I am a 100% Disabled Veteran receiving benefits from the VA at 100%. As such I am also being paid 100% benefits from Social Security Disability. I lost my home to foreclosure in June 2010. I had a HELOC [Home Equity Line]. I do all my banking with this same bank as the HELOC. I have two checking accounts. One for my SS and one for my VA payments. The accounts are named as such and no other funds enter these accounts. They are 100% NON Co-mingled. The bank just withdrew out 3 months of HELOC payments from the SS account $ 1665.00 and $ 108.00 from the VA account. As a result I am bouncing checks for other bills that have already been mailed. They state that when I applied for the HELOC I listed my disability payments on the application, therefore, the are exempt from federal regulation and they are free to garnish whatever they please. Through my research I have found 5 exceptions to Title 423 Sec 207. AS follows:1- Section 459 of the Act (42 U.S.C. 659) allows Social Security benefits to be garnished to enforce child support and/or alimony obligations;2- Section 6334 (c) of the Internal Revenue Code (26 U.S.C. 6334 (c)) allows benefits to be levied to collect unpaid Federal taxes;3- Section 3402 (P) of the Internal Revenue Code allows beneficiaries to elect to have a percentage of their benefits withheld and paid to the Internal Revenue Service to satisfy their Federal income tax liability for the current year; 4- The Debt Collection Act of 1996 (Public Law 104-134) allows benefits to be withheld and paid to another Federal agency to pay a non-tax debt the beneficiary owes to that agency: and 5- The Tax Payer Relief Act of 1997 (Public Law 105-34) authorizes the Internal Revenue Service to collect overdue federal tax debts of beneficiaries by levying up to 15 percent of each monthly payment until the debt is paid. The Social Security Administration's responsibility for protecting benefits against legal process and assignment usually ends when the beneficiary is paid. However, once paid, benefits continue to be protected under Section 207 of the Act as long as they are identifiable as Social Security benefits using normal banking practices. For example, you have a particular bank account just for SSI deposits If a creditor tries to garnish your social security check, make them aware that unless one of the five exceptions apply, your benefits can not be garnished. You also may want to make your financial institution aware and seek legal assistance if you believe it is needed.NOTE: Supplemental Security Income payments cannot be levied or garnished. If only these 5 exceptions apply, how can I get my money returned?
05/04/2011 |
Category: Social Security |
State: Nevada |
#24781
Injunctive relief consists of a court order called an injunction, requiring an individual to do or not do a specific action. It must be proven that without the injunction, harm will occur which cannot be remedied by money damages. To issue a preliminary injunction, the courts typically require proof that
(1) the movant has a ‘strong’ likelihood of success on the merits;
(2) the movant would otherwise suffer irreparable injury;
(3) the issuance of a preliminary injunction wouldn't cause substantial harm to others; and
(4) the public interest would be served by issuance of a preliminary injunction.
A request for a declaratory judgment may be filed with the court, seeking to have a judicial declaration of the rights of parties involved. A petition for a declaratory judgment asks the court to define the legal relationship between the parties and their rights with respect to the matter before the court. It is used to determine the legal status of a situation, rather than the enforcement of the rights involved.
This will usually involve a hearing before a judge. You should be prepared to submit any documentation that you have showing that your bank account contains exempt funds. If the federal government provided your benefits through electronic deposits, you should submit documents showing these deposits and their source. If the federal government provided your benefits through paper checks you deposited in the bank, you should submit bank deposit slips, statements from the agency that is the source of the exempt funds, bank account statements, or other documents demonstrating that the account contains exempt funds. If you can show the judge that your bank account contains funds exempt under federal law, the judge will not allow the creditor to obtain these funds to pay the judgment against you (or to collect these funds as fees).
See also:
http://www.socialsecurity.gov/OP_Home/ssact/title02/0207.htm
http://files.ots.treas.gov/commenttopics/13c7cbd4-38e1-480c-9b4c-f075facfe014.pdf
