DENISE J. CASPER, District Judge.
Plaintiff Jimmy Lee King ("King") filed an application for supplemental security income ("SSI") with the Social Security Administration ("SSA") on September 14, 2012. R. 11.
This Court may affirm, modify, or reverse a decision of the Commissioner. 42 U.S.C. § 405(g). Such review, however, is "limited to determining whether the ALJ deployed the proper legal standards and found facts upon the proper quantum of evidence."
King was 50 years old when he ceased working on April 30, 2012. R. 402-03; D. 13 at 19. He previously worked as a bricklayer and construction worker for the City of Boston. D. 13 at 21-22. On September 14, 2012, King filed an application for SSI benefits, alleging disability due to affective disorder, anxiety-related disorder and alcohol abuse in sustained remission. R. 11; D. 13 at 19. The SSA initially denied King's application for benefits. R. 11. King subsequently requested a hearing and an ALJ found that King was eligible for benefits.
On June 11, 2014, SSA issued a notice to King stating that he was owed $14,940 in back payments for the time period between October 2012 and June 2014. R. 150. The next day, June 12, 2014, the SSA retracted the aforementioned notice and stated that King was instead owed $595 in back payments for the period from December 1, 2013 through April 30, 2014. R. 163. SSA also stated that King was ineligible for SSI benefits from October 1, 2012 to November 30, 2013 and from May 1, 2014 forward.
King filed a motion for reconsideration of SSA's back pay determination on July 15, 2014. R. 199. SSA, in turn, requested that King provide receipts and other documentation concerning how he spent his excess resources, including the $50,000 in pension payouts and worker's compensation benefits, during a conference with the SSA on September 16, 2014. R. 200-201. During this conference, King disclosed that he had also received nearly $13,000 in tax refunds for the 2013 tax year in April of 2014. R. 201. King failed to submit the requested documentation and, as a result, SSA affirmed the denial of SSI benefits on October 8, 2014. R. 202.
On November 18, 2014, King requested a hearing before an ALJ regarding whether his resources exceeded the statutory limit for receipt of SSI benefits. R. 205-208. At the hearing on February 27, 2017, the ALJ heard testimony from King's counsel, King and his wife, Mikkayla King, regarding their total resources during the relevant period. R. 394-433. King submitted bank records showing cash withdrawals totaling approximately $30,000. R. 12-13. Although King contended that he used these funds to pay for food, clothing and bills, he did not proffer documents to support these assertions. R. 13, 416. King also explained that he deposited some of the money into a savings account. R. 12, 421-423. The bank records associated with the savings account, however, did not provide additional information regarding how King spent the funds and did not cover the relevant time period. R. 12-13. The ALJ agreed to hold the record open for two weeks after the hearing to allow King to submit additional information regarding his income and cash withdrawals of $30,000, including tax returns from 2012 to 2016, savings account statements and additional checking account statements. R. 424, 432. King, however, only submitted savings account statements from 2016, R. 13, a copy of his tax refund check issued in 2014, R. 147, and a copy of a March 17, 2017 letter from his mother regarding a loan of $7,000, D. 13 at 29-30.
On April 28, 2017, the ALJ affirmed SSA's decision denying SSI benefits because King's resources exceeded the statutory countable resources limit for SSI recipients and he did not produce sufficient evidence to rebut this conclusion. R. 12-13. In reaching this decision, the ALJ noted that King failed to account for how he spent or otherwise disbursed $30,000 of the nearly $63,000 in income he had received. R. 13 (explaining that "the financial records provided by the claimant fail to document the whereabouts of nearly thirty thousand dollars of funds that were withdrawn from [King's] bank account"). The ALJ further concluded King was ineligible to apply for SSI benefits for a period of thirty-six months beginning the month after the "inappropriate transfer" of resources took place.
