Creditors use loophole to seize protected benefits
By STEPHEN OHLEMACHER
Associated Press
Friday, June 5, 2009 10:18 AM PDT
WASHINGTON — Bill collectors are exploiting a legal loophole to seize Social Security and veterans’ benefits even though federal law is supposed to protect the payments from creditors.
Lawmakers from both parties who have been pressing the Treasury Department for years to close the loophole with new regulations are growing impatient.
The Obama administration is now promising action but has offered no timetable for developing the new rules.
Federal law has long protected Social Security and veterans benefits from most creditors, with a few exceptions for child support, alimony, unpaid federal taxes and debts to other federal agencies. But creditors have been seizing the payments anyway by getting court orders to freeze and garnish bank accounts that receive the benefits through direct deposit.
Activists say the issue has festered for years, but has intensified as more recipients get their benefits deposited directly into bank accounts.
Many people who receive Social Security or veterans benefits can’t afford to have their bank accounts frozen for even a short period of time, said Margot Saunders of the National Consumer Law Center. It’s hard to hire a lawyer to get your money back when all your resources are frozen, she said.
‘‘They take all your money, and they take it illegally,’’ Saunders said. ‘‘But when you live on $700 or $800 a month and have all that money garnished, there’s very little recourse.’’
Over a 12-month period in 2006-2007, an estimated $178 million was garnished from bank accounts that included a mixture of Social Security benefits and other deposits, according to the Social Security Administration’s inspector general.
‘‘Some banks are doing the right thing to protect their customers by denying creditors’ requests to freeze and garnish accounts with Social Security funds, but too many banks are not,’’ Sen. Herb Kohl, D-Wisc., chairman of the Senate Special Committee on Aging, said this week.
‘‘We need our banking regulatory agencies to recognize this widespread problem and start enforcing the law,’’ he said.
