Seniors still missing SS checks

As more than 1,700 elderly residents of the Queensbridge Houses continue to wonder what happened to their latest Social Security (SS) checks, City Councilmember Eric Gioia and a local bank continue their efforts to see it doesn’t happen again.
In response to initial reports of what is being termed a “mass loss” by the Social Security Administration (SSA), Gioia first contacted the City Housing Authority, which gave a rent grace period to tenants, and had extra deliveries to area food pantries made by the Food Bank for New York City. He also worked with the SSA to have a mobile office set up to issue emergency checks to the many elderly residents who could not make the trip to their offices.
The U.S. Treasury Department, Gioia and banks are promoting “GO DIRECT,” to enroll seniors for direct deposit of SSA and Supplemental Security Income (SSI) checks at their bank, so “People who rely on Social Security to survive won’t have their lives turned upside down by a routing error.” according to Gioia.
According to the U.S. Department of the Treasury, incidents like this are all too common - when there’s a problem with a Social Security payment, nine times out of 10 it’s with a paper check, not a direct deposit payment. In 2006, about 57,000 checks issued by the Treasury were forged, totaling nearly $54 million in estimated fraudulent value.
On Tuesday, April 10, Gioia spoke to about 30 seniors at the Jacob A. Riis Senior Center at Queensbridge Houses and encouraged them to sign up for direct deposit. A group from North Fork Bank was on hand to sign up new and existing customers.
According to North Fork Assistant Vice President Rhonda Torres, who leads the bank’s effort in the area, “We’re doing whatever we can to help- we’re giving seniors free checking and an order of free checks when they sign up for direct deposit with us.” Torres said that the seniors “felt like somebody cared. One woman in a wheelchair nearly cried, knowing that she didn’t have to worry anymore.”
North Fork representatives will be returning to the Riis Center again. “We went last Thursday [April 12] but it rained so hard nobody showed up.” Torres said, adding “We’re going back.”
The SSA advised that they will continue to try to locate the missing checks. If the checks are found and delivered, those who have received emergency checks would have to return the excess funds. Gioia is working with the agency to make the process as simple as possible.
Call for information about GO DIRECT, toll-free, at 800-333-1795.