So my dad is on disability/retirement pension and they received a letter stating that the SSA overpaid them the last few years and that my parents owe them $20,000. Now I'm sure this is chump change to many here and doesn't sound like a whole lot, but with the amount of bills they have to pay they have no hope in paying these people back for quite some time. Possibly 3 years at the earliest... the SSA sent a letter stating if they don't pay back that money they'll either stop the benefits or deduct money from each check to pay back the owed $20k.
All this to say that I'm infuriated by how evil these people are. It's clearly not my parents fault and they even state in the letter that it's not their fault, but they still spring this shit on their lap. Their lawyer apparently told them that nothing can be done about it either.
If that's the case it wouldn't apply to my dad since he's retired and isn't making any income, so this isn't a situation of being overpaid benefits based on income but merely an error on the part of the SSA themselves, which is why this is so infuriating.
Fren, I hope you help them fight this. I agree with others who have said it could be a mistake on the SSA's part. That wouldn't be surprising at all. But even if it weren't, it's still THEIR mistake because people don't calculate their own SS benefits. That's done by the government. So you're right, how would your parents have known. Fight, fight, fight! I mean, start out pleasantly with the local SS office. But if you get any guff, fight it through til the end. Maybe find a good constitutional attorney to help. Best of luck to all of you and I hope you'll keep us posted.