SSDI overpayment nightmare: SSA keeping $30k they wrongly collected despite judge ruling in my family's favor

This sounds like an Administrative Finality issue. Unfortunately, when it comes to SSA collections and refunds, the laws and regulations are incredibly complicated and often unfair. The Administrative Law Judge (ALJ) likely determined that under Social Security's rules, they can only stop future collection but can't order a refund of already collected funds in certain circumstances. Your sister should immediately request a written explanation of the judge's decision if she hasn't received it yet. She needs to understand exactly what regulation or law the ALJ cited that prevents the return of her money. Once she has that, she has a few potential options: 1. Appeal to the Appeals Council (must be done within 60 days of the ALJ decision) 2. Contact her Congressional representative's office (they have caseworkers who specialize in these issues) 3. Consider consulting with an attorney who specializes in Social Security overpayment cases The fact that the judge acknowledged SSA's error but wouldn't order repayment suggests there might be a procedural or regulatory issue at play, not just a matter of fairness.

Omg this is TERRIFYING!!! I'm on SSDI and working part-time too. I report everything but now I'm scared they'll say I didn't even though I did!!!! How can they just take $42,000 when THEY made the mistake???? This is making my anxiety go through the roof. Did your sister keep certified mail receipts or anything? I'm about to start taking pictures of everything I send them and recording every phone call.

The same thing happened to my cousin. SSA claimed overpayment of $36k, he fought it, judge agreed SSA was wrong but wouldn't give back the $22k they'd already taken. Something about how Administrative Law Judges don't have authority to order refunds beyond a certain point. It's completely broken. He gave up after spending thousands on lawyers.

There's a specific legal issue happening here that most people don't understand. The ALJ (Administrative Law Judge) is limited by something called "Administrative Finality" in Social Security regulations. Basically, when it comes to SSDI overpayments, there are two separate issues: 1. Whether you actually owe the money (which the judge ruled your sister did not) 2. Whether money already collected can be refunded Under 20 CFR 404.988, SSA decisions generally become final after a certain period (usually 4 years for overpayments). Even if the decision was wrong, after that time it can't be reopened except in limited circumstances like fraud. Your sister should: - File for Appeal Council review within 60 days of the ALJ decision - Specify that she's challenging the application of Administrative Finality - Request a "waiver of recovery of overpayment" using Form SSA-632-BK (different legal avenue) - File a complaint with the SSA Inspector General Also, when did she actually report her work? The timing matters for Administrative Finality purposes.

Have you tried calling SSA directly to talk to a supervisor about this? I know the wait times are ridiculous but sometimes if you can actually get someone on the phone who has authority they can help. My brother had an overpayment issue (much smaller amount tho) and finally got it resolved by talking to the right person.

I'm sorry your sister is going through this. The administrative finality rules are incredibly frustrating, but there are still some options. In addition to appealing to the Appeals Council, she might want to look into filing a lawsuit in Federal District Court. This is usually the next step if the Appeals Council denies her claim. Also, I'd recommend she connect with an organization called the National Organization of Social Security Claimants' Representatives (NOSSCR). They might be able to connect her with an attorney who specializes in these complex cases. Many take cases on contingency, meaning they only get paid if they win money back for your sister. The key will be challenging the application of administrative finality in her specific case, especially since she has documentation proving she reported correctly and the overpayment notice came relatively recently.

This is why I don't trust SSA at all!!! They make "mistakes" and we pay for them. My friend's dad lost his house because of an SSA overpayment situation. It's all rigged against us regular people. And don't get me started on their customer service - its impossible to even get answers.

Based on the additional information you've provided, your sister should specifically focus on the timeframe in her appeal. If she reported in August 2023 and only received the overpayment notice in January 2025, this is definitely not an Administrative Finality situation that would prevent recovery of the funds. Administrative Finality typically applies to much older cases (4+ years). Her case is well within the timeframe where full correction should be possible. I suspect the ALJ may have applied the wrong standard or misunderstood some aspect of the case. Her Appeals Council review should specifically highlight: 1. The ALJ found SSA was in error (get the exact language from the decision) 2. The timeline proving this is not a case where Administrative Finality would prevent full relief 3. Request explicit review of the decision to deny refund of already paid amounts Additionally, is there any chance the ALJ was referring to a specific portion of the payments rather than the entire amount? Sometimes there can be different legal standards applied to different time periods of benefits.

I went through almost the exact same situation with my SSDI overpayment last year. After months of stress and fighting, I finally connected with someone at my local SSA office who actually understood the rules correctly and fixed everything. The problem is getting through to them - the phone lines are always jammed. I used a service called Claimyr (claimyr.com) that got me through to an actual SSA representative when I was getting nowhere with regular calls. They have this video that shows how it works: https://youtu.be/Z-BRbJw3puU Once I got through to a real person, I asked specifically for someone who handles overpayment appeals and kept escalating until I found someone who knew the rules about refunding improperly collected money. It took persistence, but I eventually got my money back after proving I had reported properly.

One more important point: make sure your sister requests a complete copy of her file through a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request. This should include all notes from SSA representatives, all reported earnings information, and all documentation related to her case. Often in these situations, you'll find evidence that SSA actually did receive the earnings reports but failed to process them correctly internally. This documentation can be crucial for the Appeals Council review or any further legal action. Additionally, the fact that this happened in 2023-2025 means she should definitely be eligible for a full refund if SSA was in error. Administrative Finality typically only prevents corrections going back more than 4 years, and sometimes only 1 year for certain types of corrections. Her case is still very current.

@casualcommenter You can file a FOIA request by submitting a written request to your local SSA office or through their online portal. But honestly, it's much faster to just call and request your file - they're required to provide it to you. Again, getting through to someone is the hard part. That's why I used Claimyr to get past the phone maze. And @OriginalPoster - yes, I did have to go through about 3 different people before finding someone who actually understood the rules. Ask specifically for a "Technical Expert" or someone who handles Appeals Council cases. They have much more knowledge about these complex situations than the frontline representatives.