BECKLEY – A Beckley man is suing the U.S. Department of Education alleging that a percentage of his Social Security check was withheld unfairly in connection with an education debt.
Wilbert A. Payne filed a complaint in U.S. District Court for the Southern District of West Virginia against the U.S. Department of Education seeking declaratory relief.
The suit states that the plaintiff entered into a loan agreement with Higher Education Loan Program on July 1, 1980, and Dec. 17, 1980, in the amount of $5,000. The plaintiff was sued by the defendant for the $5,000 but the case was dismissed for unknown reasons in the 1980s, the suit states.
The plaintiff alleges he was contacted in February 2016 by a collection agency seeking the student loans. The plaintiff alleges he received a letter from the U.S. Treasury on Sept. 26, 2018, stating that the defendant had a claim against the plaintiff's Social Security check for 15 percent, and that percentage was withheld from his check beginning in November 2018.
The plaintiff is seeking a declaration from the court that the taking of his Social Security check is a taking of his property without due process. The plaintiff is represented by G. Todd Houck in Mullens.
U.S. District Court for the Southern District of West Virginia case number 5:19-CV-00285