FOX 4 gets results for North Texans struggling with Social Security Administration
FOX 4 helps North Texans struggling with SSA
FOX 4 recently told you about a disabled teen wrongly declared dead, a woman told she owed the administration $41,000 and a man was told to repay money given to his mother in 1978. Now they are finally getting some help after FOX 4 started asking questions.
FOX 4 is getting results for people with disastrous situations with the Social Security Administration.
Jimmie Byrd is one of three people who turned to FOX 4 News for help after receiving outlandish letters from the Social Security Administration (SSA).
All three had been working for months to get a resolution on their own to no avail.
"After seeing other people on Channel 4 news having the same problems. That's what sparked me to get up and go do something about this," said Byrd.
Arlington man told by Social Security Administration to pay back money paid to his mother in 1978
The SSA is asking Jimmie Byrd to pay them more than $1,400 that was paid 45 years ago to his mother who died back in 2011. He could not believe his eyes when he opened a letter from the SSA last month.
Byrd received a letter that SSA would be withholding his retirement benefit to collect an overpayment made to his mother in 1978, when he was 17 years old.
He recorded one conversation he had with SSA even after we started asking questions.
"I file my taxes every year. Y'all couldn't have found this earlier?" asked Byrd.
"It is the government, so, it is Uncle Sam. He will get his money," an SSA employee replied.
After Byrd signed a waiver that would allow SSA's spokesperson to talk to FOX 4 about his case he received another phone call.
"He said, well, I just want you to know. I went over all your information and all your expenses and I just called to let you know that we're going to wave it," said Byrd. "I think what really, really stopped it is because you did your job."
Social Security overpaid North Texas woman by $41K, now they are demanding the money back
Delfina Prisock says her life was turned upside down when she received the letter from the Social Security Administration in May, demanding she repay more than $41,000 in benefits.
Byrd called FOX 4 after seeing the story about Delfina Prisock.
Prisock received a letter demanding she pay $41,000 that SSA claimed it paid her by mistake over the course of three years.
"I said it was not my error," Prisock stated.
Since our story Prisock says SSA has told her she will not need to make a $41,000 payment. She received letters showing that both her regular and survivorship benefits will be restored, including backpay, for the time the benefit was in question.
"Nobody took responsibility for their part," said Prisock. "How can they sleep at night?"
Prisock worries about others who may have received similar distressing overpayment demands.
"It hurts me tremendously to see that other people have to go through the same thing that I did," she said.
In each case we received beneficiaries were given numerous hoops to jump through, for no fault of their own.
Social Security mistakenly said her son was dead, now a Dallas mom is fighting to get his benefits back
The Craine family received the letter in February and more than six months later they are still trying to get the Social Security Administration to acknowledge that her autistic son Elijah is alive.
Our first story focused on Shena Craine and her autistic son Elijah Craine.
His grandmother, Brenda Craine, provides his home healthcare.
"What really shocked me, it says we are sorry Sir Elijah M. Craine, who you receive supplemental social security benefits for, died!" Brenda said.
We could see Elijah Craine was very much alive.
It took seven more weeks after our story for his supplemental security income to be restored.
Brenda summarizes what all three cases we investigated have in common.
"It doesn't make sense to me that it should take that long," she said.