A WOMAN drained her retirement account after being told she owed over $81,000 in Social Security due to a system error.
Kat Conner and Jim Lehfeldt from Palm Beach Gardens, Florida, were shocked to receive a letter from the Social Security Administration last summer.
“Basically what it says is that they overpaid me a little bit over $81,000,” Conner told WPTV.
“We were like what do we do?” Lehfeldt added.
The letter dated July 2023 informed the couple that over four years, the SSA had incorrectly paid Conner.
As a result, the SSA would hold her monthly disability payments and retirement benefits until the debt was repaid.
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Stunned by the news, the couple immediately tried to contact the association but described the experience as a “nightmare.”
“First we tried calling Social Security. That was a nightmare, just on hold and you get passed and passed and passed,” Conner explained.
“Then we went to Social Security and spoke with somebody [who] said, basically, he didn’t have access to all of our records.
“So I depleted one of my retirement accounts and started repaying.”
“It’s their error, not our error and we feel that it’s wrong,” Lehfeldt added.
It wasn’t until the pair heard about another couple who received a similar Social Security letter that they tried to take further action.
“We were thrilled that there was somebody else and we decided to contact WPTV and [Congressman] Brian Mast.”
The other couple Conner and Lehfeldt read about had done the same and Mast managed to get their checks resumed.
“I would encourage anyone having issues with the SSA or any other federal agency, to contact my office for assistance,” Mast previously told the news outlet.
A report by the Office of Inspector General found in fiscal year 2022 that the agency recovered $4.7 billion in overpayments and still had $21.6 billion uncollected.
“The SSA must be a responsible steward of the funds entrusted to its care by minimizing the risk of making improper payments and recovering overpayments when they occur,” the OIG said in an audit.
Conner and Lehfeldt contacted the congressman in January but it is unclear if he was able to resolve their situation.
The U.S. Sun has reached out to Congressman Mast and the SSA for comment.
After previously reaching out to the SSA for comment on similar stories, The U.S. Sun has been informed that the administration does not comment on specific cases due to privacy concerns.
However, it has sent the following statement in response to our previous inquiries:
“Getting an overpayment notice can be unsettling and we work with people to navigate the process.
“We inform people about the fact and amount of the overpayment, their right to appeal, and the options to repay or, in some cases, have the debt waived.
“People have the right to appeal the overpayment decision or the amount.
“They can also ask Social Security to waive collection of the overpayment if they believe it was not their fault and can’t afford to pay it back.”
“We do not pursue recoveries while an initial appeal or waiver is pending,” The SSA continued.
“We examine each waiver request to determine, among other factors, if the person caused the debt and their ability to repay.
“Even if they do not want to appeal or request a waiver, the notice says to contact us if the planned withholding would cause hardship.
“We have flexible repayment options—including repayment of as low as $10 per month.
“Each person’s situation is unique, and we handle overpayments on a case-by-case basis.
“To address this problem more systematically, in October 2023, SSA launched a comprehensive review of our overpayment policies and procedures.
“For example, as we announced last month, we are working to reduce wage-related improper payments by using our legal authority to establish information exchanges with payroll data providers that we expect will significantly reduce the number of improper payments once implemented.”