An estimated 250,000 elderly and disabled people who unfairly lost Social Security, Supplemental Security Income (SSI) or Special Veterans benefits in recent years can get the money back — but they'll have to make sure they make their claims to federal officials.
A number of legal advocates gathered to announce the opportunity to restore lost benefits during a recent press conference organized by San Francisco-based New America Media, the sponsor of Labeez.org, and held at the Japanese American Cultural & Community Center in the Little Tokyo district on the edge of Downtown Los Angeles.
Among the legal advocates who delivered the message were: Gerald McIntyre, director of the National Senior Citizens Law Center; Nicole Perez, a lawyer for the Legal Aid Foundation of Los Angeles; and Rosa Martínez, whose claim against the Social Security Administration led to a recent settlement that affects all other beneficiaries affected by the case.
The numbers of cases of wrongfully denied benefits is believed to include disproportionately large totals of individuals from various ethnic groups. The settlement stems from a lawsuit pressed by National Senior Citizens Law Center on behalf of Martinez and five other plaintiffs.
The courts granted the case class-action status, which means that terms of the settlement apply to other individuals facing similar circumstances.
The settlement requires the Social Security Administration to pay more than $500 million to tens of thousands of individuals whose Social Security, Supplemental Benefits or Special Veterans Benefits were withheld after their names appeared in an arrest-warrant database. The warrants often involved traffic incidents or minor infractions, and sometimes were for different people who happened to have the same name.
The settlement is expected apply to as many as 250,000 individuals across the U.S., including many who were wrongfully denied benefits after January 1, 2000. Legal advocates estimate that as many as 7,000 of the individuals live in Los Angeles County. Some will be eligible for payments ranging from $10,000-$40,000.
Representatives of The Legal Aid Foundation and the National Senior Citizens Law Center said that they expect to face some difficulties in finding many of the individuals who could be eligible. In some cases the beneficiaries have changed addresses since losing their benefits, with little information available on their new living situations, especially for any who have fallen into homelessness. The challenge is made steeper by deadlines to apply for the benefits, with anyone eligible given approximately six months to respond from notifications from the Social Security Administrations, in some cases.
McIntyre said benefits were incorrectly withheld from thousands of individuals in recent years due to errors such as the one that plagued Martinez, who lost her benefits after authorities mistook her for a person with the same name. The other person has an outstanding warrant for a crime. The Martinez who filed the lawsuit said that authorities offered her insufficient opportunity to explain the mix-up, leading to a loss of benefits for an extended period of time, and pushing her to the brink of homelessness.
McIntyre estimated that thousands of individuals, including many who are members of various ethnic groups, saw similar losses due to mix-ups on their identity or unreasonable interpretations of the law in regard to what constitutes a fugitive. Some of the individuals were denied benefits because they were deemed to be fleeing law-enforcement authorities. In many cases those determinations were based on minor charges, and the individuals weren't even aware of any outstanding warrants.
The Legal Aid Foundation's Perez added that the organization provides free service to anyone in need, and keeps any information about clients confidential.
"Every year, 14,000 low-income individuals in Los Angeles County receive assistance from this organization," Perez said, adding that she and her colleagues plan to work with 150 or community organizations such as homeless shelters, churches and civic groups in hopes of finding anyone who is eligible for restored benefits.
"To help people better, we have staff who speak different languages and can communicate in their native language, if they don't speak English," she said. "This is because Social Security sends letters in English, and many of these people are unable to understand what they say, and their rights are affected."
Perez noted that the Legal Aid Foundation can be reached by calling (800) 399-4529.
Martinez also urged anyone who has unfairly lost benefits to take the steps required to restore them.
"You must fight for your rights," she said. "Being treated like a criminal when I'm not, is not fair, nor right."
Martinez is an immigrant from Mexico and a legal resident of the U.S. She said that she realized she had lost her disability benefits went to apply for the recertification of Low Income Housing at one of the Social Security Administration offices in San Mateo County. Authorities denied her re-authorization and gave her a paper with her name and birth date on it, informing her that their records indicated that she was the subject of a warrant issued in Miami and charging her with possession of narcotics.
Martinez said she had never been to Miami, adding that the description of the person identified in the warrant didn't match her at all.
"On the paper they gave me at the Social Security, it said that the person was born in the state of Colorado, and I was born in Mexico City," she noted. "They made a mistake and unjustly took away my benefits for a crime I did not commit, and not only that, but I've never been to Miami. It was horrible to be treated like a criminal."
Martinez said that she had to borrow money from family members and some of her friends in order to continue paying the rent and to buy food while she fought the case.
"I was very, very disappointed, because I'm disabled and live in a house for low-income people in Redwood City, and I really need the income I receive from Social Security in order to be able to survive. When they took it away from me, everything was very difficult for me. But thanks to the advice and the defense that I received from my lawyers and the help of God, Social Security realized its mistake and reinstated all the benefits that they had take away from me."
Martinez said that she had to work very hard for seven and a half years as a nurse's assistant in order to raise her two daughters to Germany after her husband, who was in the armed forces, left her in that country 20 years ago.
"I wasn't asking Social Security for something that didn't belong to me," she specified. "I just wanted to get my benefits that I earned while working hard for this country.
"This whole problem arose in 2007 and fortunately only lasted four months," added the plaintiff. "I want to clarify that by winning the suit only my rights were restored, nothing more, I didn't earn any extra money, I only got back the money that had been retained, and with that I could pay the people who helped me financially while everything was being resolved."
McIntyre stated that Martinez was very lucky because her case was able to be resolved relatively quickly, but there are many people who have lost their benefits for much longer periods.
There are three groups of people who can get benefits because of the Martinez settlement:
Group 1
Your benefits stopped after January 1, 2007 because you had an arrest warrant; OR
You appealed Social Security's decision to stop your benefits and Social Security made a decision on your appeal after January 1, 2007; OR
You appealed Social Security's decision to stop your benefits and you did not get a final decision.
Group 2
You applied for benefits and received a denial letter after January 1, 2007; OR
You appealed a denial of benefits and got a decision after January 1, 2007; OR
You appealed a denial of benefits and did not get a final decision.
Group 3
Your benefits were denied or stopped between January 1, 2000 and December 31, 2006; AND
After January 1, 2007, you were not waiting for Social Security to make a decision on an appeal.
Details for reinstatement and retroactive relief of benefits will vary on a case by case basis.
The settlement agreement stipulates that all beneficiaries must have a current mailing address on file at the Social Security office. The Social Security Administration will attempt to send letters to individuals who are affected by the lawsuit. Eligible individuals who currently receive Social Security can update their address online at www.socialsecurity.gov/changeofaddress. Individuals who currently receive SSI should visit their Social Security office and ask them to put your name, address, Social Security Number and phone number on the "Martinez" list.
Visit www.nsclc.org/areas/social-security-ssi/Martinez-Settlement on the Internet or call the offices of the Legal Aid Foundation of Los Angeles at (800) 399-4529 for more information.
Related article:
• Social Security Cops a Plea in Snafu on Warrants
Miriam Reyes is a writer for Impulso.
Read more stories from Impulso »
Leave a comment