Federal Reports

FSA paid $448 million in commissions and $8.3 million in bonuses to Private Collection Agencies (PCAs) based on estimates because DMCS2 could not provide the information necessary to calculate actual commissions and bonuses. During FY 2012, FSA had individual contracts with 23 PCAs to perform collection services on defaulted student loans. PCAs are paid commissions based on successfully collecting on defaulted loans, and a PCA qualifies for bonuses based on its performance relative to other PCAs. Before it transitioned to DMCS2 in September 2011, FSA used its previous system to calculate PCA commissions and bonuses based on actual collections data contained in the system. However, as DMCS2 has been unable to produce the data necessary to calculate commissions and bonuses, FSA required PCAs to submit invoices, without supporting documentation that calculated estimated commissions, and paid estimated bonuses based on bonus payments made in previous years. We recommended that FSA calculate any overpayments or underpayments of PCA commissions and bonuses based on actual data, require PCAs to return any overpayments to the Department, address any underpayments, and require PCAs to submit supporting documentation for all commissions invoiced since October 2011.

The audit objectives were to determine whether program funds were managed in accordance with the ARC and Federal grant requirements

There have been a number of recent incidents requiring emergency response at TVA fossil plants, including the ash spill at Kingston Fossil Plant and fires at multiple plants. This review was initiated to assess TVA coal and gas fleet emergency preparedness.The objective of this review was to determine if Coal Operations and Gas Operations have made progress in their emergency preparedness and response program since the ash spill at Kingston Fossil Plant. This review looked at the current status of emergency preparedness with respect to both Coal Operations and Gas Operations.Our review found that although progress had been made in emergency preparedness and response, improvements could have been implemented more effectively. In addition, opportunities to improve the program still exist in the areas of site consistency and training. Through interviews and review of documentation, we found a lack of consistency in how emergency preparedness is handled between the sites. Also, training more personnel in National Incident Management System and adding training opportunities could build a more in-depth emergency preparedness program. An additional concern was raised during interviews concerning the responsibilities of the shift operations supervisors. The roles specified for incident commanders are generally in addition to their jobs as shift operations supervisors, and there were concerns that the training was a significant commitment in addition to the daily work load. We made recommendations to management to address the findings in the report.

We notified the Department that FSA was not enforcing a contract requirement that PCAs report verbal complaints from borrowers to FSA. The contracts between PCAs and the Department provide that each PCA will adhere to Department complaint procedures. Those procedures mandate specific actions a PCA must take when it receives a complaint from a borrower, including verbal complaints, such as suspending collection activity on the account. During our site visits at three PCAs—Pioneer Credit Recovery, Performant Financial Corporation, and NCO Financial Systems, Inc.—we learned that none considered verbal complaints to be actual complaints because they believed that they had been able to appease the borrower and defuse the complaint. In addition, we found that no PCAs tracked or reported verbal complaints. As a result, FSA was unaware of the number or severity of verbal complaints filed by borrowers against PCAs and how those complaints were resolved. We recommended that FSA enforce the contract requirement that PCAs report verbal complaints to FSA, and develop a quality assurance program to verify that FSA is receiving all verbal complaints.