I-1-1-57.Common Issues After a Suspension or Disqualification

Last Update: 11/14/22 (Transmittal I-1-104)

A. Fee Issues

A suspended or disqualified representative may not charge or collect a fee for representational services performed on or after the effective date of the suspension or disqualification. See Program Operations Manual System (POMS) GN 03970.060. The Social Security Administration (SSA) does not withhold benefits for potential direct payment of fees to any representative whose appointment is no longer in effect because that individual has been disqualified or suspended from representing claimants before SSA. See Hearings, Appeals and Litigation Law manual (HALLEX) I-1-2-9. A representative may be entitled to payment for services provided before the suspension or disqualification, but collection of the authorized fee is a matter between the representative and the claimant. See POMS GN 03920.017A.

1. Fee Agreement

SSA will disapprove a suspended or disqualified representative's fee agreement if the claim is favorably decided on or after the effective date of the representative's suspension or disqualification. See HALLEX I-1-2-12 B.

2. Fee Petition

A suspended or disqualified representative may ask SSA to authorize a fee for services provided before the effective date of the suspension or disqualification. Since an individual may not legally provide services on or after the effective date of a suspension or disqualification, SSA will not authorize a fee for any work performed on a claim on or after the effective date of the suspension or disqualification.

B. Communicating Representative Suspensions and Disqualifications

The hearing officer or the Appeals Council (AC) will promptly transmit any decision on charges following a hearing or AC review to the Office of the General Counsel (OGC) and to the representative against whom charges were brought. When a suspension or disqualification decision becomes final and binding, SSA components take the following actions:

  • OGC will notify all appropriate SSA components of the action. When the suspended or disqualified representative is an attorney, OGC will provide a copy of the decision to the attorney's disciplinary authority in every State or Territory in which the attorney is known to be admitted to practice.

  • OGC will document the sanctioned or disqualified representative's name in the Registration, Appointment and Services for Representatives (RASR) application. The Division of Electronic Services in the Office of Hearings Operations (OHO) will update the representative's new status in the representative table that supplies information to the Case Processing and Management System (CPMS) and the Appeals Review Processing System (ARPS). OHO staff need not update the Hearings and Appeals Case Processing System (HACPS) because information added or updated in RASR automatically propagates in HACPS.

  • When OGC documents the sanction information in RASR, the agency sends notices that SSA no longer recognizes an individual as a representative to all of the sanctioned or disqualified representative's clients with pending claims. At the hearing level, the Office of the Chief Administrative Law Judge will notify all regional offices (RO) of the sanction decision. The ROs will determine whether the sanctioned or disqualified representative is an appointed representative in any cases pending in the region. If cases are identified, the RO will notify the hearing office (HO) with jurisdiction over the pending cases. The HO will send a written notice to the claimant(s) (see POMS GN 03970.065 for the appropriate sample notice language) and enter the date of the sanction decision as the “End date” in the Representative Information screen in CPMS. At the AC level, the Executive Director's office will notify branches of any pending cases in which the sanctioned representative is appointed as representative. The branch chief will ensure written notice is sent to the claimant and that representation is ended in ARPS.

  • See also POMS GN 03970.060D regarding the field office's (FO) responsibility to notify claimants of a representative's suspension or disqualification, and see POMS GN 03970.065 for the sample notice language.

NOTE:

OHO and Office of Appellate Operations staff cannot update RASR to document a registered representative's suspension or disqualification. When a registered representative is identified as “sanctioned” in RASR, all of that representative's active appointments will automatically terminate in RASR. If the representative is not registered in RASR, staff will notify the FO of the change in the representative's status.

C. Attempts by Suspended or Disqualified Representatives to Act as Representatives for Claimants

A claimant cannot appoint any individual who has been suspended or disqualified from practice before SSA as a representative. If a sanctioned or disqualified representative attempts to act as a representative for claimants in any matter before SSA, staff must advise the sanctioned or disqualified representative in writing that SSA does not recognize the individual as a representative. SSA staff must also notify the claimant that SSA does not recognize the sanctioned or disqualified representative as the claimant's representative. If the sanctioned or disqualified representative still insists on serving as a representative, SSA staff must refuse to recognize the individual as a representative and prepare a referral to OGC, following instructions in HALLEX I-1-1-50 A.

See POMS GN 03970.060B for a discussion of indirect representation and the receipt of indirect fees by suspended or disqualified representatives.