42 U.S.C. § 1008 — Overpayments and underpayments

(a) In general. If the Commissioner of Social Security finds that someone was paid more or less than the correct amount under this subchapter, the Commissioner must correct or recover the difference as follows. (1) Overpayment. The Commissioner must reduce any payment under this subchapter owed to the overpaid person^* if that person is a qualified individual^*. Alternatively, the Commissioner must require the person or the person’s estate to refund the excess. If neither method recovers the money, the Commissioner must seek or pursue recovery by reducing tax refunds after notifying the Secretary^* of the Treasury, as authorized by section 3720A of title 31. (2) Underpayment. If a qualified individual was paid less than the correct amount, then, when the Commissioner is ready to act on the underpayment—(A) if the individual is alive, the Commissioner must pay the balance to the individual or to the representative payee designated under section 1007 of this title; or (B) if the individual is dead, the balance must go back to the Treasury’s general fund.
(b) Waiver of recovery of overpayment. When someone was paid more than the correct amount, the United States^* may not reduce payments to or recover money from a person who was not at fault if the Commissioner decides that correction or recovery would defeat this subchapter’s purpose or would be unfair or against good conscience.
(c) Limited immunity for disbursing officers. A disbursing officer is not liable for an amount the officer paid if recovery or correction was waived under subsection (b), or if a correction under subsection (a) was not completed before the death of the qualified individual whose benefits could have been reduced.
(d) Authorized collection practices^*. (1) General rule. For a delinquent amount, the Commissioner may use the collection practices described in sections 3711(e), 3716, and 3718 of title 31, as those provisions existed on October 1, 1994. (2) Definition. Here, “delinquent amount” means an amount that—(A) is more than the correct payment under this subchapter; and (B) the Commissioner determines otherwise cannot be recovered under this section from a person who is not a qualified individual under this subchapter.
(e) Cross-program recovery of overpayments. Section 1320b–17 of this title contains provisions about recovering overpayments made under programs administered by the Commissioner of Social Security across programs.