Waiting for SSDI Appeal

And cannot work. How do I make ends meet?

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Food Shelf, talk to the county where you live for services, money, benefits, etc.

I'm on all social service benefits in my state. It's still not enough for all my bills.

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If some of those bills are for credit cards, know that you have options. One option is that you can simply default. If you don't own valuable assets, like real estate or stocks and bonds, there is not a heck of a lot they can do to you. Do you know that almost no one can sue you, if your only income is SSDI? (Well, they can, but they won't get anything. No judge is going to have your SSDI check garnished to pay off creditors, like banks. If you owe on a car, the bank can repossess it for non-payment of a loan.)

Your rent and utilities are another story. Make paying rent a first priority. For utilities, you can probably work out an arrangement with the gas and electric companies. Send them written notice about your situation and ask for a phone meeting with a representative. They will try very hard to work with you. Be sure to apply for the LIHEAP program at your income support office (Welfare.)

If you're on food stamps, you are eligible for a free smart phone through T-Mobile. It comes with unlimited free minutes, texts and data. (You actually have a choice between a subsidy to your land line or the free cell phone. You can have one or the other. The cell phone is the way better, more valuable option.)

If you owe any medical bills, you can pretty much treat them like credit card bills. This is assuming that you will eventually get SSDI.

Yes, your credit rating will go down. Over time, you can repair that.

Yes I have done all those things including food pantry and applied for NYS temporary disability.

Thank you for the advice

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In addition, I feel as though I've hit rock bottom.

No job, no car, on welfare and waiting for SSDI appeal.

Will it even be enough to live on if I get it? Will I ever own a car again? There is no public transportation where I live. I'm also claiming bankruptcy because of loans and credit cards. But if I recall, I have to have an income in order to file.

Idk I promised myself 4 years ago that I would never be here again, yet here I am. My therapist said I relapsed.

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You don't have to have an income to file, but you do have to have money to pay an attorney and the filing fees.

Disability pay is tough to live on. That's why you see so many people trying to work even part-time to supplement.

My attorney requires no money upfront, and no money if I lose the appeal. He only takes his percentage if I win.

I just don't know how much I'll get if I win

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I do not believe you have to have an income to file bankruptcy, though it might be hard to come up with the filing fee. (Google it.) YouTube has some lawyers giving great advice on the subject. Also, remember that simple default is an option.

This is a very hard time you are going through. But, if you really can't work, the social safety net is better than you might expect. Consider moving to a less rural setting, where more is offered. Get on the waiting list for housing subsidy. Apply at some HUD projects, even if that means going to other towns.

My lawyer said yes I do need an income to file bankruptcy
In order to prove that I tried to pay but was unable.

I receive housing assistance
Cash assistance & food stamps
HEAP and it's still not enough to get by.

I can't move because I help to watch my grandson who is in the next building over from me. Not to mention I don't have the money or help needed to move.

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https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&sour...lK2cYGvd00YKJt

I think your lawyer doesn't explain things very well. How are you able to pay the lawyer?

As far as I can see the article explains that unemployment is still a source of income which qualifies for Chapter 7. I have zero income. I am on social services. Chapter 13 is harder to file with no income due to the likelihood of paying it back.
My lawyer is pro bono

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Not all unemployed people receive unemployment benefits from the state. I get the impression that you are unemployed and not receiving any such benefits. In other words, you have no income whatsoever, neither earned nor other than earned. So, for you chap 13 would not likely be available because you lack the means to pay anything on your debts, no matter how they were reorganized. That's what the article is saying. It is saying that, for you, only chap 7 would be an option.

Having a source of income helps a person qualify for chap 13. That doesn't matter to you, because you are not trying to get chap 13. You have no reason to want chap 13. You want chap 7. It simply is not true that a person needs an income to file chap 7. In fact, not having an income is an advantage.

The main point of the article is that you need an income too small to pay your debts in order to qualify for chap 7. Well, "no income" is certainly too small.

It is illegal to borrow money with no intention of paying it back. That's called "fraud." So, if you ran up credit card debt when you had no income, that might raise a legal concern. The bank might alledge that you knew you would be unable to repay the debt at the time you were charging purchases. Your attorney might be concerned about protecting you from that accusation. That's the only way I could see your attorney wanting you to first get a job and make some payments. But you have to ask what is the likelihood that any bank is going to accuse you of fraud? That is hard for a bank to prove. It is not illegal for unemployed persons to use credit cards, as long as they have some hope of eventually having an income.

