Success Stories CC
| CCLA’s Latest Win! “Mary’s Social Security Nightmare” |
 Mary* is a widow in her 50′s who has been disabled since a workplace accident in 1998. She was collecting $778.00 per month in social security disability as her only income which had to pay for $695 rent, plus utilities, food, expenses and medical co-pays. Last summer, she received a letter from Social Security stating that her benefit checks would immediately be withheld until 2014 due to a $38,000 overpayment. She had to repay or she would also lose her Medicare.
Mary went to the Social Security Office 4 times seeking help, but was only told she had to pay the $38,000 because she had unreported income. She was finally told she could appeal the decision, but by then she had missed two months of payments. Although her benefits were reinstated temporarily during the appeal process, she was continually two months behind on her rent and had to pay a $50 late fee in addition to her rent each month. She was no longer able to pay her utility bill and her electricity was cut off. She came to Coast to Coast Legal Aid of South Florida’s Public Benefits Unit in tears, desperate for help. She couldn’t imagine what had caused her to have an overpayment as she hadn’t worked and had no other income. Her Coast to Coast Attorney immediately contacted the supervisor of the social security office and pointed out that the initial Social Security letter did not comply with due process in that it failed to inform Mary of her appeal rights. Social Security agreed to provide the two months missed payments to Mary immediately and she was able to become current on her rent. The Attorney also requested an accounting of the overpayment and an explanation of its cause. When Social Security failed to comply she filed complaints against the agency at the regional and statewide level. Soon, a new technician was assigned to the case. The technician discovered that the overpayment amount was incorrect and reduced it from $38,000 to $4,000. In addition, she determined that Mary had not been at fault for the overpayment, but that Social Security had incorrectly paid her benefits and did not discover their error until 2010. Based on this information, the Attorney was able to convince Social Security to agree to waive the overpayment and permanently restore Mary’s benefits including her Medicare. *In order to protect the identity of our clients, names have been changed. Any and all photographs, pictures, or images depicting clients are dramatizations only and not actual depictions of our clients. |