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Neighborhood Legal Services, Inc. |
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Neighborhood Legal Services, Inc. |
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Public Assistance/Food Stamp Overpayments
© 1997-2002 by Neighborhood Legal Services, Inc.
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What is a public assistance or food stamps overpayment?
An overpayment of public assistance and/or food stamps means that the Department of Social Services (DSS) believes you received more public assistance or food stamps than you should have.
Your overpayment may have been created in one of three ways:
1. by fraud (intentional misrepresentation or concealment); or
2. by inadvertent household error (your action caused the overpayment,
but not intentionally); or
3. by agency error (DSS made the mistake).
What happens if I receive a letter from the Special Investigations Division (SID)?
You may receive a letter from SID asking you to come in to speak with them about an alleged overpayment. You must go to this interview to avoid discontinuance of your benefits. If you are receiving benefits with your minor children, your children's benefits cannot be stopped because you did not go to the appointment.
If you are not on assistance when you receive a letter from SID, it is a good idea to attend the interview to find out why DSS believes that you were overpaid. If you do not go to the interview, DSS can sue you for the amount of the overpayment.
What will happen at the interview?
An investigator will meet with you and will tell you that you have been overpaid. They will ask you to sign a repayment agreement and a Confession of Judgment. If the investigator does not explain why they believe that you were overpaid, ask questions before you sign any documents at all!
What kind of questions should I ask at the interview?
At the appointment you have a right to review all of SID's calculations to see if they figured out the overpayment correctly, or if there was even an overpayment made to you at all. Always ask for a written explanation of the overpayment. Ask for:
1. proof of the time period you were overpaid,
2. proof of the benefits received during that time period,
3. any other relevant proof, like proof of your wages, etc.
4. If income you earned at a job caused the overpayment, then ask if you have been given the
proper income disregards and/or deductions by the SID Unit.
You should take the following checklist with you and ask each question. If the answer to any of these questions is “yes”, then ask your worker to investigate your case and recalculate the overpayment amount.
[ ] Yes [ ] No Am I entitled to earned income disregards that may reduce my overpayment amount?
[ ] Yes [ ] No Did the Department of Social
Services (DSS) collect child support payments that may have
reduced my overpayment amount?
[ ] Yes [ ] No Did DSS ever collect money under a lien that was put on my
home or property or personal
injury settlement or inheritance that might reduce my overpayment
amount?
[ ] Yes [ ] No Was there ever a recoupment
that was taken out of my grant in the past that may have reduced
my overpayment amount?
[ ] Yes [ ] No Has DSS ever seized my taxes that might reduce my overpayment amount?
[ ] Yes [ ] No Is DSS counting any income or resources that should be exempt?
[ ] Yes [ ] No Did DSS ever collect any money
from the Social Security Administration when I first started
getting SSI that may reduce my overpayment amount?
If any or all of these apply to you, you may owe less than SID says you do. SID will provide documentation at your request.
What if I agree that I was overpaid the amount of the overpayment?
If you agree that you were overpaid and the amount of the overpayment, SID will offer you the following documents to sign:
(1) A repayment agreement, where you agree to repay DSS in set amounts over a set period of time.
You can negotiate the terms of the agreement with SID depending on your ability to pay; and(2) A Confession of Judgment where you are "confessing" to a court that you owe DSS the amount of the overpayment.
How can I repay the overpayment?
If you are still receiving Public Assistance or Food Stamps, DSS will recoup the overpayment from your Public Assistance or Food Stamps in monthly installments of 10% for non-fraudulent overpayments.
If you are no longer receiving Public Assistance or Food Stamps, you can arrange a repayment agreement. Usually, DSS will ask you to pay off the overpayment within one year, but they cannot make you do so.
What happens if I sign the Confession of Judgment?
Signing the Confession of Judgment is a serious matter. It has the same effect as a court judgment after a trial. In other words, DSS would not have to take you to court to collect the overpayment contained in the Confession of Judgment papers, and you waive all defenses you could raise in court.
Even if you sign the Confession of Judgment, it has no effect until DSS files it with the court. DSS will not file the Confession automatically. DSS will only file it if you default on your repayment agreement for 60 days. Once DSS files this signed confession with a court, it automatically goes on your credit record as a legal judgment against you. Once this happens, fees and costs are added. Also, interest begins to accrue.
You are not required to sign either the repayment agreement or the Confession of Judgment. However, if you do not sign the Confession of Judgment and DSS is forced to sue you in court, additional court fees of about $200 will be added to your original overpayment amount for which you will be ultimately responsible.
What if I do not agree that I was overpaid?
If you do not agree that you were overpaid, do not sign these documents. If you sign them, you could make an appeal of your case more difficult. If you refuse to sign, and are receiving public assistance or food stamps, you will be sent a notice of overpayment telling you how much your grant will be reduced to "recoup" the overpayment. As soon as you receive this notice, you should request a fair hearing. At the hearing you should tell the judge why you believe you were not overpaid.
What if I am not receiving public assistance or food stamps at the time of the overpayment and I do not agree that I was overpaid?
If you are not receiving public assistance or food stamps and this is the first time you are being informed of the overpayment you are entitled to a Fair Hearing. You can request a Fair Hearing by telephone, fax, or mail. If you phone, get the name of the person you speak to. These lines are often quite busy and you may have to try 20 to 30 times to get through. If you write, you can put the reason for requesting the hearing on the back of your notice. Keep a copy of your letter and send it by certified mail. The correct address is:
New York State Office of Temporary and Disability Assistance
Fair Hearings
P.O. Box 1930
Albany, New York 12201-1930Telephone No. (716) 852-4868
Fax No. (518) 473-6735 you must have form from Albany)
If you are not receiving public assistance or food stamps at the time of your SID appointment and this is not the first time you were told of the overpayment, you are not entitled to hearing and DSS will ask you to sign a repayment agreement, and/or a Confession of Judgment, or it is possible that DSS will file a civil lawsuit against you in state court.
What if I have questions or problems with the SID meeting?
Contact our office at 847-0650.
If the overpayment was due to agency error, do I have to repay the overpayment?
Yes, even if the overpayment occurred because of an agency error, you must repay the benefits you were over granted. You have a legal obligation to repay the amount of the over grant even when it was DSS' mistake.
If I have been overpaid public assistance or food stamps, am I still eligible for public assistance or food stamp benefits?
Yes. Many people believe that they cannot apply for public assistance or food stamps because they currently owe DSS money. This is not true. As long as you are otherwise eligible (you aren't disqualified due to an intentional program violation), you should still be able to get public assistance and/or food stamps. If you are in repayment with DSS when you get back on benefits, usually DSS will recoup the overpayment from your new public assistance and/or food stamp case and you will stop repaying DSS directly.
