How does one become homeless? I'm sure there are a million ways. One Los Angeles resident writes movingly about his rapid descent into homelessness because of a simple Social Security overpayment. It should have been easy to resolve the overpayment. He probably would have qualified for waiver of the overpayment since he's clearly poor and the overpayment wasn't his fault but no one told him the overpayment could be waived. He thought he had a repayment schedule worked out but apparently a Social Security employee didn't do what they were supposed to be so things reverted to the default mode of seizing 100% of each month's check until the overpayment is collected.
Why is it that seizure of 100% of each month's check is the default mode for overpayments? Is that really necessary? If the claimant is confused or even a little negligent or a Social Security employee doesn't promptly do what they're supposed to do, the claimant receives no check and many become desperate immediately. Remember, overpayments are often not the claimant's fault. Even if they are the claimant's fault, the fault is usually minor. Don't conflate overpayments with fraud.
If there is any change in payment status to Title II benefits, the payment center effectively tears up any installment agreement and goes back to full recovery. It's why I warn anyone I make installment agreements for to be extra vigilant about letters and phonecalls, and notifying us of address changes.
ReplyDeleteCompounding the silliness is the fact that SSA can only taken 10% of an SSI check (71 dollars) for an overpayment. But someone who worked enough to qualify for disability or retirement has far greater risk and exposure for their check.
Payment Centers are also super bad about ignoring due process periods and just taking checks without notice. Payment Center 7 (Baltimore), which is already a dumpster fire in virtually all aspects and one of SSA's biggest embarrassments, is notorious for it.
Charles --
ReplyDeleteDo you have a link to this story.
It should be shared widely.
It is the NORM. SSA routinely fails to address overpayments, waivers and recoupment in accordance with the law.
There is no accountability.
The problem is especially acute in T. II cases for two reasons -- no limit on withholding and handled by payment centers rather than local field offices.
It is a national disgrace.
There is appeal language in the letters of overpayment. Failure you to act on that lead to the homelessness as well. Claimants have a responsibility in this too, if unable to understand the language they should seek help. Representatives, SSA and the community support services should reinforce this with the Claimants at every contact.
ReplyDeleteThere is blame on both sides of this.
9:39, he set up a payment schedule and SSA didn't follow it.
ReplyDeleteAppeal rights are a joke--SSA gives 10 days for benefit continuation but often takes a long time to log in the appeals (or loses them altogether) so withholding of benefits occurs anyway.
And the idea that people should seek help if they don't understand a notice--from who? Legal services organizations are understaffed and not everyone knows about them or qualifies for them. Staying on hold for 3 hours with the 800 number takes cell phone minutes. Going to the SSA office can often be a long trip, especially with field office closures. And people are just as likely to get wrong information as right from SSA. This guy did try to get help from SSA and the payment agreement wasn't followed by the agency.
939 spoken like the true bureaucrat that you are. SSA made the mistake. Their notices are confusing at best and complete gibberish at worst.
ReplyDeleteThe deck is stacked against the claimant's at every turn.
Someone should start lobbying for an overhaul of the over payment collection statute. It is draconian in its application and hurts the most vulnerable members of society.
Have a Merry Christmas 939 knowing that you have no compassion for the people that you supposedly serve. May your chickens come home to roost one day.
Charles said that he could have qualified for a waiver but nobody told him it could be waived. The letter says he can file a waiver if not at fault and does not have the ability to repay. SSA letters may be difficult to understand at times but I have handled many frivolous (as well as more legitimate) waivers so I know that sometimes the people understand them.
ReplyDeleteOverpayments are treated somewhat like a bank error. If you are paid too much money, you are expected to return it.Unlike banks, the feds will waive the overpayment if one is not at fault and cannot afford to repay it.
I enjoy this blog but sometimes the writer either shows he doesn't understand the program or he has a strong animus towards social security.
I read his story. Have heard similar ones and if he had gone to an office in person he should have been able to either get the rate of recovery changed to $100 and/or had a special payment issued for the $1750 extra that was taken out each month. It's a dumb system but there are ways around it that don't involve becoming homeless. Our office approves IPs and CPSs for this type of situation frequently.
ReplyDeleteWith over 36 years of PSC and FO experience I have found that the VAST majority of overpayments are the fault of the overpaid individual. Non reporting of work, concealing changes in living arrangements (SSI), spending duplicate payments, etc. SSA reps are often very liberal in applying at fault and ability to repay procedures. The backlogs due to staffing, not mismanagement, make it very difficult to provide timely decisions.
ReplyDeleteThe original overpayment is usually the fault of the individual. That doesn't mean they deserve to be homeless.
ReplyDeleteEspecially when it's due to SSA's failure to adequately inform the claimant of the reason they are overpaid (T2 overpayment letters generated by the PSC NEVER EVER EVER describe this, and T16 overpayment letters generated by the FO rarely do unless the CS/CSR making it has a little extra motivation to go beyond the default buttons).
AND making full recovery for T2 overpayments the default option instead of 12 or 36 month recovery, a heartless policy.
AND the PSC randomly tearing up installment agreements with no due process or documentation as to why.
AND any change in T2 payment status automatically tearing up that agreement as well and going back to full recovery.
We can indeed blame claimants for the original overpayments, because the vast (95%+) majority of them are indeed the fault of the claimant. But that doesn't excuse SSA from its responsibility for its draconian, inconsistent, opaque policy and enforcement of collection after the fact.
At our not-for-profit legal aid office we get a lot of calls like that of the person in the article. Anecdotally, trends I would note are the following. 1. Few can find legal representation in overpayment cases unless they qualify for free help with us or similar organizations (and we can only help a small percentage due to limited staff and funding). 2. Very few understand the rules regarding overpayments without guidance and advice. 3. Very few have the knowledge, ability and persistence required to determine all the details surrounding the claimed overpayment, which are necessary to successfully either contest it or document what is needed for waiver.
ReplyDeleteI don't blame SSA for #1 and #2. SSA can't control who gets representation, and they can't change the basic rules laid down by Congress. I do think SSA does have some responsibility, and could improve on #3 however.
I say that because, in a typical overpayment case, the notice of overpayment does not even come close to providing enough information for a person to know the basis of the overpayment, and how it was calculated. Neither can a person usually get that information by calling the 1-800 number. You have to go to your local SSA office, and subject an SSA worker to a detailed cross-examination, demanding copies of every document. Even then, in more than a few cases the basis of any overpayment remains unclear. To even get to that point, it is not uncommon for it to take several hours of work even for a skilled advocate who knows all the rules and systems involved (which is one reason we can't handle many of these before exhausting our staff resources).
Thus, in most cases, to understand and deal with an overpayment a beneficiary needs legal knowledge and skill, the ability to concentrate and persist on task, and to remember, understand, and carry out detailed instructions, good documentation skills, decent reasoning skills, to travel and sit for hours at a time, and to interact with people in a stressful situation. Many people with disabilities lack one or more those abilities. Result: a big mess. Better, more descriptive notices would help ameliorate that problem. A good new rule would be no overpayment assessed, unless SSA clearly and specifically describes the basis of the overpayment, the evidence upon which it was based, and exactly how it was calculated.