If you went out and ran up a bunch of credit card debt, knowing good and well that you would probably never pay it back, then your attorney might have a point in discouraging you from filing bankruptcy. If that's not what happened, then you have as much a right to file for chap 7 bankcruptcy as anyone else.

People with absolutely no income file for chap 7 all the time. Suppose a person with a lot of debts gets permanently disabled and cannot work. What do you think that person is allowed to do?

Also, keep in mind, you have the option of simply defaulting on your debt. (Just not paying it.) Perhaps you're already doing that. Unless you are guilty of fraud, there's not much your creditors can do to you.

I'm wondering what exactly is your lawyer wanting you to do? Maybe your lawyer just doesn't want to bother doing the work of filing for you and figures you just ought to default. The consequences 10 years from now are about the same, whether you file bankruptcy or just default. In 10 years, those same banks will offer you new credit cards.

If you do get SSDI, you do not have to use any of that money to pay off credit cards or consumer loans. No judge will garnish your monthly checks to pay off creditors.

When creditors call you, you just tell them the truth. Eventually they will leave you alone.

Okay that makes a lot more sense to me now. I was working when all my loans began. My mental health began to falter and I relapsed and have not held a steady job in over a year. I do not get unemployment benefits. My lawyer is really not good at communicating with me I'm supposing because it is pro bono work. Maybe she's busy doing other stuff. I did email her and leave a phone message. I do not have any credit cards to use since my relapse. Thank you for responding that clears a lot up for me

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However that is the least of my worries. I do not feel as though I'm going to get SSDI anyways. I'm not sure if my doctors are really supportive of me applying. The only one who is supportive is my therapist. However she stated that I was babysitting my grandson a few days a week which technically can be seen as not 100% disabled. So I think right there that statement alone has screwed me over

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I'm sorry you have so much to worry about. Don't give up on the SSDI. Since you are a grandmother, I take it that you are at a mature age. That is in your favor. It's much harder to get SSDI when you are younger.

Your benefits may run out. That's got to be a huge worry. I'm not sure how you'll make ends meet. I'm sorry you are under such awful stress.

Thank you. Yes I will be 55 this year. I've already been denied though which I guess everyone is denied the first round. If I am denied on this appeal I am just going to have to go back to work. There are no other options

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I got approved first time around, just 3 months after I applied. I know there's a popular belief that SSA denies you first time around, just to see if you're serious. That's not true, according to a lot of lawyers who specialize in helping clients get SSDI. I spent a lot of time reading books and watching videos put out by those kind of attorneys.

The main reason why a lot of applicants get denied is because they depend on their diagnosis, or a list of multiple diagnoses, to get them approved. The SSA usually doesn't care what your diagnosis is, or how many serious sounding diagnoses you have been given. There are a few exceptions: If you have Lou Gehrig's disease, or you are on dialysis for kidney failure, or you are blind, you will be automatically approved. Those are the only diagnoses that get you automatically approved. For anything else, you have to establish HOW your illness interferes with you working. If the illness is psychiatric, that usually means you have to say some unflattering things about yourself that people don't like to admit.

Most people don't want to say, "I'm a failure in the workplace." A lot of applicants want to say, "I'm a very good employee, but the stress and strain of working is just too much for someone with my mental diagnoses." That will automatically get you turned down. You have to say: "When I've tried working, I have failed over and over to meet the demands of the job." Then you have to give specific examples of how your work performance was unacceptable. People shy away from saying negative things about themselves, which is why the SSA is not convinced that an applicant couldn't work, if they really wanted to.

It is illegal to discriminate against persons with disabilities. An employer is forbidden to assume that having a diagnosis means you can't work. So, naturally, the SSA is going to comply with that same law. The SSA must not assume that having a disability means you can't work. Some people really can't succeed in the workplace, due to their disability. The SSA wants to know the specifics of how and why. Getting fired helps make your case.

There's a big long thing you fill out about how you get through your daily life. In that thing, you need to show you have serious problems. You don't say, "I babysit my grandchild and do a good job of that." Instead, you say, "I have a big problem babysitting my grandchild because I have gotten very upset trying to cope with any misbehavior. I've broken down crying and had to call the parents to come get the child."

You don't have to argue that you're a babbling fool who can't tie her own shoe laces, but you have to give examples of how you are unreliable coping with the responsibilities of the jobs you've held.

I wish I would have known this prior to applying. At this stage it's all in my lawyers hands. SSDI communicates directly to them.

If my appeal is denied I don't think I can mentally handle waiting for a court date. I've done it before and it's very difficult for me.

I just need a plan

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