nondelinquency on federal debt, federal debt collection procedures act, default

4.1.21 Nondelinquency on Federal Debt

The Federal Debt Collection Procedures Act of 1990 (Act), 28 U.S.C. 3201(e), provides that an organization or individual that is indebted to the United States, and has a judgment lien filed against it, is ineligible to receive a Federal grant. NIH cannot award a grant unless the AOR of the applicant organization (or individual in the case of a Kirschstein-NRSA individual fellowship) certifies, by means of their signature on the application, that the organization (or individual) is not delinquent in repaying any Federal debt. If the applicant discloses delinquency on a debt owed to the Federal government, NIH may not award the grant until the debt is satisfied or satisfactory arrangements are made with the agency to which the debt is owed. In addition, once the debt is repaid or satisfactory arrangements made, NIH will take that delinquency into account when determining whether the applicant would be a responsible NIH grant recipient.

Anyone who has been judged to be in default on a Federal debt and who has had a judgment lien filed against them should not be listed as a participant in an application for an NIH grant until the judgment is paid in full or is otherwise satisfied. No funds may be used for or rebudgeted following an award to pay such an individual. NIH will disallow costs charged to awards that provide funds to individuals in violation of this Act.

These requirements apply to all types of organizations and awards, including foreign grants.