I-1-2-59.No Fee Authorized Under Fee Petition — Procedures

Last Update: 12/9/24 (Transmittal I-1-108)

The initial fee authorizer at the Office of Hearings Operations (OHO) or Office of Appellate Operations (OAO) who decides not to authorize a fee must prepare an order explaining why. See Hearings, Appeals, and Litigation Law (HALLEX) manual I-1-2-6 B.2. for information on the designated officials with authority to issue initial fee authorizations.

A. Prepare Order with the No Fee Determination

  • Use the Form SSA-1560A, Authorization to Charge and Collect a Fee (see Program Operations Manual System (POMS) GN 03905.085), or another appropriate written order, to notify the representative and the claimant that no fee was authorized. OHO personnel may use the Authorization to Charge Fee HO 12 in the Hearings and Appeals Case Processing System (HACPS). Insert zero dollars ($0.00) for the amount authorized in the notice to the representative and the claimant.

  • Provide a brief, but complete, explanation about why you determined that no fee will be authorized. The explanation should be based on the factors in HALLEX I-1-2-57 A.

  • If available, include appropriate information about any previously paid amounts, including payment from past-due benefits or amounts the claimant deposited into an escrow account.

  • Inform the claimant and the representative that they may request administrative review of the fee determination and that the request must be made within 30 days after the date of the notice (see HALLEX I-1-2-61, Fee Petition Administrative Review). In the limited circumstances described in HALLEX I-1-2-53 A (see also POMS GN 03930.020A), when an entity's point of contact (POC) or the executor or legal representative of a deceased representative's estate filed the fee petition, address and send this notice to that individual. For additional information about the assignment of direct payment of fees, including the roles and responsibilities of POCs, see POMS GN 03920.021.

B. Process Order

After the fee authorizing official issues the order, appropriate OHO or OAO staff will:

  1. Send copies of the authorization to the representative (or to the POC or the executor or legal representative of a deceased representative's estate if they filed the fee petition in the limited circumstances described in HALLEX I-1-2-53 A) and the claimant;

  2. Add a copy to the claim(s) file;

  3. Send a copy to the effectuating components for processing; and

  4. Update the appropriate tracking system(s) to set the fee amount at zero and enter the date of the authorization.

OHO staff can refer to Standard Operations Procedure section 7.1.3 for additional instructions on processing the fee authorization.