Jan
07
2013
By bradbury
I am on SSI and wondering if I am facing serious trouble for failing to report being homeless for an extended period? I was living in California when I suddenly became homeless in October of 2011, I was afraid to report that I was homeless for fear of being institutionalized, my monthly benefits kept being automatically deposited every month, and now for the past month I've been living with my daughter in Alabama and she is very anxious for me to get this cleared up, but now I'm afraid to call in case I'm in serious legal trouble for not reporting this sooner. Thank you for any and all feedback
Consequences of not reporting SSI living arrangement
First, I think you should recognize that if you receive SSI, then there are several things you must report to the SSA. This includes changes in living arrangements :
https://www.ssa.gov/ssi/text-report-ussi.htm
Next, realize you may face repayment and penalties for improper reporting :
http://oig.ssa.gov/newsroom/blog/2012/08/pricey-penalties-social-securit...
However, in your case, the degree of "overpayment" is open, and may be relatively small. While homeless, it sounds like you were living by yourself. In this case, you were not deriving benefits (room and board) from others, and thus likely did not receive an "overpayment", at least from living arrangements..
However, overpayment status may depend on what state you were homeless in. SSI payments vary by state, and I believe California provides a supplement that other states do not. If your period of homelessness was in a state other than California, you may have an overpayment due to California.
http://www.ssa.gov/ssi/text-benefits-ussi.htm
I can't recommend exactly what to do, but if you continue living with your daughter I suspect your chances of running into an overpayment/penalty situation will increase.
Note that even if you get into an overpayment situation, you can request waiver of the overpayment. Use the following form SSA-632 for that :
http://www.ssa.gov/online/ssa-632.pdf
Unreported Homelessness
Thank you for your reply, I appreciate it! I was homeless in California, by myself, from December of 2011 to April 4th 2012, when I went to Alabama for 4 months, staying with various relatives approx 3 weeks per visit, all of whom had no long term room for me, so I returned to California still homeless until this past November, where I am now staying with my daughter ( in Alabama) until such time as I can find/afford my own dwelling. I called Social Security's 800 number after reading your reply, with all my forms ready from the past year, bank statements etc, ready to mail or fax, but the person said "no further action was needed by me, that if Alabama's local office (in my city) has any questions they will call me". I found this surprising as usually they want signatures in blood when reporting inter-state changes. So now I'm waiting for the phone to ring or to get a letter advising something, hopefully, soon. Thank you again for your help, I'm still not sure what's going to happen, but at least I finally made the call.
Reporting change in living arrangements
Hope things turn out well. From your description, it sounds unlikely you will wind up in an overpayment situation, as you largely were living by yourself. If you do face an overpayment situation, these posts may be helpful :
http://socialsecurityhop.com/en/handbook/01/0135-what-is-done-if-you-rec...
http://socialsecurityhop.com/forums/disability-benefits-social-security/...
Bless you.
Unreported Homelessness
Thank you! I have a telephone appt with the local ss office in 10 minutes, and will post how it all turned out, staying hopeful here :)