Source: http://www.disabilityrightsca.org/pubs/542101.html
Timestamp: 2017-12-13 01:45:22
Document Index: 509142108

Matched Legal Cases: ['§ 416', '§ 416', '§ 416', '§ 416', '§ 416', '§ 416', '§416', '§ 1382', '§ 1383', '§ 416', '§ 416', '§ 416', '§ 416', '§ 416', '§ 416', '§ 416', '§ 416', '§ 416', '§ 416', '§ 416', '§ 416', '§ 416', '§ 1383', '§ 416', '§ 1383', '§ 416', '§ 416', '§ 416', '§ 416', '§ 416', '§ 416']

SSI Overpayments - Pub #5521.01
March 2012, Pub #5421.01
An SSI overpayment is an SSI payment made to you by the Social Security Administration (“SSA”) that was more than the amount SSA says is actually due to you. The amount of the overpayment is the difference between what you received and the amount SSA says you should have received.
You are required to report certain events that can affect the amount of your SSI check, or your eligibility for SSI, within 10 days after the month the change occurs. It takes SSA one month from the date of your report to take whatever information you provided into account and adjust your check. For example, a change in January, which you report by February 10th, is supposed to be reflected in your March check. If SSA does not get the information in time, it cannot adjust your check, and you may end up with an overpayment.
The following people can be responsible to pay back an overpayment:
Under certain circumstances, your sponsor, if you are an alien receiving SSI ;
Your spouse if during the period of the overpayment you were living together and SSA can’t recover from you ; or
Your estate and/or that of your Rep. Payee, spouse or sponsor.
If the overpaid amount was misused by your Rep. Payee, she/he will be personally liable. If the funds were not used for your support or maintenance, then the Rep. Payee will be solely responsible for the overpayment, regardless of whether he/she knew of the overpayment;
If the SSI payments were used for your support and maintenance and your payee knew or should have known of the overpayment, then you and your Rep. Payee will both be responsible for the overpayment. However, if the SSI payments were used for your support and maintenance, and your payee did not know about the facts surrounding the overpayment, you are responsible for the overpayment.
You have a right to receive a written notice if SSA thinks you have an overpayment. The notice must include the following information:
SSA will ask you to pay the full amount of the overpayment within 30 days. If you don’t do this, and you are still eligible for SSI, then SSA will take the lesser of 10% of your total monthly countable income or your entire monthly income. SSA will start taking money out 60 days after you receive notice of the overpayment. You can always negotiate a different rate of pay at any time. For example, you can ask SSA if you can pay back $20 per month if that’s all you can afford. However, where Social Security thinks there has been fraud, they will not agree to a reduced payment.
Yes, you can. To keep getting your SSI without any changes, you must send in your appeal within 10 days of receipt of the notice of overpayment. SSA figures you will “receive” the notice no later than five days after the date on the notice. For example, if your notice is dated January 1st, SSA will assume you received it by January 5th. Your appeal must be filed by January 15th. If you appeal within 10 days, SSA will not reduce your benefit amount until a decision is made. If you do not appeal within 10 days, you can still request an appeal within 60 days of receipt of the notice of overpayment. But the amount of your SSI will be reduced during the appeal. See questions 12 and 18 for information on filing an Appeal. For information on the steps in an appeal, see SSA’s Publication on appeals, found at: http://www.socialsecurity.gov/pubs/10041.html .
File an appeal if:
You are not responsible for repayment (i.e., if you are the representative payee, spouse, etc).
We recommend that you ask for reconsideration by “informal conference” so that you will be able to meet with someone from SSA to go over your case with you. If you do not understand why SSA says you were overpaid, the SSA person will be able to explain it to you.
If you miss the 60-day deadline to appeal, you may still appeal if you have “good cause.”
A waiver is a recognition that you really have an overpayment, and you request not to have to pay it back. You will not have to pay back the overpayment if SSA grants your waiver request. If SSA denies your waiver request, you can appeal that denial.
