A payee applicant who resides in the U.S. must have a verifiable SSN before serving as a payee. Issue an SSN to any payee applicant who is entitled to have an SSN. If the payee applicant is not entitled to receive an SSN, develop and consider an alternative payee applicant.

You must verify an organizational payee applicant’s EIN. For instructions on how to verify an organizational payee applicant’s EIN, see GN 00502.118.

A payee who resides outside the U.S. may not have an SSN. Since we only issue SSNs to foreign nationals residing outside the U.S. in specific situations, we cannot require others to have an SSN as a condition of payee appointment. Therefore, the procedures for verifying SSNs do not apply to payee applicants living in foreign countries who cannot have an SSN. For information on processing manual payee selections, see GN 00502.190.

When processing an application through eRPS, verifying the SSN is part of the application process. eRPS accesses the NUMIDENT/ICD and displays the payee applicant's name and date of birth. Ask the applicant for that information and compare it to the data displayed to verify ownership of the SSN. If the information matches, no further verification is needed.

When the payee applicant does not have an SSN, we manually process a payee application for a parent filing to be payee for their minor child. These are the only cases processed outside of eRPS. For information on manual payee actions, see GN 00502.190.

If the payee applicant's NUMIDENT has a death indicator, eRPS cannot verify the SSN. If there is a death indicator, follow the instructions in GN 00304.100.

During an in-person interview, ask the individual payee applicant to furnish documents to verify their identity.

Document a description of the evidence presented on the Proof of Applicant's Identity screen in the eRPS (MS 07409.011).

During a telephone interview, verify the payee applicant's identity consistent with the claimant identity process outlined in GN 00203.020A.2.b.

Ask the employee of an organizational payee to provide the following information to verify identity:

• •

  their name and job title;

• •

  the name of the organization;

• •

  the organization’s address; and

• •

  the organization’s EIN (Employer Identification Number).

Use the Rep Payee Applicant “Note Type” on the Make Note screen to document the employee’s name and job title in eRPS.

If you determine the criminal information is incomplete and it affects your determination:

1. 1. 

   Inform the payee or payee applicant that they need to provide the appropriate court documents that reflect the information you need.

   1. a. 

      If the Prisoner Update Processing System (PUPS) record does not reflect a release date, the payee or payee applicant must provide release papers.

   2. b. 

      If you need to determine the type of conviction or type of crime, the payee or payee applicant must produce documentation that provides this information.

2. 2. 

   Control for the return of the court documents or prison release papers using the VRFCRM work issue for the payee or payee applicant and follow up with them via telephone or mail as necessary. For instructions on how to process the VRFCRM work issue, see GN 00502.302.

   1. a. 

      If, after 15 days, the payee or payee applicant has not contacted you or submitted the court documents or prison release papers, begin developing for another payee or consider direct payment.

   2. b. 

      If, after 30 days, from the initial request for information, the payee applicant has not contacted you or submitted the court documents or release papers, “non-select” the payee applicant and use the Rep Payee Applicant “Note Type” on the Make Note screen to document the reasons why you did not select the payee applicant. If you cannot verify the criminal history for a payee who is currently serving after 30 days, use the following steps:

      • •

        Complete the Payee Retention Decision – Criminal History screen (MS 07410.009).

      • •

        Answer "Yes" to the "Is a change of payee needed?" question.

      • •

        Document the reasons why you removed the payee on the Make Note screen under the Representative Payee Details Page in eRPS.

      • •

        Process a payee application and appoint a new suitable payee or consider direct payment, if applicable.

3. 3. 

   When the payee or payee applicant submits the court documents or prison release papers:

   1. a. 

      Review the information carefully; and

   2. b. 

      Follow up with the payee or payee applicant to clarify previous answers, if necessary.

   3. c. 

      Review the barred crimes state digest in GN 00502.301. This digest breaks down the barred crimes discussed in GN 00502.133A.4 based on the state or territory where they committed the crime.

4. 4. 

   Use the Rep Payee Applicant or Rep Payee “Note Type” on the Make Note screen to document the payee's or payee applicant’s criminal history information or prison release information if it is relevant to the suitability determination, including the following:

   • •

     criminal history information:

     • –

       name of the court;

     • –

       state and county of the court's location;

     • –

       court case number;

     • –

       conviction, including whether the conviction is a felony or a misdemeanor; and

     • –

       sentence.

   • •

     prison release information:

     • –

       prison confinement date; and

     • –

       prison release date.

If the payee or payee applicant reports difficulty obtaining the court documents or release papers, you can assist them by contacting the prison or correctional institution. For additional guidance on obtaining court documents or prisoner information, see the list of third-party sources to use to locate missing inmate information in GN 02607.680. For information on when and what information can be disclosed to the prison or correctional facility, see GN 03301.005 and GN 03316.065.

If the court or prison is in another state or region, you can assist the payee or payee applicant by sending an SSA-562 (Request for Assistance) to the local servicing field office of the court or prison. For information on requesting help from other field offices, see GN 00301.205.

If, after reviewing the barred crimes state digest in GN 00502.301, you are unsure whether you should bar the individual from serving as a payee and you received court documents from the payee or payee applicant, contact the regional office (RO) and send the court documents to your RO contact.

The RO should take the following actions:

1. 1. 

   Contact your appropriate Office of General Counsel contacts and send the court documents along with a request for an opinion asking whether the payee's or payee applicant's criminal history would bar them from serving as payee based on the policy in GN 00502.133A.4.

2. 2. 

   Forward the opinion from the appropriate Office of General Counsel contacts to the local FO.

If the payee or payee applicant indicates there is an error when you discover a crime while performing a criminal background check in eRPS, use the following steps in the order below to determine if you need to verify the payee's or payee applicant’s allegation:

1. 1. 

   Compare the payee's or payee applicant’s identifying information with the identifying information received from eRPS;

2. 2. 

   Ask the payee or payee applicant if they ever lived in the state where the crime was committed;

3. 3. 

   If the identifying information is discrepant and the payee or payee applicant denies ever living in or traveling to the state where the crime was committed, use the Rep Payee Applicant or Rep Payee “Note Type” on the Make Note screen to document the information; and

4. 4. 

   After documenting the Make Note screen, continue processing the payee application or retain payee determination. It is not necessary to request further documentation from the payee or payee applicant.

If the identifying information is correct or the payee or payee applicant lived in the state where the crime was committed, request further documentation from the payee or payee applicant:

• •

  Copy and paste the relevant criminal information from the Criminal Background Check Results screen in eRPS into a Word document and provide the payee or payee applicant with a printed copy of the criminal information; and

• •

  Request court documentation from the payee or payee applicant and follow the steps in GN 00502.117B.3.a in this section.

To verify employment/self-employment:

• •

  Request a Details Earnings Query (DEQY) or other valid employment documentation to verify the payee applicant's employment allegation.

• •

  Use the Rep Payee Applicant “Note Type” on the Make Note screen in eRPS with the results of your employment verification.

Employment allegations are collected on the Applicant Income screen (MS 07409.013) in eRPS or question 15 on the SSA-11-BK.

To verify receipt of benefits for applications taken in eRPS:

• •

  Use screening queries to verify the payee applicant's allegations; or

• •

  obtain an FACT/SSID query.

Do not request information from the following non-SSA sources:

• •

  Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) benefits;

• •

  Worker’s Compensation (WC) payments).