Have You Seen “Fugitive Felon” Notices With Inadequate Or Erroneous Warrant Information?

There have been frequent reports of clients receiving notices that do not contain the warrant number, the telephone number or the address of the law enforcement agency.

Other notices may contain cryptic abbreviations not likely to be understood by those receiving the notice, or by anybody else, for that matter. Others simply contain wrong information. For example, one notice advised the beneficiary to contact the Los Angeles County Sheriff in Cambridge, MA, while another advised the recipient to contact the LA County Sheriff in Fresno, CA (closer, just a little over 200 miles from LA). One person in San Francisco received a notice to contact the Orange County Sheriff in Philadelphia, PA and a person in Kentucky was told to contact the Summit County Sheriff in Summit Co., USA (there is no Summit Co. in Kentucky). This problem became more acute after notices began to be sent from payment centers or from Central Operations in Baltimore.

SSA wants to correct this problem. They have asked for our help by sending them copies of such defective notices so they can track the problem. However, they want the client’s name and SSN on the notice so they can track them. Thus, you will have to get your client’s permission before sending the notice. If you see notices with 1) the wrong warrant number, 2) inappropriate abbreviation for the law enforcement agency, 3) no address or wrong address for the law enforcement agency, or 4) no phone number or wrong phone number for the law enforcement agency, please send a copy to Gerald McIntyre at the National Senior Citizens Law Center (NSCLC) (FAX 213-639-0934).

Mistaken Identity - Another notice problem is when notices are sent to the wrong person. This occurs when there is no SSN on a warrant or the number does not correspond to any number in SSA’s database. SSA will act on these warrants anyway and attempt to make a match. Needless to say these matches are error-prone. In one recent case a Nevada woman received a notice that her Social Security retirement benefits would be suspended because of a 34 year old New York warrant even though she had never been to New York. In this case SSA had a perfect match except for the SSN, and the individual’s race, gender and middle name. However, the birth date was the same. This woman was able to get a letter from the NYPD Fugitive Enforcement Division clearly establishing that the warrant was not for her. However, the fear is that many of the people getting these notices will not be able to advocate so effectively on their own behalf. For that reason it is important that we document mistaken identity cases so that we can put a stop to them. If you see one, please send a summary of what happened to Gerald McIntyre at NSCLC and send him a copy of the notice.