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In 1997 I began receiving social security benefits for my bui-polar condition. I was living in Florida at the time and ultimately moved to Florida where I lived in a halfway house until I got a job and moved into an apartment. I was careful about filling out forms that were sent to me. In 2001 due to the economic downturn I lost the job I had and after a year moved back to Chicago to be close to family. My bi-polar condition continued but I continued to work and thought my disability payments had stopped. To make a long story shorter, I received a notice from ssa that they had overpaid me close to $60,000 through this bank in Florida. After tracking down the bank who took over from the original institution I was told that my account was long closed. I applied for early social security benefits since I was not abletofind work after my last layoff in 2008. I was told they would take 50.00 from each check. After five months I was informed that. Ssa would now keep my entire benefits. Do I have any recourse? I went through an appeal but couldn't afford a lawyer.
Optional Information: Country relating to Question: United States State (if USA): Illinois Already Tried: Went to social security office, attempted to make payments, had an appeal before administrative judge.
Welcome! Thank you for your question.Are you saying that the money paid to your account in FL was never received by you or anyone else. It was held by the bank until the account was closed?
I did not receive any money from this account after the end of 2002. I lived with someone in Florida who might have taken advantage of my mental condition as he also stole my possessions that were in the house including crystal, jewelry,and other personal items.
I do have to be honest from the start. If your roommate stole the money from you that is not an issue that Social Security will be concerned about and they have no obligation to reduce any amount that you where overpaid because of theft after payment. That is unfortunate but you would be wasting your time if you are arguing that the money was stolen.With that said, the first thing you should do is check with the Florida unclaimed property division to see if the bank turned over your account to the state. If they did it would be held for you and should be available for you to claim. Banks are not allowed to just close an account and take the money. If your account had assets in it when you abandoned it then the bank would be required to send the assets to the state of FL. Here is where you need to check for those assets. https://www.fltreasurehunt.org/Second, I am assuming by your question that you lost your appeal with the administrative law judge. If you disagree with the decision of the ALJ then you can appeal to an appeals Council. If the Appeals Council does not find in your favor then you can appeal to Federal Court.Third, if the over payment is established and you have no further appeal rights then you can request that Social Security withhold a lesser amount from your Social Security check. If you ask for the lesser amount to be withheld then they are required to consent and only withhold 10%. There is no reason to pay Social Security back any faster than the 10% as they will not take any other action to collect form you.
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