CalFresh benefits suspended after reporting new Chime income - urgent advice needed!

Unfortunately, this is becoming more common with electronic payment methods like Chime, Cash App, etc. The county often flags these as potential unreported income sources. You need to call your county worker ASAP and explain the situation. They likely need verification of the source of those funds (like a statement from whoever is sending you money confirming it's assistance, not employment income). The fact that you properly reported it on your SAR7 is good, but they probably need documentation proving what type of income it is exactly.

omg the EXACT same thing happened 2 me in april!! they suspended my benifits for 2 months cause my brother sends me money on chime. so stupid cause i reported it right on the SAR7 form. they want statements showing where the money comes from but chime doesnt have good statements like regular banks fyi

Just FYI when u report "gifts" from family that are regular they count it as income anyways. My worker told me anything u get more than twice counts towards the income limit. Did u go over the IRT (Income Reporting Threshold) on ur last approval letter with this new money? If u did thats prolly why they suspended it even if u reported it right.

I had a nightmare trying to reach someone at the county when this happened to me last year. After 3 days of calling and getting nowhere, I found this service called Claimyr that got me through to a real person at the CalFresh office in less than 30 minutes. Just went to claimyr.com and they handled the whole calling process - they even have a video showing how it works: https://youtu.be/eZ19FHRETv8?si=_CXnXqNXbLl26WB8 When I finally got through, I explained that the money was family assistance for my childcare expenses and they reinstated my benefits within 48 hours. Definitely worth it when you're desperate to talk to someone.

This is sooo annoying!! The system is designed to kick people off for any little thing! I bet if you HADN'T reported that Chime money they wouldn't have even noticed it. That's what I do - only report my regular paychecks. These electronic transfers are impossible for them to track anyway unless you tell them about it. Just saying...sometimes honesty doesn't pay with these bureaucrats!!!

To address your specific situation: You need to get documentation of who is sending you the money and why. Have your family members write and sign statements explaining they're providing financial assistance, the amount, and how often. Include their contact information so the county can verify if needed. For Chime specifically, you can: 1. Download transaction history from the app (last 90 days available) 2. Screenshot the transfers with names/dates visible 3. Get a statement from family members confirming the purpose Once you have these documents, upload them to BenefitsCal under the "Submit Verifications" section. Then call your county office to alert them the documents are there. Your benefits should be reinstated for the current month if you resolve this within the same benefit month.

btw sometimes u can get emergency food benefits while waiting for them to fix ur case just tell them u have no food for ur kids when u finally reach someone they HAVE to help u with emergency benefits within 3 days its the law!!!

Update: I just got through to someone using that Claimyr service (it actually worked!). The worker explained that any electronic transfers over $250/month automatically trigger a verification request, which was supposedly mailed but I never received it. They're reissuing the request but she said I can upload the documents now and they'll process them within 3 business days. She also said they can issue emergency benefits for my kids since we're almost out of food. Really relieved but still frustrated by the whole process. Thanks everyone for your help!

So glad you got through and are getting this resolved! This is a perfect example of why the CalFresh system needs better communication - automatically flagging electronic transfers without proper notice is causing unnecessary stress for families. For anyone else dealing with similar issues, it's worth noting that you can also request all future correspondence be sent via email through your BenefitsCal account to avoid missed mail notices. The $250 threshold for automatic verification is something more people should know about upfront. Hope your benefits get restored quickly!