Social Security Administration Prohibits Reps Payee with Certain Criminal Records

In response to the Strengthening Social Protections for Social Security Beneficiaries Act of 2017, the Social Security Administration is proposing to prohibit individuals convicted of certain crimes to serve as Representatives Payee.

Specifically, the proposed convictions that would result in disqualification as a Representative Payee are: (1) Human trafficking, (2) false imprisonment, (3) kidnapping, (4) rape and sexual assault, (5) first-degree homicide, (6) robbery, (7) fraud to obtain access to government assistance, (8) fraud by scheme, (9) theft of government funds or property, (10) abuse or neglect, (11) forgery, or (12) identity theft. The prohibition would apply to convictions for those crime as well as convictions for attempts to commit those crimes or conspiracy to commit those crimes.

SSA has clarified that: “Consistent with our current policy, we are not proposing to apply these prohibitions as an absolute bar to selection for certain representative payee applicants. Instead, we will consider the criminal history of the applicant along with our other evaluation criteria to decide whether to appoint the applicant as a representative payee.”

Currently, the proposal is open for comments. The comment period closes on November 13, 2018.