Sharing Social Security Numbers And Judgment Enforcement

With my work, I notice proof that many US judgment debtors are sharing their Social Security Numbers (SSNs), particularly in California and Arizona; especially those that had moved to the US.

This surprised me, as as long as I can remember, I have read that sharing one's SSN was dangerous or problematic, and one might be punished for doing so. It seems there is no penalty for the typical person that shares their SSN with other people.

I believe that social security numbers are free. Why would someone wish to share their SSN? Potential reasons are to try to evade judgment creditors, and to try to stay "off the grid". I assert that most people who share SSNs are paid, and pay with cash.

Largely because of strong taxation and hassles for businesses, and the anti-gambling, anti-drug, anti-prostitution, and other victimless crime laws; there are massive underground economies that avoid paying taxes, and run primarily on a cash basis, which sometimes offer income for many who live "off the grid". I would not be surprised if welfare, food stamps, disability payment, and social security payments are still made, after entities learn that someone shares their social security number.

What are some disadvantages of sharing your SSN? It seems the downsides are primarily for the people who expect or get paychecks, pensions, or SS payments; and are "on the grid", paying taxes, etc. For those on the grid, anyone else sharing their SSN could be thought to be identity theft. For those on the grid, there seems to be almost no reason to share a social security number.

Usually, someone's social security number isn't often shared with average 3rd parties. However, when a person takes an action that causes a judgment to be lodged against them, the judgment creditor, or the assignee of record, has the right to discover their social security number for the sole reason of attempting to enforce their judgment by, for example, paying a Sheriff to levy the bank account or the wages of the debtor.

If a judgment debtor shares a SSN, it can make it hard for judgment creditors, data services, and private investigators, to determine the correct judgment debtor. Employers and banks use social security numbers to uniquely identify and verify the actual person. If a judgment debtor shares their SSN, paying to find out where they work, can create a lot of false hits.

What has happened to certain judgment owners, is if they have a judgment debtor (e.g., Dan Debtor), and hire a service or a private investigator to find out Dan Debtor's SSN, and they discover that Dan Debtor shares his SSN with several other individuals in the same city. If Dan Debtor shares his social security number, it may make it harder for judgment creditors to have Dan's assets garnished.

In these times of extra privacy protection, just a portion of the judgment debtor's SSN is permitted on a (e.g.) abstract of judgment. When an incomplete SSN matches many (exact same) names that are common in a county, that can create confusion and mistaken identity, or at least a hassle, for a non-judgment debtor person with the common same name.

The combination of sharing social security numbers and denying permission for full SSNs, can make judgment enforcement harder, however not impossible. Limiting SSNs is a result of worries about protection and privacy, yet SSN privacy is no assurance of any real protection or privacy.

A SSN is the most convenient identity tool for a lien or a levy, but it is not always needed. If you need to verify that they know the correct debtor, this can be accomplished with addresses, etc. Having the debtor's social security number is by far, the ultimate way to verify for sure, the bankruptcy status of common-named judgment debtors.

When using data services, even if the social security number is truncated, you still may search by address and name, and find precisely the same judgment debtor. Even if there are limits on a business, one can learn to legally work around many of them.

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