The Office of Legislative
and Public Affairs

Fact Sheets

FMS has developed a debt management program, called Debt Check, which allows agencies and outside lenders to determine whether applicants for federal loans, loan insurance or loan guarantees owe delinquent child support or delinquent non-tax debt to the federal government.

Federal agencies are required to deny loans, loan insurance, or loan guarantees to entities that owe delinquent, non-tax debt to the federal government pursuant to 31U.S.C. § 3720B and 31 C.F.R. § 285.13. Executive Order 13019 extends this bar to delinquent child-support debtors whose debts have been referred to the Treasury Offset Program (TOP) for administrative offset.

Debt Check is an internet-based system for use by federal agencies and outside lenders engaged in making federal loans, loan insurance, and loan guarantees. Agencies can search the FMS Debt Check Database to confirm whether applicants for federal financial assistance owe delinquent, non-tax debt to the federal government or owe delinquent child support. Queries are submitted individually on line or by batch.  If records indicate that a debt is owed, the lending agency informs the loan applicant of the debt, and the loan applicant will likely contact the creditor agency to pay or otherwise resolve the debt, or get confirmation that the debt is not valid or that some other error was made. Until the debt is resolved, the applicant would potentially be barred from receiving the loan, loan insurance, or loan guarantee.

Presently, at least three options exist for use by agencies and outside lenders in collecting information on applicants: credit bureau reports; the Credit Alert Interactive Voice Response System (CAIVRS) managed by the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD); and the General Services Administration (GSA) sponsored Web site listing those people or vendors barred from federal procurement activities. Debt Check complements these and other systems, serving as an additional source of debt information.