More problems with overpayment

[lbmarie]

What is the name of your state?PA
I have already posted my situation with an overpayment situation, but I would like to ask a new question.

Today (Saturday), I received a letter stating that I was recently notified that my overpayment could not be waived. Todays letter also said that it explained that a personal conference would be scheduled and that was the purpose of this notice.

I never received any such letter. Why do they keep telling me I received letters that I did not? I did have a meeting to fill out the financial information for the request for a waiver. Not only do I not have the money to pay back, but I do not have enough money to cover my monthly expenses.

My conference is scheduled in a week. The letter said I may bring a representative to the meeting and that I may review my claims folder 15 minutes prior to the meeting. They also said if the date is inconvenient I may ask for a new date.

Now I'm forced into finding an attorney on such short notice that I cannot afford. How is it fair to only have 15 minutes to review my file?

I thought that if the repayment would cause hardship then it would be waived. The overpayment wasn't even my fault. I have started working just three days a week for $7 an hour. That is the best I can do. I don't understand any of this. Social Security is destroying me.

Please let me know of anything that can help me. I wrote to my congressman, but have not received a response.

 

[BL]

What is the name of your state?PA
I have already posted my situation with an overpayment situation, but I would like to ask a new question.

Today (Saturday), I received a letter stating that I was recently notified that my overpayment could not be waived. Todays letter also said that it explained that a personal conference would be scheduled and that was the purpose of this notice.

I never received any such letter. Why do they keep telling me I received letters that I did not? I did have a meeting to fill out the financial information for the request for a waiver. Not only do I not have the money to pay back, but I do not have enough money to cover my monthly expenses.

My conference is scheduled in a week. The letter said I may bring a representative to the meeting and that I may review my claims folder 15 minutes prior to the meeting. They also said if the date is inconvenient I may ask for a new date.

Now I'm forced into finding an attorney on such short notice that I cannot afford. How is it fair to only have 15 minutes to review my file?

I thought that if the repayment would cause hardship then it would be waived. The overpayment wasn't even my fault. I have started working just three days a week for $7 an hour. That is the best I can do. I don't understand any of this. Social Security is destroying me.

Please let me know of anything that can help me. I wrote to my congressman, but have not received a response.

First , may I request and suggest you keep all you post together .

Just click on the last thread ( if it is not locked -which it isn't ) and click reply on the last reply to continue , keeping it all together .

If in fact you had a meeting at filed out a waiver , that notice could simply be a response to the application .

Unfortunately , it seems like SSA keeps responding that you were notified of letters , you State you never received .

Are you involved with any agencies , ETC ?

Do you qualify for Legal Aid ?

Have you call around , to consult SSI Attorneys ?

Maybe one would take your case on a Pro-Bono ( Volunteer basis ) ?

Often times Lawyers are required by the Bar to volunteer so many hours .

If you are not prepared you should certainly request an Extension .

 

[lbmarie]

Thank you so much for the quick response. Sorry about starting a new thread. I thought I would need to so I would receive a response since the other was a while ago.

If in fact you had a meeting at filed out a waiver , that notice could simply be a response to the application .

I did have an appointment and did complete the information for the waiver. the letter I received today was not just a response. I wish it was.

Unfortunately , it seems like SSA keeps responding that you were notified of letters , you State you never received .

Please, I do want to come across as though I don't appreciate your help, but I feel you have a hard time believing me about not receiving letters from them. I honestly did not receive any other letter. This is the second time they said they sent me something that I did not receive. When I had my appointment for the waiver, they looked up in my file and told me that they did not send me a notice they claimed to have sent to me about stopping my benefits.

Are you involved with any agencies , ETC ?
What do you mean by agencies? If you mean Law Firms, I did originally have an attorney, but at the moment I do not.

I do not qualify for legal aid and so far I have not called around. Thank you for the suggestion about the Pro-Bono work. How/where do I begin to find out about that?

I will be attempting to make as many calls on Monday to find help. I work Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday, so I won't have those days to work on this. I cannot miss work because I recently missed because of an accident I had at home and will be missing again because I need surgery as a result of the accident. I need as much help as possible with this by Monday. Thank you very much!

 

[lbmarie]

Today I spoke with the person that my conference is scheduled to be with. She said the conference is to see if I am at fault for the overpayment and that I will be able to go over all of the letters they sent to me about being entitled to benefits. She said I could reschedule for later in the week, but suggested I keep this appointment because I do not have a lot of time. I know I should have asked, but what does that mean (I do not have a lot of time)?

If the conference is truly to prove that I'm not at fault, then I want to keep the scheduled appointment. I am emotionally exhausted and need to resolve this. I guess I want to make sure that they are being honest with me about the purpose of this conference.

 

[Whyte Noise]

Not having a lot of time is probably referring to the fact that you only have a certain number of days to fight any decisions they make. You may be coming close to that deadline.

Personally, I don't see how anyone can be "at fault" for the SSA overpaying them... unless they intentionally lied to get benefits (stated they were disabled and weren't, didn't report income, etc.). The SSA is who figures the amounts of payments, not the recipients. If they were to come tell me "Whoopsie! You shouldn't have gotten that much, the figures were wrong" then I say OH WELL. You did the figures, not me. It's your fault if they are wrong, not mine.

 

[BL]

Not having a lot of time is probably referring to the fact that you only have a certain number of days to fight any decisions they make. You may be coming close to that deadline.

Personally, I don't see how anyone can be "at fault" for the SSA overpaying them... unless they intentionally lied to get benefits (stated they were disabled and weren't, didn't report income, etc.). The SSA is who figures the amounts of payments, not the recipients. If they were to come tell me "Whoopsie! You shouldn't have gotten that much, the figures were wrong" then I say OH WELL. You did the figures, not me. It's your fault if they are wrong, not mine.

