Waivers for unemployment claimants who received overpayment letters may come this weekend

Adrienne Roberts, Detroit Free Press
·2 min read

Waivers for unemployment insurance claimants who were told they were overpaid benefits in the pandemic may come this weekend, a spokesperson for Michigan's Unemployment Insurance Agency said Friday, but the agency is still testing its system.

Nick Assendelft, a spokesperson for Michigan's Unemployment Insurance Agency, said the agency will continue system testing over the next couple of days and will know by the end of the weekend where things stand in terms of sending waivers to claimants who were told they were overpaid.

Earlier this month, Julia Dale, the director of the agency, said at a joint state House and Senate Oversight Committee hearing held in Lansing that the agency expected to send out waivers on April 29 and over the weekend to about 382,000 claimants.

Michigan's Unemployment Insurance Agency recently asked hundreds of thousands of claimants to re-certify for benefits over the summer after they were told they were overpaid benefits.
Michigan's Unemployment Insurance Agency recently asked hundreds of thousands of claimants to re-certify for benefits over the summer after they were told they were overpaid benefits.

Those claimants represented 96% of the 398,000 claimants who received a pause in collection activities such as wage garnishments and intercepting of state of Michigan tax refunds until at least May 7.

While Dale said the majority of the claimants who received a pause were getting Pandemic Unemployment Assistance (PUA) benefits in the pandemic. The agency issued about 350,000 waivers in July for PUA claimants who were told they would have to "requalify for benefits."

But it's unknown how many claimants have been told they were overpaid benefits or how many claimants are currently experiencing collection activities, such as having their tax returns seized or their wages garnished.

Assendelft said the agency is limited on the available reporting in the agency's current system, and would require additional resources to figure out how many claimants are in this situation.

More: Waivers for unemployment overpayments could start to roll out by end of the month

More: Michigan's UIA pauses collection activities for certain claimants with overpayment letters

David Blanchard, the attorney for a group of claimants who filed a class-action lawsuit against the agency because they received bills from the state saying they owe money back, said he has not heard of any claimants in this situation who have received a notice from the agency directly that says collection activities have been paused or that a waiver is coming.

"People who are being considered (for a waiver), or have garnishments out there are entitled to some kind of individual notice," said Blanchard, who is an attorney with the Ann Arbor law firm Blanchard & Walker. "Even if it's not a final decision by the agency, (claimants should get) an explanation of what's going on."

Assendelft said it will notify claimants by mailed letter and through a message in their unemployment insurance (MiWAM) accounts when they’ve received a waiver.

A hearing for the lawsuit, which was filed in the Michigan Court of Claims, is scheduled for May 17.

Contact Adrienne Roberts: amroberts@freepress.com.

This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Waivers for pandemic unemployment overpayments could come this weekend