U.S. Capital

Social Security Disability Attorney Discusses Garnishment of Disability Benefits by Government to Pay Student Loans

Jan 31, 2017

Tampa, FL (Law Firm Newswire) January 31, 2017 – Advocates for those who have taken out student loans claim that the government has been aggressive in its collection of such debts, even from borrowers who qualify for a disability discharge.

One person who was adversely affected by the government’s collection efforts is army veteran Hector Rodriguez.

During the 1970s, he took out student loans to attend college. However, eventually, he was forced to drop out because he was often hospitalized. Rodriguez subsequently defaulted on the debt, as was revealed in a lawsuit he filed against several government agencies in December 2016. He started to receive Social Security disability benefits shortly after he was diagnosed with schizophrenia in 1973, and he has continued to receive them since then.

Prominent Tampa, Florida social security disability attorney David Magann says, “Disabled individuals whose student loans are being pursued by the government are advised to contact a Social Security disability attorney to learn whether there are any options available to them. They may well be eligible for a discharge in which case their disability benefits should not be garnished.”

Rodriguez’s disability was so serious that he was eligible to have his student loans forgiven through a total and permanent disability discharge (TPD). Nevertheless, in 2013, he was notified by the government that they were going to garnish part of his disability benefits to pay his student loans. He was never informed by the government that he was qualified for a disability discharge. Also, the debt collector who was employed by the government to take charge of his loan never informed him of a potential discharge, even though Rodriguez told him he was disabled.

Rodriguez is just one of many borrowers who are losing their disability benefits because of outstanding student loans. According to the Government Accountability Office (GAO), in 2015, the government garnished the benefits of almost 114,000 people above age 50. Of these, over half were the recipients of Social Security disability benefits. Recently, there has been some attention paid to efforts made by the government to collect debts of students who attended colleges that are currently nonexistent, where the government has proof that such borrowers were defrauded and are thus, eligible for relief.

However, there are other cases, like that of Rodriguez, in which the government is in possession of information that reveals that the debt is qualified for discharge. Yet, the companies employed by the government to oversee the debt persist in trying to satisfy the debt. Many disabled borrowers are losing their benefits to garnishment, and are unaware that they can have their loans discharged.

In an attempt to remedy the situation for borrowers, the Department of Education is facilitating the process for those who are eligible for a disability discharge. In 2016, the agency matched its records with those of the Social Security administration and recognized almost 400,000 borrowers who were entitled to a discharge.

About 25 percent of them were in danger of losing their tax refunds or Social Security benefits because of the debt. The agency sent them a letter of invitation to apply for a discharge. In addition, the agency started to discontinue disability benefit offsets in situations where it is evident that the borrower suffers from a medical condition for which there is no possibility of improvement.

Learn more at http://www.floridasocialsecurity.com/

David W. Magann, P.A.
Main Office:
156 W. Robertson St.
Brandon, FL 33511
Call: (813) 657-9175

Tampa Office:
4012 Gunn Highway #165
Tampa, Florida 33618

View Larger Map

  • NEW IMPAIRMENT LISTING IN FULL EFFECT & APPLICABLE TO ALL ADMINISTRATIVE PROCEEDINGS IMMEDIATELY
    NEW MENTAL LISTINGS Effective: January 17, 2017 After a revision of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual (DSM), and thousands of public comments later, the Social Security Administration (SSA) has published significant revisions to its mental impairment listings.  SSA had issued a Notice of Proposed Rule Making in August 2010, proposing what at the time appeared to be […]
  • SSA is Heading For Delays Again After Recent Cutbacks & Years of Improvement
    Service Cuts, Computer Problems Cloud Social Security’s 79th Birthday: The Social Security Administration should have reason to celebrate. After all, August 14, 2014, marked the 79th anniversary of the day when President Franklin Roosevelt signed the Social Security Act, which ushered in the landmark entitlement program. However, the agency’s birthday was a less than cheerful […]
  • SSA is Ramping Up Disability Reviews in 2014
    The Social Security Disability Benefits Reform Act of 1984 (“DBRA 1984”) was passed by a unanimous, bipartisan vote in the House and Senate (99-0) in September 1984. President Reagan signed the law on October 9, 1984, when it became Pub. L. No. 98-460. One of the main provisions required “medical improvement” before benefits could be terminated where […]
  • Never Allow A Non-Attorney to Represent You At Your Social Security Hearing!
    You should NOT have a non-attorney clerk at your hearing?  This seems obvious, but several Florida law firms and any company identifying themselves as “Experts”, some who are advertising on TV, are sending non-attorney clerks to Social Security Hearings simply because its cheaper for them to do so rather than have an actual attorney appear. How in […]
  • Do Not Believe Non-Lawyer Websites Who Post 95% Success Rates!
    Continually we see claimants who have had a non-lawyer representative whose company boasts a 95% success rate when in fact it is simply not true. No lawyer website can ethically advertise with success rates in percentages because it is misleading and yes, unethical. Each claim is different and if it is to good to be true, […]