A Portland, Oregon, lockbox that receives mailed Social Security overpayment repayments is retired effective Sept. 30, according to an agency message dated Sept. 23. Mail sent to the old box is forwarded for three months, and anything received after Dec. 30 is returned to the sender. Mailed repayments are redirected to a post office box in Philadelphia, a change that reaches every repayer who still mails a check with a payment stub.
Portland lockbox, Sept. 30 retirement: The message moves the mailing address but leaves the waiver, appeal or smaller-payment choice open, which The Social Security Check Protection Kit handles with an overpayment response worksheet. Sort waiver, appeal and repayment with a response worksheet →
What SSA’s Sept. 23 message says about Lockbox #5480
The change is spelled out in emergency message EM-26035, titled “Discontinuation of Lockbox Services — One-Time-Only Instructions” and dated Sept. 23, 2026. It says the Social Security Administration is retiring its Programmatic Remittance Lockbox #5480, the post office box at P.O. Box 5480, Portland, OR 97228-9816, effective Sept. 30, 2026. The message is an internal instruction to SSA staff, published on the agency’s reference site, rather than a notice mailed to beneficiaries.
Forwarding is the bridge between the two addresses. The message says mail continues to be forwarded for three months after the retirement date and states that “any items received after December 30, 2026, will be returned to sender.” Individuals who get returned mail are told to send the payment directly to MATPSC, P.O. Box 3430, Philadelphia, PA 19122. The programs listed are Title II (RSI), Title VIII (SVB), Title XVI (SSI), disability and Medicare…