Social security made a mistake

[enogre]

What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? texas..... I am on social security and have my checks direct deposited into my checking account. today i noticed that social security has deposited 20,000$ into my checking account. pretty sure it's a mistake but my question is, what would happen if i spent that money, and was unable to pay it back? would they take a portion or all of my social security till it's payed back ?

 

[Proserpina]

What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? texas..... I am on social security and have my checks direct deposited into my checking account. today i noticed that social security has deposited 20,000$ into my checking account. pretty sure it's a mistake but my question is, what would happen if i spent that money, and was unable to pay it back? would they take a portion or all of my social security till it's payed back ?

Don't. Even. Think. About. It.

Please - do NOT even consider spending a single cent of that money. You KNOW it's not yours - and if you DO spend it, you're going to land yourself in a heap of trouble.

 

[enogre]

Social security mistake

I have any intention of spending it...i was just curious about that might happen to me if i did. i realize that they would come after me but what could they do? not often this sorta thing happens in ones life and it has peaked my curiousity. now i have fought and over payment before and won because of the fact it was their mistake in calculating benefits. i know this is not the same thing but surely this has happened to someone else who went and did the wrong thing and would like to know what happened to them..whats the worst they could do. I am far to honest and besides my wife would kill me if i tried such a stupid stunt, but lets face it, how often does this sorta thing happen in life...

 

[CourtClerk]

Google: Unjust enrichment.

Not only that... federal prison wouldn't be somewhere you'd like to live. Don't play with the government and their money. They won't be playing with you once they notice.

 

[LdiJ]

Google: Unjust enrichment.

Not only that... federal prison wouldn't be somewhere you'd like to live. Don't play with the government and their money. They won't be playing with you once they notice.

I am sorry but that is unnecessarily dramatic. The feds are not going to send someone to federal prison over an error that the feds made. They will certainly do everything necessary to recoup the error..including but not limited to keeping ALL federal payouts until it could be paid back, but the odds of them actually sending someone to federal prison is slim to none.

 

[CourtClerk]

I am sorry but that is unnecessarily dramatic. The feds are not going to send someone to federal prison over an error that the feds made. They will certainly do everything necessary to recoup the error..including but not limited to keeping ALL federal payouts until it could be paid back, but the odds of them actually sending someone to federal prison is slim to none.

You calling someone unnecessarily dramatic??? That's laughable. Pot? Meet Kettle.

Are you willing to bet your next paycheck on it? That's theft. Grand theft at that. Why don't you look and see if you can find a case where someone's been prosecuted for it.

I'll wait. PACER is a good reference...

 

[BL]

What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? texas..... I am on social security and have my checks direct deposited into my checking account. today i noticed that social security has deposited 20,000$ into my checking account. pretty sure it's a mistake but my question is, what would happen if i spent that money, and was unable to pay it back? would they take a portion or all of my social security till it's payed back ?

Overpayments

http://www.socialsecurity.gov/OP_Home/handbook/handbook.19/handbook-1905.html

I don't know what you're referring to when you said you fought an overpayment . It could have been waived with request.

Further this overpayment is not a small amount of 2 or 3 grand .

SSA most likely would decide you have/had enough to live off and take your entire monthly payments until made up.

If SSI they most likely would determine you had assets over the limit and stop your payments entirely , and go after recouping it.

That's if you don't send it back ,or keep it in the bank for them to receive it.

 

[commentator]

I realize this amount is excessive, but I have seen several occasions where Social Security gave a COLA or something of this type, and sent out checks or hit bank accounts with retroactive benefits, for example the person in July finds that he received a COLA increase, and it was retroactive to January of that year, and suddenly, there's a large amount of unexplained cash in his checking account from Social Security, which he is afraid to spend, but he is legitimately receiving it, it's the backpay of that raise.

The important thing for you to do is speak at once with someone in the Social Security administration. Let them know immediately what has happened, make sure they haven't just misplaced some zero or decimal.

As to what would happen if you rapidly pulled it out and bought yourself a new car or something, I can personally say that I have seen cases in which people were paid benefits to which they were not entitled, say they did not live the entire previous month. When Social Security is notified, that amount is sucked back out of that bank account with remarkable rapidity.

If you managed to get in there and get it all out in cash before they got around to taking it back, I suspect, and have seen it happen that the first thing they would do is suck your bank account totally dry, with all the incurred overdraft charges and bounced checks and fees and penalties, and then they would mount an all out campaign to recoup their money, and do not forget, these people have access to lots of your personal information. So they could get your savings, your home, your personal property, earnings, lots and lots of ways they'd have to get their money back, as well as prosecuting the daylights out of you. Messing with Social Security is sort of like robbing the post office. It is NOT worth it for the severity of the penalties that would be incurred. Don't mess with the Feds.

 

[disneykid52]

Say the poster didnt spend the money but instead put it into some type of interest bearing account and money incurred said interest,,,Then the feds realize their mistake down the road, would the OP be able to at least keep the interest?

 

[sandyclaus]

Say the poster didnt spend the money but instead put it into some type of interest bearing account and money incurred said interest,,,Then the feds realize their mistake down the road, would the OP be able to at least keep the interest?

That's an interesting question, but it still falls under the category of "Unjust Enrichment". OP would never have the benefit of the interest if they didn't receive the money.

But the better question here is, because OP wouldn't be entitled to the interest, exactly what would happen to it?