That sounds like a fine setup. Passable grounding could give 5v if somewhere in the ballpark of 200mA are passing through it. Reading through maybe the generator has a short to ground.

Edit: the only place ground and neutral are connected is in the main breaker panel, correct?

What is the grounding situation at the panel? Seems like your electrical ground has no path to earth ground. Maybe the lug on the grounding rod loosened off after inspection.

This needs to get fixed quick. Even 10mA can cause serious problems. Without a safe ground your whole house is a minefield.

That’s what I thought, but my mom said the money had already cleared and was removed as a separate transfer.

When my dad died ss went into my parents joint bank account and withdrew the amount of his latest payment. It’s not just fear mongering. It is possible. I don’t think even this administration is ballsy enough to do it, though. The backlash would be enormous, and as another poster mentioned civil asset forfeiture already exists.