CINCINNATI — Thousands of veterans across the country have had to figure out how to live differently after the Department of Veterans Affairs Benefits Administration, or VBA, sent out a letter telling them they were overpaid and had 30 days to remit payment.
Walnut Hills resident Randolph McGee was one of those veterans. When he opened up the letter from the VBA, he couldn’t believe what he was reading. The letter said he owed the VA $126,366 in overpaid benefits.
“Basically, tried to count it up. I never even received that kind of money the entire time I've been getting it. I got started in 2006,” McGee said.
In the meantime, McGee’s monthly non-service-connected disability payments have stopped due to the fact he also receives Social Security payments.
“I've been out on the street at some point taken panhandling just to eat since this came out,” McGee said. “I haven't had any, any groceries. I haven't given any data because I haven't can't pay my rent. My car is going to go in default.”
WCPO’s Craig McKee began making calls on McGee’s behalf and eventually got him in touch with Brooke Slocum at the VA Office at 909 Vine Street in downtown Cincinnati.
“That letter came from VBA, they let you know that you receive a Social Security amount for either maybe, or non-service-connected pension, which is for low-income individuals, right, of a certain age, that type of thing, if you also are getting Social Security at that same time there, that's a duplication,” said Slocum, coordinated entry specialist at the Cincinnati VA office.
She said when veterans receive letters from the VA, Social Security Office and other agencies tied to their benefits they need to make sure they open the letters and fully understand what they say. If they don’t, they can come to their office for assistance.
“Bring in the paperwork, let's go through it, let's look line by line, and then get you connected with the person who can help you figure this out,” Slocum said.
She says in a case like McGee's there are solutions through a wide range of community connections.
“What are some things that we can supplement? So, the Freestore Foodbank has a biweekly food delivery that will get delivered to their house, we have the phones that can be received so that you can cut out your phone payments,” she said. “How are some ways where we can reduce the amount of money that you're spending so that you're saving your money that you do receive can be paid for rent?”
Through the VA office, Brooke Slocum was able to get McGee’s situation in front of a judge who temporarily halted his eviction while the Hamilton County Veterans Service Commission was processing the applications for rent relief.
If for some reason the VSC doesn't approve payment to help him, Slocum said they have a list of organizations they can go to next.
“There's Community Action Center, there's SSVF, which is Supportive Services for Veteran Families, there's Easterseals,” she said.
McGee did receive a second letter that said that the VA was stopping collections.
WCPO reached out to the VBA directly regarding the situation and they responded with the following statement:
“Recognizing the hardship and distress that these pension debts may cause, VA has paused the collection of all established pension debts and the establishment of new pension debts while we determine the path forward. We apologize to affected Veterans and their survivors for any distress that these pension debt notifications may have caused. For questions about debt management, we encourage these Veterans and survivors to visit our debt management website or call us at 800-827-0648.”
If you have a veteran story to tell in your community, email homefront@wcpo.com. You also can join the Homefront Facebook group, follow Craig McKee on Facebook and find more Homefront stories here.
