Some Banks Are Seizing Social Security Payments
As if the American people weren’t hurting enough, some banks have been seizing Social Security, disability, veteran and pension benefits from account holders in order to pay off debts, despite federal regulations protecting such funds. A group of legislators has been pressuring the Treasury Department to close the loophole that allows these heinous acts.As if the American people weren’t hurting enough, some banks have been seizing Social Security, disability, veteran and pension benefits from account holders in order to pay off debts, despite federal regulations protecting such funds. A group of legislators has been pressuring the Treasury Department to close the loophole that allows these heinous acts.
WAIT BEFORE YOU GO...The Wall Street Journal:
A bipartisan group of legislators is pressing the Treasury Department to close a loophole that has allowed banks to seize Social Security and disability benefits from customers’ accounts despite federal rules intended to protect these benefits from creditors.
The loophole also has enabled some banks to seize from customers their recent $250 Economic Recovery Payments, payments to disabled veterans, and supplemental benefits to impoverished individuals from the Social Security Administration.
Federal law says creditors can’t take Social Security, disability, veterans’ and children’s survivor benefits to pay a debt. But the federal law doesn’t say how money deposited directly into bank accounts is to be protected — a gap that has given banks the ability to seize such funds.
This year, the ground feels uncertain — facts are buried and those in power are working to keep them hidden. Now more than ever, independent journalism must go beneath the surface.
At Truthdig, we don’t just report what's happening — we investigate how and why. We follow the threads others leave behind and uncover the forces shaping our future.
Your tax-deductible donation fuels journalism that asks harder questions and digs where others won’t.
Don’t settle for surface-level coverage.
Unearth what matters. Help dig deeper.
Donate now.
Economic Justice
Elizabeth Warren (D-Massachusetts) and J.D. Vance (R-Ohio) have joined forces in a rare bipartisan effort to make top executives pay for their mistakes.
Lessons learned from the 2008 financial crisis show that taxpayer-funded blank checks to institutions do nothing to help those struggling
Because our banks aren't nationalized, its inability to work with Congress has resulted in another botched attempt at crisis management.
Its forced choice to bankroll hedge funds and other speculative ventures in repo market comes at a price to the middle class.
The Massachusetts senator and Democratic presidential contender wants to make it harder for big banks to prey on consumers.
The threat of a U.S. technology company taking up the model set by China's WeChat Pay and Alipay may now be materializing.
You need to be a supporter to comment.
There are currently no responses to this article.
Be the first to respond.