The state of Arizona is short money after accidently doling out thousands of dollars directly into bank accounts last month.

Every month, Patricia Larimore receives two direct deposits into her personal bank account — one is her Social Security check and the other a small payment from the Department of Housing and Urban Development for property she owns.

But in July, something strange happened to the 70-year-old from Yuma. Her bank account balance suddenly looked a whole lot better.

“So I thought, maybe, it’s the end of the fiscal year, and they underpaid me for something,” Larimore said.

Nearly $3,900 additional dollars appeared in her account, courtesy of the Arizona Department of Economic Security. Unclear of what to do, Larimore did not touch the money at first.

“And then I didn’t hear, I didn’t hear … it’d been in there two weeks, and then I paid bills and bought things, groceries and things I needed,” Larimore explained.

Then she got a letter. The state had “inadvertently” overpaid her and would be recovering that money.

It turns out Larimore is one of 23 "vendors" — those who provide services to the state, in this case related to the property she owns — who were on the receiving end of a glitch as the state moved to a new accounting system. Altogether, DES incorrectly paid out $12,600.

Panicked, Larimore called up the department.

“And I said 'Well, can’t we talk?,'" Larimore said. "I wanted to set up a meeting or something with him, and he said, 'No, first we have to try to take it out.'”

Federal and state laws require the department to recoup any erroneous payments. In a statement, DES told KJZZ it will try to reverse the payments, but, if there are insufficient funds, it will work directly to set up a repayment plan.

Larimore said she has not heard anything from the state yet. But to her, this was much more than a small, "inadvertent" payment, as the state described it.

“I love that word inadvertently. It made me mad. It just sounded so… casual,” she said.

DES said the errors in the accounting system have since been fixed.