Charlotte, North Carolina
Charlotte Disability Lawyers for SSDI and SSI Claims Assigned to the Coronation Boulevard Hearing Office
Social Security's Charlotte hearing office, at 2201 Coronation Boulevard, Suite 200, is assigned claims from eight North Carolina field offices, Charlotte, Gastonia, Concord, Salisbury, Albemarle, Statesville, Hickory and Shelby, plus Rock Hill, South Carolina. Downard & Associates represents Charlotte-area claimants in Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI) and Supplemental Security Income (SSI) claims, from the application through reconsideration, a hearing before an administrative law judge and Appeals Council review. We work by phone or video from our office in Lebanon, Tennessee, and there is no fee unless you win.
How we help
What We Handle for Charlotte Claimants
Consultations happen by phone or video, and our attorneys handle hearings from Tennessee by phone or video.
Two Charlotte details can change how a claim is prepared: the hearing office reaches across the state line to Rock Hill, and North Carolina and South Carolina cap medical record copy charges differently, which matters when treatment is split between the two states.
We handle applications, reconsideration, hearings and Appeals Council review. Our North Carolina disability lawyer page covers how claims across the state are routed, and our South Carolina disability lawyer page covers how claims from the rest of South Carolina are routed.
We have no Charlotte office. Consultations happen by phone or video, and our attorneys handle hearings from Tennessee by phone or video. We represent adults age 18 and older. We handle SSDI cases for people who receive VA benefits, but we do not handle VA claims or appeals. We do not take disability cessation or continuing disability review cases, or cases about back pay alone, and we refer federal court appeals to affiliated counsel.
Hearing office
The Charlotte Hearing Office and the Field Offices It Hears
Social Security's hearing office locator, which groups offices by hearings hub, shows one hearing office in the city:
- Charlotte, Suite 200, 2201 Coronation Boulevard, Charlotte, NC 28227: the Albemarle, Charlotte, Concord, Gastonia, Hickory, Salisbury, Shelby and Statesville field offices, and Rock Hill, South Carolina.
The western mountains are not on that list. The locator assigns Asheville to the Kingsport, Tennessee hearing office and Hendersonville and Franklin, North Carolina, to Greenville, South Carolina, while Winston-Salem goes to Greensboro, which our Greensboro disability lawyer page covers.
Social Security's operations manual says hearing office jurisdiction is determined by the claimant's residence address, though you can ask, in a signed statement giving your reasons, to have a case transferred, and Social Security decides whether to do it. Social Security's hearings manual also lets it reassign some cases to another hearing office to relieve a temporary workload imbalance or increase productivity, only when the other office can hear and decide them more quickly. Social Security generally does not reassign a case this way when you have properly objected in writing to both a phone hearing and an agency video hearing, have not agreed to online video, and have not changed your residence. After a move, it generally still honors that objection when deciding whether to reassign the case for workload reasons, if doing so causes no added delay and nothing else calls for scheduling you another way. That practice is separate from the hearing-format rule, under which Social Security decides how you appear after a move. When Social Security moves a case to another hearing office for workload or productivity reasons, the office that receives it notifies you and your representative. Our hearing office directory lists every office with its field offices. For an in-person or agency video hearing, the Notice of Hearing names the place, so go by that notice for your own case.
Records on both sides of the line
North Carolina and South Carolina Medical Record Copy Charges
In North Carolina, G.S. 90-411 lets a health care provider charge a reasonable fee for searching, handling, copying and mailing records to the patient or the patient's designated representative, up to 75 cents a page for the first 25 pages, 50 cents a page for pages 26 through 100 and 25 cents a page after that, with a minimum fee of up to $10 that includes copying costs. The section does not apply to requests from North Carolina's Disability Determination Services for records made on behalf of a Social Security or SSI applicant.
In South Carolina, two statutes set the caps: S.C. Code Section 44-7-325 for health care facilities such as hospitals and for licensed health care providers, and Section 44-115-80 for physicians and other owners of medical records. Both allow a per page charge plus a clerical fee for searching and handling, with a combined maximum, adjusted every July 1 for inflation. The state health department's fee table under Section 44-7-325, effective July 1, 2026, lists 90 cents a page for the first 30 pages and 68 cents a page after that, a clerical fee of up to $34.76, and totals of no more than $208.63 per request for electronic records, regardless of the number of admissions, and $278.16 per admission for paper, plus postage and sales tax. Under both statutes the search and handling fee can be charged even when no record is found, except when the patient makes the request, and the table caps it at $25 in that case. Hospital records sent to another provider at the patient's request to continue care go at no charge, as do physician records when the patient is referred to another provider to continue treatment for a specific condition.
For both states, when Social Security needs and asks for existing medical evidence, 20 CFR 404.1514 has it pay non-federal providers the reasonable cost for SSDI, and 20 CFR 416.914 has it pay for evidence it requests for SSI, or asks you to get, if there is a charge. The SSDI rule also says the claimant is responsible for providing the evidence, so records Social Security does not request still need to reach the file. When you request your own records, federal HIPAA rules limit the fee to a reasonable, cost-based amount that generally cannot include time spent searching for and retrieving the records, so the amount can be lower than the state cap. Our disability appeals page explains the steps after a denial.
