"That poor bank."
Posted on 04/17/2015 3:16:45 PM PDT by nickcarraway
Tampa police officer, case worker help him
John Helinski was once homeless, sleeping on a cardboard box by a bus stop.
"I just managed on my own,” said John Helinski.
For three years in downtown Tampa, he said he was invisible.
"Sleeping underneath the benches there and no one would see me,” Helinski said.
Now Helinski's got a locker, a bed and a dedicated case worker at a new 24/7, one-stop-shop housing center for homeless in Hillsborough County off 50th Street.
But wait, his story gets way better than that — way, way better.
"He needed to have an identification, but we couldn't get an identification without a birth certificate,” said DACCO Case Manager Charles Inman. “There was no other option to succeed. You know, the thought of putting a 62-year-old man back on the street wasn't acceptable."
Inman wasn't going to give up and Tampa Police Officer Dan McDonald isn't the quitting kind either.
"I enjoy it because I like a challenge,” said Officer McDonald.
They got Helinski, who was born in Poland but is an American citizen, a driver's license, a Social Security card and his name back.
"We first had to figure out that we needed a consular record of foreign birth or something like that,” said Officer McDonald.
But wait, it gets even better.
At a Tampa bank branch, Helinski discovered an old, forgotten bank account.
"At that time, it was Landmark Bank. Then it became Bank of America,” he said.
The bank account has money in it. His Social Security benefits had been piling up for years, enough for Helinski to buy permanent housing.
"I guess I'm exhilarated, excited, you know,” he said.
"I think we were both stunned. We weren't quite sure what to say,” said Officer McDonald.
How much better could it get?
Great story.
Now he gets to pay the back taxes and penalties on those benefits.
-PJ
Many states would have confiscated “unclaimed” funds like this years ago.
...enter the IRS, stage right.
Yeah, I wouldn’t have said a word.
And when he found it, it turned out he owed the bank $657.34 in low balance and overdraft fees.
"That poor bank."
Well, if he had no other income during those years, he might be lucky and have a low enough income to avoid the taxes.
It’s extra lame though that they tax social security benefits, when they already taxed him on his income that they deducted the social security contributions from.
If he’s 62, why was he getting SS benefits? SSDI?
We have it in NY. I found about $700 in dividends.
While the full retirement age has increased, 62 is still the age when you can claim a reduced benefit, assuming you qualify based on time worked.
Don’t some distributions begin at 59.5?
I’m not sure.
The software I used to “optimize” my claiming date said 62 was the earliest possible in my situation.
My question too.
Something does not add up.
Why was he getting SS benefits for years and why was he seeminging unaware of the account that was holding those benefits?
Nice, BUT ... how many SS checks would have been backed up for a 62 year old man? Unless he had SSI, not much.
Yes....Disability benefits explain it.
I think 59.5 is for simple 401k’s that involve one company.
Something’s wrong with this story.
A 62 YO man wouldn’t have ‘years’ of SS checks piled up.
.
Social security is not taxable unless your other income is above $34,000.
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