On-The-Record Decisions Rare at Some Hearing Offices 

An “on-the-record decision” is when a Social Security Administration (SSA) administrative law judge makes a favorable decision on your case without a hearing. In Fiscal Year 2017, SSA made over 8,000 of these decisions. Some offices make many such decisions. Fayetteville, North Carolina made 215 such decisions in 2017. Boston, MA made 98. Other offices, like Providence, RI made only 28, while some other offices had as few as 13 or 14. Even though SSA says claimants can receive such a decision, the data show that such decisions can be very rare depending on where you live.