Local treatment records
Medical Records From Atrium Health, Novant Health, Piedmont Medical Center and the Charlotte VA
Atrium Health: its medical records page takes requests through the Sharing Hub in MyAtriumHealth, or on paper: the Patient Request for Health Information form for copies to yourself or a provider, and the Authorization for Release of Health Information form for an attorney, insurer or other organization. Forms go to Atrium Health Corporate Health Information Management, Release of Information, PO Box 32861, Charlotte, NC 28232, by fax to 704-446-6037, or by email, with questions to 844-383-2109.
Novant Health: its medical records page says patients can request copies through MyChart at no cost, that third parties requesting records for a North Carolina patient can use an online portal with a signed HIPAA authorization, and that a fee may be charged. Novant's release of information customer service line is 1-844-763-9163.
Piedmont Medical Center: the Rock Hill hospital's records requests now go through the Piedmont Medical Network records page, which requires its Authorization to Use and Disclose Protected Health Information form, filled out completely, with a copy of a photo ID, in person or by mail to Health Information Management, 222 South Herlong Avenue, Rock Hill, SC 29732, and asks for five to ten business days. It lists the first 10 pages at no cost to the patient, $6.50 for records delivered electronically to the patient, and 7 cents a page plus labor and supply charges for paper. Health Information Management answers at 803-329-6870.
Charlotte VA: VA Salisbury health care's medical records office has a release of information office at the Charlotte Health Care Center, 3506 West Tyvola Road, open during facility hours, and another at the Salisbury VA, 1601 Brenner Avenue. You can view and download VA records online, or request copies by mail or fax on VA Form 10-5345a, or in person with a signed written request and your Veteran Health Identification Card; mailed requests go to 1601 Brenner Avenue, Salisbury, NC 28144, and VA says mailed or faxed requests may take up to 20 business days to process. Our veterans page explains how a VA rating and an SSDI claim relate.
Hearings and deadlines
Hearing Format and Appeal Deadlines for a Charlotte Disability Claim
To object to a phone or agency video hearing, after you receive the notice
30days
20 CFR 404.936(d), 416.1436(d)
After a hearing request, Social Security sends a Notice of Ways to Attend a Hearing, and its ways to attend page lists four: in person or by agency video at one of its offices, and by phone or online video from a private location you choose. Under 20 CFR 404.936 and, for SSI, 20 CFR 416.1436, an objection to a phone hearing, an agency video hearing, or both must be made in writing within 30 days after you receive that notice. If you do not object, Social Security can schedule a phone or agency video hearing, though it can also schedule you in person or, if you agree, by online video; if you object to only one of those two formats, it can schedule you in person, by the other format, or by online video if you agree, and if you object to both, it generally schedules you in person or, if you agree, by online video. Online video is used only if you agree to it in writing, and a late objection or agreement needs good cause. If you move while the hearing request is pending, Social Security decides how you appear and can schedule a phone or agency video hearing despite an objection, though it considers the move only if you send evidence of your new residence; it can also use a phone hearing in a few other situations the rule lists. Our guide to hearing formats explains each choice and when Social Security moves a case to another office, and our disability hearings page describes the hearing itself.
A reconsideration request is due in writing within 60 days after you receive the initial denial, under 20 CFR 404.909 for SSDI and 20 CFR 416.1409 for SSI, and a hearing request after a reconsideration denial has its own 60 days under 20 CFR 404.933 and 20 CFR 416.1433. Social Security treats a notice as received 5 days after the date on the notice unless you show it came later, under 20 CFR 404.901 and 20 CFR 416.1401. A late request needs a written request for more time and good cause, so call us the week a denial arrives.
Common questions
Charlotte Disability Claim Questions
Is a Rock Hill claim assigned to the Charlotte hearing office?
Generally yes. Social Security's hearing office locator assigns the Rock Hill, South Carolina field office to the Charlotte hearing office at 2201 Coronation Boulevard, Suite 200. A transfer or reassignment is possible, and your Notice of Hearing names the place and format for your own case.
Does an Asheville claim go to the Charlotte hearing office?
Generally no. The locator assigns the Asheville field office to the Kingsport, Tennessee hearing office, not Charlotte. Hendersonville and Franklin, North Carolina, go to Greenville, South Carolina. Your Notice of Hearing names the place and format for your own case.
Can a South Carolina provider charge a search fee when no records are found?
Yes, except when the patient makes the request. Under S.C. Code Sections 44-7-325 and 44-115-80, a search and handling fee can be charged even when no record is found, and the state health department's fee table effective July 1, 2026 caps it at $25 in that case.
Does a Charlotte provider charge Social Security for records?
Providers can charge Social Security for records it requests. North Carolina's G.S. 90-411 fee section does not apply to records requests from the state's Disability Determination Services on behalf of a Social Security or SSI applicant. Social Security pays non-federal providers the reasonable cost of existing evidence it needs and asks for in an SSDI claim, and pays for evidence it requests in an SSI claim if there is a charge.
Which Atrium Health form sends my records to a lawyer?
The Authorization for Release of Health Information form, which Atrium uses for records sent to an attorney, insurer, school or other organization. The Patient Request for Health Information form is for copies to yourself or a provider. Either form goes to Atrium Health Corporate Health Information Management, Release of Information, PO Box 32861, Charlotte, NC 28232, or by fax to 704-446-6037.
Discuss your claim
Talk Through Your Charlotte Claim With Us
Have your latest Social Security notice, the field office named on your letters and a list of where you have been treated in front of you. We will explain where the claim stands and the next deadline by phone or video.