When requesting a waiver, you must show that the overpayment was not your fault and one of the following applies:
It would be a financial hardship to pay the money back (you need the money to meet your ordinary living expenses). Be ready to submit bills to show that your monthly bills use up all of your income;
If you are still receiving SSI, repayment would defeat the reason why SSI was established. This is true when your income does not exceed the maximum SSI/SSP benefit limit plus $85;
Repayment would be “against equity and good conscience” for example, where you relied on your SSI payment, later found to be incorrect, and gave up a valuable right or changed your position for the worse;
You had excess resources of $50 or less, including deemed resources, and this is the sole cause of the overpayment. Your waiver request will be approved unless you knowingly or willfully failed to report your resources or the value of your resources timely or accurately; or
The amount of overpayment $1000.01 or less. This can be used for each individual overpayment period. That is, separate overpayment periods are not added together to figure out if the overpayment is less than $1000.01.
You can ask for a waiver for any part of an overpayment. For instance, you did not report a change within the first 10 days of the following month but did so before the end of the month. You could ask for a waiver of all of the overpayment except the overpayment for month one.
There is no time limit for requesting a waiver. You can ask for a waiver at any time. You can even request a waiver after you paid off the overpayment. After you file a request for waiver, SSA will review your request and either make a favorable decision or hold a personal conference with you if it cannot make a favorable decision. You can also appeal a denial of a waiver.
SSA will consider whether you are “without fault” by looking at whether you:
NOTE: If SSA cannot substantiate and document the cause of the overpayment, or cannot give you a full explanation of the facts about the overpayment, you must be found to be without fault.
You may be found “at fault” in connection with an overpayment when an incorrect payment resulted from one of the following:
Fault or knowledge of another cannot be charged to the person asking for the waiver. For example, in the case of a child receiving SSI, the failure of her parent to report an event that can affect the child’s SSI benefit amount or eligibility cannot be imposed on the child. The child will be without fault. This does not mean that the parent, as representative payee, is without fault and not responsible for repayment.
If you are getting SSI, then SSA automatically considers it a hardship for you to have to repay an overpayment. If you no longer get SSI, you will need to show that you cannot afford to repay the overpayment, based on your income and expenses. We recommend that you attach to the Request for Waiver form, all documents you think will support your position (example, bills, bank statements, letters from SSA). You do not need to attach these or complete certain questions about your income and expenses if you are still receiving SSI, because hardship is presumed.
If you are not sure what to do, appeal within 60 days and ask for a waiver. SSA must process the appeal first.
You can offer to pay SSA a lesser amount than the total owed as payment in full. Factors SSA will consider include:
Yes. You can petition the bankruptcy court to include the SSI overpayment as an unsecured debt which can be discharged. If you want to go this route, you should consult with someone who specializes in bankruptcy law.
http://www.disabilityrightsca.org/pubs/538201.pdf
20 C.F.R. § 416.525(a); 20 C.F.R. § 416.537(a)
20 C.F.R § 416.538(a)
20 C.F.R. § 416.708; 20 C.F R. § 416.714
20 C.F.R. § 416.708
20 C.F.R. §416.570; POMS SI 02201.020 B.1
42 U.S.C. § 1382j(e); POMS SI 02201.005.F
42 U.S.C. § 1383(b); POMS SI 02201.005.F
20 C.F.R. § 416.537(a); POMS SI 02201.005.F
POMS SI 02201.005.G.2.c, d
POMS SI 02201.005.G.2.b
POMS SI 02201.005.G.2.
POMS SI 02201.005.G.2.a
20 C.F.R. § 416.558; POMS SI 02201.025
20 C.F.R. § 416.570; 20 C.F.R § 416.571
20 C.F.R. § 416.571
20 C.F.R. § 416.1336(b)
20 C.F.R. § 416.1409
20 C.F.R. § 416.1408
POMS SI 02201.005
20 C.F.R. § 416.1413
20 C.F.R. § 416.1411
20 C.F.R. § 416.551
20 C.F.R. § 416.557
20 C.F.R. § 416.550
42 U.S.C. § 1383(b); 20 C.F.R. § 416.553
42 U.S.C. § 1383(b); 20 C.F.R. § 416.554
20 C.F.R. § 416.556; POMS SI 02260.025.C.2; SI 02260.035
20 C.F.R. § 416.555; POMS SI 02260.030
POMS SI 02260.001.A.3
20 C.F.R § 416.557
20 C.F.R. § 416.552
POMS SI 02260.015.B.1.b
SI 02260.010.B.3
20 C.F.R. § 416.553
SSA Emergency Message EM-10092, effective date 12/22/2010
POMS SI 02220.040