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Imagine you are 25, haven’t seen your now deceased father since you were a young child, never received a penny from him, and find, in your mail, a demand from Social Security to repay over $4,500 that was supposedly overpaid to him on your behalf. This, as you can read in the letter below, is exactly what happened and is happening to Felicia — a hardworking, single mom, who is struggling to get a college degree on a part-time basis.
Felicia contacted Social Security to protest the absurdity of having to pay back money the system incorrectly paid to her estranged father when she was maybe nine! The Social Security rep told her it was a mistake and would be corrected.
On January 10, 2019, she received a letter from Social Security saying that it appeared she had received an incorrect letter and to file a form to appeal the demand for repayment. She did so on grounds of unfairness. On October 6, 2020 Social Security wrote:
We have dismissed your request for January 18, 2019 because you have only stated you are without fault … You did not question the fact or the amount of the overpayment.
More insanity. How do you question something you know nothing about and can’t receive any information about?
Again, Felicia contacted Social Security. Two weeks later, last October 21, she received another letter from Social Security demanding Felicia immediately submit a request for a hardship waiver, revealing in the process every iota or her extremely tough, but still private financial life. Otherwise, on November 20th Social Security would start garnishing her wages and, as needed, any federal or state income tax refund.
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This is the third story I’ve heard of Social Security reaching back decades to correct overpayments nominally paid to minors — minors who had no knowledge whatsoever of this fact nor any ability to determine that Social Security was sending the wrong amount.
Hopefully, someone at Social Security will read this column and put a stop to the System’s hounding of Felicia and others like her.
Dear Larry, I am writing to you on a situation dealing with the Social Security Administration. In the beginning of 2018, I received a letter from SSA stating that I owed them almost $4,612 for an overpayment of benefits. At the time, I was 25 and knew I had never received any Social Security benefits of any kind.
I reached out and spoke with someone on the phone regarding the situation and they told me it was money paid to my father, who did received disability at some point. I do believe he may have applied for a child benefit on my behalf but I am not totally sure as I have had zero contact with my father my entire life. My father has passed away this year at 55 years old and I had no knowledge of his death and did not attend any funeral or memorial proceedings.
I do not know when this money was dispersed, I am guessing sometime between ages 7-11, and they will not tell me what the overpayment was specifically for. Between those ages I would have had no knowledge of his finances, or of any finances. I would not have been able to receive, cash, or spend any of this money myself. I believe the money is from my father applying for the child benefit and it was a miscalculation on Social Security’s part, which they now are now stating I am required to pay.
My mother, whose household I did live in, has also been receiving disability for at least the past 10 years. I am now afraid that at some point I will receive another letter stating I owe thousands more dollars. I have tried to reach out to Social Security several times to get more specific details regarding this overpayment. After receiving the first initial letter from Social Security, I went to the Social Security office in Blue Ridge, Georgia where I applied for the “Request for Waiver of Overpayment Recovery or Change.”
The man I spoke to at that office stated he does not understand why I would be responsible for this money and said it would take some time for Social Security to get back to me on their decision.
In September-October of 2020, I received two letters from Social Security. One stating that “your request for reconsideration was denied because you have only stated that you are without fault or it would create a hardship for you to repay the overpayment.” They stated that my “current overpayment balance” is now $4,966.00 which is $354 more than the original amount they told me.
They then mailed me the same form, Form SSA-632, to fill out and return to them by November 20, 2020. I called the office in Kennesaw, GA as soon as I received the letter trying to set up an appointment or speak with someone and I have yet to get a returned call.
In the most recent letter I have received they have asked me to provide every single aspect of my finances and threatened that if I do not mail back the form, along with proper documents included, by November 20, 2020 they will proceed with garnishing my wages. I am a 27 year old single mother to my 9 year old son, working full time, and trying to finish my college degree.
While I am not using my circumstances as any excuse of any kind, paying this money back, which I do not believe I am responsible for, would create a huge hardship in my life. There is no one that can make me understand or make me believe that I am responsible for paying back this money, especially when it seems like it was a miscalculation on Social Security’s part.
Thank you,
Felicia