4040 Bankruptcy | FPRU-3450-MANUAL

Households with certain Food Stamp and TANF claims may petition for relief under bankruptcy proceedings. Office of Inspector General (OIG) Fraud Prevention and Recovery Unit (FPRU) acts on behalf of the Federal Food Stamp and State TANF agencies in these proceedings.

Cases in which the assistance unit seeks debt relief through the bankruptcy courts are handled by strict guidelines.

Any claim currently in bankruptcy, as well as any claim established after a bankruptcy is filed, must be suspended from collection until the original bankruptcy is dismissed or discharged. If the order is not amended to include the subsequent claim, collection is resumed for that claim after the bankruptcy is dismissed or discharged.

All documents pertaining to bankruptcy proceedings or status may be forwarded to OIG/FPRU at OIGBankruptcy@dhs.ga.gov.

The OIG FPRU will process a proof of claim form if required and forward the notification to the bankruptcy court or trustee to advise that Food Stamp claims are federal debts and to request that the claim not be included. If excluded, the claim will remain in suspended status until the bankruptcy case is dismissed or discharged. Collection of the debt will resume if the case is dismissed.

For claims that are not excluded by the bankruptcy court:

Exclusion must be documented and tracked manually to ensure correct processing.

Payments received from the Bankruptcy Court are posted by the Centralized Payment Processing Center.