Don't be surprised . With some of these new reform Laws they slip in , people come out owing anyways , ( even after that argument ) , which IS ridiculous especially against the indigent , and most times they don't notify recipients of the changes .

 

[lbmarie]

Thank you Missouri Gal. You are probably right about the deadline. I have done everything right up to this point and I do not want to make missing a deadline destroy my chances to be heard.

I absolutely know I am not not at fault, but apparently even if they are at fault you have to prove that you are not. I feel I can do that.

Blonde Lebinese, your statement is so true. It is unfortunate, but true. I personally feel they are playing with peoples lives and do not care one bit. People like my self are already fighting to survive (emtionally not to mention financially. The games SS plays can really make one question is any of this worth it.

Last night I found a policy on their website GN 02250.061 Misinformation From an Official Source - Waiver. It states : A person is not at fault for an overpayment if the person relied on incorrect information from:
* An official source within SSA; or
* Some other governmental agency which the individual has reason to believe was connected witht he administration of RSDI benefits.

I believe finding this information helpful to me because it was from them that I received notice about being eligible for monthly benefits.

Any comment would be greatly appreciated. Thank you.

 

[lbmarie]

Does anybody have any last minute advice before I go to my conference tomorrow? I never heard back from my Congressman or the attorney so any help would be appreciated. Thank you.

 

[lbmarie]

I had my second meeting with Social Security about the overpayment.The woman totally agreed with everything I presented and said she would have thought the same, however, because of the amount of money involved she was not going to make the decision on her own.

The ALJ and my attorney (at the time) both received a copy of original letter stating my benefits were going to continue. As I mentioned before, I called my attorney about the letter and was told to keep SS informed of any changes, which I have done. The woman at the SS meeting felt I was misrepresented by my attorney and it wasn't my fault.

I received a letter yesterday saying that my request for a waiver was denied. They said " when you received the award notice indicating that your payments would continue, you should have contacted Social Security to question its correctness."

I really don't understand this. I called my attorney because I was in no conditon to understand any of this. The only thing they told me to do was to keep SS informed. The ALJ also received a copy. Why didn't someone from his office respond to this letter. I have also kept SS informed of evrything from the very beginnning. Why didn't they tell me at any one of those times that this was " not correct"?

 

[lbmarie]

I forgot to mention that I will appeal. My question is, if the ALJ also denies the waiver, what is the next step?

 

[lbmarie]

Would an attorney not respond to my phone calls because they mishandled my case/situation?

 

[BL]

Is there a statement on the denial letter , that you can appeal , and you may be able to be represented by an Attorney ? , and call them for a list of attorneys authorized by SSA to represent you ?

If so call that number and get a list , and call to get representation .

 

[lbmarie]

Thank you Blonde Lebenese for responding.

The letter does say I can appeal and does say I may have representation. It also said that I need to let them know if I am going to have representation. With the way Social Security has handled everything, I'm afraid to use anyone that they would recommend. I am having a hard time trusting anyone at this point.

I have been talking to an advocate since September just to get another opinion about my situation. They cannot give legal advice, but the information given has been helpful.

It would be so much easier if the original law firm would handle this, but as I said they will not return my calls. Starting over with another attorney would probably be very expensive because they would have to go back to the very beginning. I don't have the money to pay for high legal fees right now.

One other question: Is the ALJ completely objective (meaning that he has no interest to help or hurt the Social Security System)? I would feel a lot more confident knowing the ALJ will be very honest and impartial.

 

[BL]

Thank you Blonde Lebenese for responding.

The letter does say I can appeal and does say I may have representation. It also said that I need to let them know if I am going to have representation. With the way Social Security has handled everything, I'm afraid to use anyone that they would recommend. I am having a hard time trusting anyone at this point.

I have been talking to an advocate since September just to get another opinion about my situation. They cannot give legal advice, but the information given has been helpful.

It would be so much easier if the original law firm would handle this, but as I said they will not return my calls. Starting over with another attorney would probably be very expensive because they would have to go back to the very beginning. I don't have the money to pay for high legal fees right now.

One other question: Is the ALJ completely objective (meaning that he has no interest to help or hurt the Social Security System)? I would feel a lot more confident knowing the ALJ will be very honest and impartial.

First , it is my belief that if you call that number to get a list of authorized representation , you can chose from the list , and it will be at no cost to you , unless you win they may take a percentage , if you lose they take nothing , I'm not sure though .

Secondly , if the AJL denies you , you can file a reconsideration, and that is reviewed by a panel , appointed by SSA , but separate by sets of fresh eyes .

You have nothing to lose , but to go forward with what is being offered to you , unless you want to pay an attorney .

 

[lbmarie]

Thank you again Blonde Lebenese.

The advocate seemed to think that the ALJ may listen more carefully to my presentation if I do happen to represent myself. I know it's only an opinion, but that makes me feel more confident. Maybe I'm crazy, but I honestly do not see how the ALJ could even for a second think any of this is my fault. The advocate also told to be sure to tell the ALJ that a Social Security official even suggested that I appeal because they would have thought the same thing as I did. That person said they would have thought and done exactly what I did, but they didn't want to waive my overpayment because of the high amount and they didn't want to jeopardize (sp?) their job.

Do you think letting the ALJ know what I was told at my last hearing/appointment by the employee would be beneficial? I think if that person thought my benefits should continue after reviewing all of the information, then why would I think anything different, especially given my condition at the time. Even now, it still doesn't make sense.