A WOMAN, 45, was forced to “sleep behind dumpsters” and “eat from trash” after Social Security demanded $26,000 in overpayments.
Kristy Strong, who lives in Elizabeth City, North Carolina, was shocked when her Supplemental Security Income benefits were stopped in January last year.
The 45-year-old is one of millions who earn the monthly benefits as a result of her permanent disability, which she has had since 2010.
However, when her Social Security notice came with an overpayment bill of more than $26,000, Kristy found herself trapped.
She claims the bill arrived as the Social Security Administration (SSA) believed her assets had surpassed the $2,000 limit by $1.
Kristy told Newsweek that the agency claimed she was “overpaid” and that she had “nothing” as she was “sleeping behind dumpsters” and “eating out of trash cans”.
She immediately appealed and contacted legal counsel after receiving the letter but had been waiting for a court date for more than six months, despite her lawyer telling her the case had been expedited.
Her Supplemental Security Income had begun in 2010 when she was aged 29 following a diagnosis of bipolar disorder 1 and complex post-traumatic stress disorder.
The disorders can be severely debilitating, with Kristy suffering from insomnia and severe panic attacks.
She said no matter how many medications she tried to help alleviate her struggles, they all had bad side effects, with Kristy herself subsequently being deemed “treatment resistant” by therapists.
For the past five years, she has been off all medications and said that although the symptoms still affect her, they are more manageable than the side effects of pharmaceuticals.
Initially, Kristy was unaware of what assets the SSA had been referring to and was later informed the agency was under the impression she had inherited property following the death of her grandmother in November 2021.
She says she then told the SSA that she had not inherited anything, as her grandmother had given it all to her aunt who had insufficient funds to be able to probate the will.
Kristy claims she signed a paper agreeing to not probate the will and that she “never” inherited anything.
SSA then told her she would have to provide proof that she did not own the property, despite the home never being in her name.
Kristy described how the ordeal negatively affected her mental health and how difficult it had been to escape homelessness just before the payments were halted.
She said: “Relying on SSI as your only form of income and health insurance for years is like, it’s like you’re in a little life raft in a hurricane, and it’s a raggedy little raft, it’s full of holes, and you know your chances aren’t great, but someone on a much bigger boat has thrown you a lifeline, and you’re just praying nothing happens to the rope, because it’s your only hope.”
The 45-year-old went on to say it feels like she was abandoned and “drowning” following the termination of her support, which came just after she had “clawed” her way out of homelessness.
PRAYING FOR BENEFITS TO BE REINSTATED
She had been without a home for around two years and just begun living with her partner David, who also relies on SSI.
After their funds were cut in half, Kristy and David worried they would no longer be able to stay with the sympathetic landlord they had been with for two months.
However, they were able to afford staying thanks to their local church, UMC Riverside, which is helping with rent and utilities that come to $450 a month.
Kristy says she would have been made homeless again if not for the aid, and that she is still praying to see if she can get her benefits reinstated.
Many have called for the SSA to expand its asset limit so people like Kristy do not lose their benefits, or worse, get hit with overwhelming overpayment bills they’ll likely never be able to pay back.
Currently, the limit sits at just $2,000 and has been unchanged since 1989.
GettyThere have been calls to change the SSA’s asset limit[/caption] Read More Details
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