King appealed to the SSA's Appeals Council on April 28, 2017. R. 4. The Appeals Council ("AC") denied the request for review of the ALJ's decision in a letter dated May 7, 2018. R. 4-7.
King instituted this matter on July 9, 2018, D. 1, and has now moved to remand to the SSA, D. 11. The Commissioner has moved to affirm the decision of the ALJ. D. 14.
King challenges the ALJ's decision denying SSI benefits on the grounds that the ALJ allegedly (1) ignored substantial testimonial and documentary evidence concerning his income and spending during the relevant period, D. 13 at 5; and (2) erred in relying upon 20 C.F.R. § 416.1246 in instituting a thirty-six month bar on King's eligibility to apply for SSI benefits, D. 13 at 6.
King alleges that the ALJ failed to consider proffered evidence and testimony in concluding that King exceeded the statutory resource limit. D. 13 at 5. Specifically, King contends that the ALJ did not consider: (1) earnings that bear upon King's financial status during the relevant time period; (2) documentation of rent owed and paid per month; and (3) King's testimony regarding the high cost of living in Boston and the use of cash to pay for food, clothes and bills. D. 13 at 5-6. King further contends that the ALJ did not properly explain how she reached the conclusion that $30,000 had not been accounted for as no standard was referenced in the ALJ's calculations.
"A claimant is required to provide evidence that he . . . meets the financial requirements [for SSI eligibility]."
King failed to account for at least $30,000 in cash withdrawals. The ALJ requested copies of King's tax returns from 2012 through 2016 as well as a copy of recent bank statements from the savings account in which he had allegedly deposited money he had withdrawn from his primary checking account. R. 405-406. King submitted a statement for the savings account, but it concerned transactions from 2016 and did not support a finding that King spent down nearly $30,000 withdrawn as cash in prior years. R. 12-13. The requested tax returns from 2012 through 2016 were not submitted to the ALJ, except for a copy of King's 2014 tax refund check issued in $12,966. R. 147. The ALJ considered these documents, including "a number of receipts, banking statements, and other documentary evidence" submitted by King before and after his hearing. R. 12. The ALJ concluded, however, that the SSA did not err in denying King SSI benefits given "the absence of sufficient corroborative evidence regarding the claimant's appropriate disbursement of his excess resources." R. 13.
Other courts have upheld SSI ineligibility determinations where the claimant failed to account for the spend-down of excess cash. In
The Court concludes here that the ALJ did not ignore documentary and testimonial evidence. Rather, the record before the ALJ indicates that King's income exceeded the statutory limit and he failed to proffer sufficient documentation of his spending, including by failing to account for nearly $30,000 in cash withdrawals. Accordingly, King failed to provide evidence that he satisfied the financial requirements for SSI eligibility and, as a result, the ALJ did not err in affirming the denial of SSI benefits.
King also challenges the ALJ's reliance on 20 C.F.R. § 416.1246 in implementing a period of SSI ineligibility as a result of King's failure to account for nearly $30,000 in cash withdrawals. R. 13. Section 416.1246 states, in relevant part:
20 C.F.R. § 416.1246(e).
In concluding that King's uncorroborated spend-down rendered him ineligible for SSI benefits for thirty-six months, the ALJ cited Section 416.1246 and explained that an individual who "transfers a resource or sells it for less than it is worth . . . may be ineligible for receipt of SSI benefits for up to thirty-six months. The relevant period of ineligibility is based upon the value of the resource transferred." R. 13. Citing POMS SI 01150.111 (computing the period of ineligibility), https://secure.ssa.gov/poms.nsf/lnx/0501150111 (last visited June 18, 2019), the ALJ relied upon the $30,000 figure of unaccounted-for funds and determined that King was "ineligible for SSI benefits for a period of thirty-six months beginning the month after the inappropriate transfer took place."
For the aforementioned reasons, the Court ALLOWS Commissioner's motion to affirm, D. 14, and DENIES King's motion to reverse and remand, D. 11.