Legal Question in Social Security Law in Alabama

Re: Photcopying a Social Security Card

Here is the statute that you might be thinking of:

Sec. 1320b-10. Prohibition of misuse of symbols, emblems, or names in reference to Social Security or Medicare...

"(2)(A) No person may, for a fee, reproduce, reprint, or distribute

any item consisting of a form, application, or other publication of the

Social Security Administration unless such person has obtained specific,

written authorization for such activity in accordance with regulations

which the Commissioner of Social Security shall prescribe."

The purpose of the statute is to make it illegal for scam artists to include any mention of Social Security on their marketing materials. You would have to dig into the comments to understand what Congress was trying to accomplish, but I am fairly certain that they were NOT trying to make it illegal for the average mortgage lender, bank etc to process a loan application. Certainly they are charging a fee for the loan but the intent of the law is to accomplish something different than what you have proposed. So yes, technically it is probably illegal but no, no one will press the issue under the circumstances you described.