38 U.S.C. § 5314A — Dispute of indebtedness

(a) Establishment.—The Secretary^* must issue regulations establishing an administrative process for disputing the existence or amount of an “indebtedness” described in section 5314(a)(1). This applies whether or not the Secretary has already made a deduction for that “indebtedness” under section 5314. (b) Standards.—The process must be efficient, effective, and equitable. (c) Timeliness.—The Secretary must make sure that each dispute proceeds according to timeliness standards that the Secretary prescribes under this section. (d) Limitation.—The Secretary may not submit any dispute that is pending under this section to a “debt collector.” This section does not define “debt collector”; it refers to the definition in section 803 of the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (15 U.S.C. 1692a). (e) Rule of Construction.—Nothing in this section changes the procedures for seeking review of a decision by the agency of original jurisdiction^* described in section 5104C(a)(1). This section does not define “indebtedness” or “agency of original jurisdiction.”