Hi Larry,
In 2011 at the age of 45 I was diagnosed with a very aggressive form of cancer. I was Stage IIIB. I received SSDI during my two years of Tx. The Tx worked and I found a new job, closer to home at half the pay. I am partially paralyzed from a Motorcycle accident 2 years before the cancer diagnosis. I enrolled in SSA's program, "Ticket to Work" before the job so they tracked all my earnings and pay stubs. My employer was reporting to SSA and I filed my taxes, as usual. Two years later I received a DEMAND for a $17, 500 overpayment. I was completely surprised as I had even requested a letter from SSA that stated I was still eligible. At any rate, I filled out that huge financial packet. I followed up with a phone call but couldn't get thru so I figured they accepted what I had sent. This November I received a new notice, same amount. I set up a payment plan in Dec 2018 that was to start January 2019. Just to be safe, I sent two payments in December. My bank has drafted/sent the $100 on time, every month, however the SSA Sub-Contractor, Mid Atlantic Payment Center in Philly is apparently 3-4 months behind. They didnt post or CASH the checks sent by my bank, until March, therefore SSA CANCELLED my $100/month payment and is garnishing $640 of my medical retirement. Mid Atlantic SSA Payment Center made it look like that I never made the Dec, Jan, Feb payments since they didnt post my December 2018 payment until mid March.
SSA is now saying I have to go thru the complete financial review. That will not work because I sold a rental property and have the money I owe the IRS from the sale in my account. Even after I pay that amount, the CPA thinks I will owe another $2k. I began selling properties at a loss because I am now Stage IV cancer. This is A LOT to juggle!
Prior to all this my CPA filed an extension on my behalf so she could figure out all the new tax laws as there are a lot less deductions due to Trump's new tax plan.
I did get my Congressional Rep involved April 1st but SSA is sending her in circles, just like they are me. SSA wents me to give them bank account access. That is a TERRIBLE Plan as I then will be in trouble and have to do repayments to BOTH the IRS if SSA takes the IRS money. Please help! Annabelle

Hi Annabelle,

I'm very sorry to hear about your health problems and the problems that you're having with Social Security. I wish I knew of a simple solution to all of that, but unfortunately I don't. Contacting your congressional representative's office was a good first step, so hopefully they'll be able to help you straighten things out. I can only suggest continuing to work with their office and with Social Security until the problems are resolved.

I wouldn't know of any reason why Social Security would ask for access to your bank account(s). However, if you've filed for waiver of your overpayment or if you have requested a repayment rate that would require more than 3 years to repay the overpayment, then Social Security would need to verify the balance in your accounts as well as your other financial information. That type of verification is normally done by having you submit copies of your financial records, though, not by accessing your bank account.

Best, Jerry