Denver County Goes After Teenage Son Of Food Stamp Recipient For Overpayment

DENVER (CBS4) - Denver Human Services is demanding a young man repay $2,000 in food stamps he didn't even receive. His mom applied for public assistance after losing her job during the pandemic, but Human Services says he is also responsible for repayment. He was an 18-year-old high school student at the time.

"I didn't even know this was happening. I knew she was unemployed but I didn't know about the food stamps," says Quinn Harrer.

When he received a letter from Human Services demanding re-payment, he thought it was a fraud.

"I was a little taken aback when it happened," said Harrer.

In documents obtained by CBS4, Human Services defends its actions by pointing to a state law that says, "All adult household members age 18 years or older at the time the over-issuance occurred, shall be jointly and severally liable."

"Now all of sudden I'm in debt. I don't know what to do, $2,000 is a lot, a lot of money. If I don't pay it back, they'll take it out of my taxes," says Harrer. "I don't make a lot of money."

He called it "ridiculous." Attorney Suzanne Taheri agrees. She filed an appeal pro-bono with the State Department of Human Services.

"I was expecting like, 'Hey, we'll fix that contact you later,' that's not what happened," said Harrer.

Instead, the state sided with the county, saying it "cannot consider the underlying overpayment claim on its merits," only whether it is "legally enforceable."

In other words, "the law is the law."

"They're pretty ruthless," said Harrer.

Both Denver Human Services and the State Department of Human Services say they can't comment on individual cases. The county says it is also just following the law and that clients are informed about repayment considerations.

But Harrer's attorney says what they don't receive is due process. Neither the county nor the state, Taheri says, held a hearing where he could dispute the charge.

Harrer's mom is a single mother of three and thinks the county made a mistake in calculating her unemployment. She asked Denver Human Services to blame her not her son but, she says, it has refused to back off and has sent the case to the U.S. Treasury Department for collections.