The following information must be supplied to the S.C. Association of Counties before debts can be submitted to the S.C. Department of Revenue under the provisions of the Setoff Debt Collection Act.
Under the provisions of S.C. Code §12-56-65, a Hearing Officer must be appointed to hear a protest of a debtor. (Note: The Hearing Officer shall not be the same person as the Coordinator.)
- A Hearing Officer is vested with the authority to decide a protest in favor of either the debtor or the entity. Each entity must certify to SCAC the hearing officer’s name, address, and telephone number.
- If a debtor wishes to protest a debt, he or she must notify the Claimant Agency in writing within 30 days of the date of the notice of intention to set off. The protest letter must include the debtor’s name, address, social security number, type of debt in dispute, and a detailed statement of all reasons debtor disputes the debt.
- Claimant Agency must send a Notice of Protest (GEC-2) to SCAC when a protest letter is received.
- The Hearing Officer must notify the debtor of the date, time, and location of the informal hearing.
- After a ruling is made, the Hearing Officer must send SCAC the Decision of Hearing Officer Form (GEC-3).
- After the informal hearing, Claimant Agency must adjust the debt amount based on the Hearing Officer’s decision and send the adjustment to SCAC as required.
- A debt that is under protest and has not been resolved through an informal hearing may not be uploaded to SCDOR for collection.