7 On Your Side helps mom after child tax credit refund sent to wrong bank account
UNIONDALE, New York (WABC) -- A Nassau County single mom was in a panic this summer when her $10,000 child tax credit refund got sent to the wrong bank account.
Making matters worse, without the money, her son wasn't going to be able to enroll in college, they would miss the tuition deadline.
The deadline was 48 hours away when 7 On Your Side got the call from this panicked mom that her refund had wound up in the wrong account.
She was told by the New York State Department of Taxation that her refund had wound up in the wrong account.
The mom couldn't get it back for four months and that would've meant the loss of the scholarship and the spot at Boston University for her son.
"I didn't know what we were going to do. I didn't even enroll in classes because we didn't pay it," said Dorian Ford, a college student.
A standout scholar, Dorian was two days from missing his college registration and scholarship deadline for his second year at Boston University.
"I literally almost had a heart attack, we weren't getting it," said Laurie Ford, tax credit recipient.
"I was very worried about the deadlines for housing and meal plans," he said.
The tuition money they were counting on to hold his spot was MIA.
Laurie was notified by New York State of the mistake.
"They told me it was put into the wrong account. They were the ones that broke it to me," she said.
"Were they able to recover it?" 7 On Your Side's Nina Pineda asked.
"No, they said they had to wait 90 days, then they said 120 days," Laurie said.
"Could you afford to wait that long?" Pineda asked.
"No," Laurie said.
Her tax preparer in Uniondale was Liberty Tax. The mother, raising three sons while holding down a full-time job and getting her masters degree, has been a loyal Liberty customer for several years and never had a problem.
"I called them crying screaming to just give me the money. Just for my son's tuition," Laurie said.
She said she asked them to credit her until they sorted out the error with the bank.
"She said, 'No, we're not doing that. Absolutely not,'" Laurie said.
So, Laurie's next call was to 7 On Your Side.
"You always get the money back, you always do," she said.
We got in touch with Liberty Tax and hours later that very same evening...
"We got the money," Laurie said.
"What did you feel when you finally got the money?" Pineda asked.
"So excited, so excited," she said. "We're always fighting. We're never going to go down without a fight."
"I am very proud of my mom. This is not the first time she has done something like this for my brothers and me," Dorian said.
"Thank you! We love you!" Laurie said.
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