By enacting Public Law 103-94, the "Hatch Act Reform Amendments of 1993," (codified at 5 U.S.C. 5520a) Congress authorized the garnishment of federal civilian employees' pay to satisfy commercial debts. In that same law, Congress authorized "involuntary allotments" against the pay of active duty and reserve (on active duty for a period more than 180 days pursuant to Title 10) military members to satisfy commercial debts. The portion of the law concerning involuntary allotments against the pay of military members became effective January 1, 1995. The implementing regulation is Indebtedness of Military Personnel, 32 C.F.R. Part 112; 113 (1995). It establishes the administrative procedures for evaluating applications and implementing involuntary allotments. Applications for involuntary allotments cannot be based on garnishments. Because applicants may be unfamiliar with the administrative procedures involved in applying for an involuntary allotment, we recommend that any creditor wishing to utilize this procedure review a copy of the regulation prior to filing an application.

It is Department of Defense (DoD) policy that military members pay their just financial obligations in a proper and timely manner. Creditors who have been awarded a civil judgment against a military member, may seek enforcement of the judgment by applying for an involuntary allotment from the member's military pay. If approved, the allotment can pay up to a maximum of twenty-five percent (25%) of the member's disposable pay per monthly pay period. (Note: not all pay that a military member receives is subject to involuntary allotment. A complete listing of pay subject to involuntary allotment and pay excluded from involuntary allotment is contained in the regulation.)

A creditor may initiate this process against a military member by submitting an Involuntary Allotment Application (DD Form 2653) along with a certified copy of a final judgment issued by a civil court. The creditor must submit a certified copy of the actual judgment, not an abstract of the judgment. We must be served with an original and two copies of both the form and the judgment. Also, the application must contain the member's full name and social security number for positive identification. Send the completed package to the following address:

Defense Finance and Accounting Service
Cleveland Center, Code HGA
P.O. Box 998002
Cleveland OH 44199-8002
Toll Free Customer Service: 1-888-DFAS411 (1-888-332-7411)

The DD Form 2653 may be obtained here , , by writing the address above or by calling 1-888-332-7411. Because the regulation mandates that military members be allowed 90 days notice before payments can begin, payments would start 90 to 120 days after we received the complete application. We are the only authorized agent for service of these applications for all branches of the military services (except the U.S. Coast Guard). We will return applications sent to any other address without action.

Upon receipt of a properly completed application package, we will perform an initial legal review. In this initial review, we will examine the application form to ensure it has been filled out properly and that the information is consistent with the information contained in the accompanying judgment. The judgment must award a specific amount and state that the amount is to be paid by the military member. Post-judgment interest is payable under the regulation but it must be awarded in the judgment. Creditors who submit judgments from jurisdictions where post-judgment interest is statutory should submit copies of the statute that authorizes the interest along with their application.

Additionally during the initial review, we will determine whether the procedural requirements of the Service Members Civil Relief Act, 50 USCS App Sec 501 et seq. (2004) (for judgments issued after December 19, 2003) and of the Soldiers' And Sailors' Civil Relief Act of 1940, (for judgments issued before December 19, 2003) as amended (50 U.S.C. App. Sec. 501-591) were complied with.

We will forward applications that pass the initial legal review along with a DD Form 2654 (Commander's Notification and Member Response) to the member's commander. The application is due back to us 90 days from the date it is mailed to the commander. If no response is received by the due date, we will process the case for payment on the 15th calendar day after the response was due.

Within 5 days of receiving the package, the commander must notify the member of the action and inform the member of the right to either consent or contest the involuntary allotment. The member then has 15 days to provide a response to the member's commander. However, the commander may extend the member's time to respond for good cause. Under normal circumstances, these extensions will not exceed 30 days. However, during times of deployment, war, national emergency, assignment outside the United States, hospitalization, or other similar situations which prevent the member from obtaining necessary evidence or from responding in a timely manner, extensions exceeding 30 days may be granted.

If the member consents to the involuntary allotment, he or she will complete and return the DD Form 2654 to us indicating his or her consent. Within 30 days of our receipt of the DD Form 2654, we will start payments.

A member who elects to contest the involuntary allotment may do so for a number of reasons. Regardless of the reason for contesting, the member must provide evidence to the commander of the basis for the contention. In all but one instance, the commander will forward the evidence to us for a final determination of whether or not the allotment can be established. If the member contests the allotment on the basis of exigencies of military duty, the commander must determine if exigencies of military duty (as defined in 32 C.F.R. Part 112.3(d)) prevented the member from appearing during the judicial proceeding that resulted in the judgment upon which the application is based. See 32 C.F.R. Part 113.6(b)(2)(D)(iii)(D)(2). The commander's decision on this issue is binding on us. If the commander finds exigencies of military duty to be a valid defense, he or she will indicate as such on the DD Form 2654 and return it to us. Upon receipt, we will forward the completed DD Form 2654 to the creditor stating that we cannot process the application. Within 60 days of our mailing this notification, a creditor may appeal this decision to the appellate authority, which the commander would list on the returned DD Form 2654.

Once the commander returns the completed DD Form 2654 to us, we will make a final review of the packet to determine if the member has made a valid defense to the involuntary allotment. For those cases where we determine that the member has not raised a valid defense, we will start the payments within 30 days. In cases where we determine that a valid defense was raised, we will notify the creditor that we cannot start the allotment. We will forward a copy of the member's response and documentation that raises a valid defense to the creditor.

Questions concerning the Involuntary Allotments process can be directed to 1-888-332-7411.