subject: Enforcing A Judgment When A Debtor Shares Their Ssn [print this page] I am not a lawyer, I am the judgment referral expert. This article is my opinion, and not legal advice, based on my experiences in California. If you ever need legal advice or a strategy to use, please contact an attorney.
With my work, I see evidence that more than a few American debtors are sharing their Social Security Numbers (SSNs), especially in Arizona and California; especially those who had immigrated to the US.
That amazed me, because as long as I can remember, I've learned that sharing a SSN was dangerous or problematic, and you could be penalized for doing so. Apparently there is no punishment for an average individual who shares their social security number with other people.
As far as I know, SSNs are free. Why would someone wish to share their social security number? Potential reasons are to try and thwart creditors, and to attempt to stay "off the grid". I imagine that many people that share social security numbers are paid, and use cash to pay.
Largely due to hassles for business and strong taxation, and the anti-gambling, anti-drug, anti-prostitution, and other victimless crime laws; there are vast underground economies that tend to not pay taxes, and operate primarily on a cash basis, that may provide income for some who live "off the grid". I wouldn't be surprised if welfare, food stamps, disability payment, and social security payments are still paid, after entities learn that someone shares their SSN.
What are the downsides of sharing your social security number? It seems the disadvantages are primarily for those who get or expect paychecks, pensions, or social security payments; and are "on the grid", paying taxes, etc. For people on the grid, someone else using their social security number might be considered identity theft. For those on the grid, there seems to be little benefit to sharing a SSN.
Usually, a person's social security number isn't often shared with typical third parties. However, when a person does something to cause a judgment to be entered against them, the judgment creditor, or an assignee of record, gets a right to learn the judgment debtor's SSN for the sole purpose of attempting to enforce their judgment by, for example, hiring a Sheriff to garnish the wages or bank account of their judgment debtor.
When a judgment debtor shares their SSN, it can make it difficult for judgment owners, data services, and private investigators, to determine the correct judgment debtor. Banks and employers use SSNs to uniquely identify and verify the actual person. When a debtor shares a SSN, paying to determine where they work, may generate many false hits.
What has occurred with some judgment owners, is if they have a judgment debtor (e.g., Dan Debtor), and hire a private investigator or a service to learn Dan Debtor's social security number, and they find out that Dan Debtor shares his SSN with many other individuals in the same town. When Dan Debtor shares his social security number, it may make it harder for judgment owners to have Dan's assets levied.
In these times of extra privacy protections, just a portion of the judgment debtor's SSN is permitted on (e.g.) abstracts of judgments. When a partial SSN matches several (exact same) names that are common in a county, that may cause confusion and mistaken identity, if not a headache, for a non-judgment debtor person with the common same name.
The mixture of sharing social security numbers and denying permission for complete SSNs, may make judgment recovery more difficult, however not impossible. Restricting social security numbers is a result of concerns over protection and privacy, yet SSN protection is no assurance of any real protection or privacy.
A social security number is the most convenient identity method for a lien or a levy, however it's not always necessary. When one needs to verify that they have the correct debtor, this can be accomplished using addresses, etc. Having the judgment debtor's social security number is by far, the ultimate way to know for certain, the bankruptcy situation of common-named judgment debtors.
When using data services, even when a social security number is truncated, one still may search by name and address, and find precisely the same judgment debtor. Even when there are limitations on a business, you can learn to work legally around most of them.
