverment get away with it. we should control them not the other way around. When we give up thats when they have all the control. Theres gotta be a way