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Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 4.8 <noreply@anthropic.com>
2026-07-06 10:51:44 -04:00

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LegalText 38 U.S.C. § 5316 Authority to sue to collect certain debts us united_states_code code_section 38 VETERANS BENEFITS 53 SPECIAL PROVISIONS RELATING TO BENEFITS 5316 38 U.S.C. § 5316 current 119-100 2026-06-26 official https://uscode.house.gov/download/releasepoints/us/pl/119/100/xml_usc38@119-100.zip /us/usc/t38/s5316 data/legal/raw/us/code/title-38/usc38.xml 55ae388cf097313ed18c19f2a8397e3816679159a310ea37d239a1388574baee 372998691b72ade88787dfa7633dbda4954bd1b037ec7926c5e06e9b1d17fc66 e45d4f04776925cd9b0fa7aa1b6823f8695774b626f9739f3c1fec7cc33d00d7 2026-07-04 official
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38 U.S.C. § 5316 - Authority to sue to collect certain debts

Text

(a) (1) The Secretary shall take appropriate steps to authorize attorneys employed by the Department to exercise, subject to paragraphs (2) and (3) of this subsection, the right of the United States to bring suit in any court of competent jurisdiction to recover any indebtedness owed to the United States by a person by virtue of such persons participation in a benefits program administered by the Secretary.

(2) No suit may be filed under this section to recover any indebtedness owed by any person to the United States unless the Secretary has determined, under regulations which the Secretary shall prescribe, that such person has failed to respond appropriately to reasonable administrative efforts to collect such indebtedness.

(3) The activities of attorneys employed by the Department in bringing suit under this section shall be subject to the direction and supervision of the Attorney General of the United States and to such terms and conditions as the Attorney General may prescribe.

(b) Nothing in this section shall derogate from the authority of the Attorney General of the United States under sections 516 and 519 of title 28 to direct and supervise all litigation to which the United States or an agency or officer of the United States is a party.

(Added Pub. L. 96466, title VI, § 605(a)(1), Oct. 17, 1980, 94 Stat. 2211, § 3116; renumbered § 5316, Pub. L. 10240, title IV, § 402(b)(1), May 7, 1991, 105 Stat. 238; amended Pub. L. 10254, § 14(d)(3), June 13, 1991, 105 Stat. 285; Pub. L. 10283, § 4(a)(1), (3), (4), (b)(1), (2)(E), Aug. 6, 1991, 105 Stat. 403405.)

Notes

Editorial Notes

Amendments1991—Pub. L. 10240 renumbered section 3116 of this title as this section. Subsec. (a)(1). Pub. L. 10283, § 4(b)(1), (2)(E), substituted “Secretary” for “Administrator”. Pub. L. 10283, § 4(a)(3), (4), substituted “Department” for “Veterans Administration”. Pub. L. 10283, § 4(a)(1), substituted “administered by the Secretary” for “administered by the Veterans Administration”. Pub. L. 10254, § 14(d)(3)(A), amended subsec. (a)(1) as in effect immediately before the enactment of Pub. L. 10240 by substituting “The” for “Within ninety days after the date of the enactment of this section, the”. Subsec. (a)(2). Pub. L. 10283, § 4(b)(1), (2)(E), substituted “Secretary” for “Administrator” in two places. Subsec. (a)(3). Pub. L. 10283, § 4(a)(3), (4), substituted “Department” for “Veterans Administration”. Subsecs. (b), (c). Pub. L. 10254, § 14(d)(3)(B), amended section as in effect immediately before the enactment of Pub. L. 10240 by redesignating subsec. (c) as (b) and striking out former subsec. (b) which read as follows: “Not later than ninety days after the date of the enactment of this section, the Administrator and the Attorney General of the United States shall submit to the appropriate committees of the Congress a joint report that describes and explains the actions taken by the Administrator and the Attorney General to implement subsection (a) of this section.”

Statutory Notes and Related Subsidiaries

Effective DateSection effective Oct. 1, 1980, except as otherwise specifically provided, see section 802(f) of Pub. L. 96466, set out as a note under section 5314 of this title.