Iowa Makes Charging for Claim Help Unlawful

This chapter exists because unaccredited businesses charge veterans a percentage of a retroactive award to help file a claim. Iowa answered it in 2018 by putting the practice inside its consumer fraud statute. What is prohibited. Section 546B.3 lists five acts, and committing any of them is a violation of the chapter: "Receives compensation for advising or assisting another person with a veterans' benefit matter, except as permitted under Tit. 38 of the United States Code." "Uses financial or other personal information gathered in order to prepare documents for, or otherwise represent the interests of, another in a veterans' benefit matter for purposes of trade or commerce, except as permitted under Tit. 38 of the United States Code." "Receives compensation for referring another person to a person accredited by the United States department of veterans affairs." "Represents, either directly or by implication, and either orally or in writing, that the receipt of a certain level of veterans' benefits is guaranteed." "Fails to provide a disclosure required to be provided pursuant to section 546B.2." The first one is the core prohibition and it is broad. "Veterans' benefit matter" is defined in section 546B.1 as "any preparation, presentation, or prosecution of a claim affecting a person who has filed or has expressed an intention to file an application for determination of payment, service, commodity, function, or status, entitlement to which is determined under laws administered by the United States department of veterans affairs or the Iowa department of veterans affairs pertaining to veterans and their dependents or survivors." Note that it covers the Iowa department's benefits as well as VA's, and that it reaches a person who has merely "expressed an intention to file". "Compensation" is defined as "money, property, or anything else of value, which includes but is not limited to exclusive arrangements or agreements for the provision of services or the purchase of products", so tying the help to a product purchase is compensation. The exception is Title 38, and it is narrow by design. Federal law and 38 C.F.R. part 14 govern who may be paid for claim work and when: an accredited attorney or agent may charge a fee only after a notice of disagreement or an initial decision, within federal limits, and an accredited veterans service organization representative may not charge at all. County veterans service officers in Iowa are recognised as accredited under 38 C.F.R. section 14.628(c) by section 35B.6, subsection 1, paragraph "a", and section 35B.6, subsection 1, paragraph "e" forbids them from charging for anything. The third prohibition is the one that catches referral arrangements. A business cannot be paid for sending you to someone who is accredited. That closes the obvious workaround of charging a "consultation fee" and then handing the file to an accredited agent. The seminar disclosure, which is quotable and worth recognising. Section 546B.2, subsection 1: a person who advertises or promotes "any event, presentation, seminar, workshop, or other public gathering regarding veterans' benefits or entitlements" must give the disclosure "both orally and in writing, at the beginning" of it, and the written version "must be in the same type size and font as the term 'veteran' or any variation of that term as used in the advertisement or promotional materials." Subsection 2 sets the exact words: "This event is not sponsored by, or affiliated with, the United States Department of Veterans Affairs, the Iowa Department of Veterans Affairs, or any other congressionally chartered or recognized organization of honorably discharged members of the Armed Forces of the United States or any of their auxiliaries. Products or services that may be discussed at this event are not necessarily endorsed by those organizations. You may qualify for benefits other than or in addition to the benefits discussed at this event." If you attend a free lunch seminar about veterans benefits in Iowa and nobody says that out loud at the start, the organiser is in violation. Two exceptions, in subsection 3: written permission from VA, the Iowa department, or a congressionally chartered or recognised veterans organization to use its name, symbol or insignia; and an accredited continuing legal education course. Who is outside the chapter. Section 546B.4: "This chapter does not apply to officers, employees, or volunteers of the state, or of any county, city, or other political subdivision, or of a federal agency of the United States, who are acting in their official capacity." County veterans service officers and department staff are exempt because they are the people the chapter is protecting your access to. The teeth. Section 546B.5: "A violation of this chapter is a violation of section 714.16, subsection 2, paragraph 'a'." That is the Iowa Consumer Fraud Act, enforced by the attorney general, which carries injunctive relief, consumer reimbursement, and civil penalties. And: "Any civil penalty recovered for a violation of this chapter shall be deposited in the veterans trust fund created in section 35A.13." Money taken from a claim shark goes into the fund that pays for veterans' dental care and emergency housing. The chapter is the 2018 replacement of an earlier chapter 546B, which was repealed in the same act, 2018 Iowa Acts chapter 1115. What to do with it. Report to the Iowa Attorney General's Consumer Protection Division, which maintains a page for veterans and service members. Get your help from your county veterans service office, from an accredited veterans service organization, or from an accredited attorney or agent whose accreditation you can verify on VA's accreditation search. A fee for helping you file an initial claim is not something Iowa law permits anyone to charge.