CalWORKs overpayment collections still happening despite reduced benefits - normal to get letters?

Those collection letters are automatic and will continue even though you're making payments through benefit reduction. It's frustrating but normal - the county's collection department and the benefits department don't communicate well. Keep all the letters as proof though, and document every call attempt to your worker. Make sure you check that the monthly reduction is actually happening on your EBT account. You can request a detailed accounting statement of your overpayment balance too - sometimes they make calculation errors. The $60 monthly reduction should be clearly shown on your quarterly benefit notices.

omg this hapend to me too!!!! so annoying right?? i got letters for like 8 months after they started taking money from my calfresh. worker told me to just ignor them but i was still freaking out every time one came. they eventually stopped but it took FOREVER

This is completely normal but REALLY poorly explained by CalWORKs. The collection letters are generated by an automated system that doesn't recognize your benefit reduction payment arrangement. As long as your benefits are being reduced each month by the agreed amount, you're fulfilling your obligation. However, I strongly recommend getting written confirmation of your repayment agreement. The County sometimes makes errors in processing these arrangements, and you want documentation showing you're complying with the terms. If you can't reach your worker by phone, you can try: 1. Sending a secure message through BenefitsCal 2. Requesting an accounting statement in writing (mail a letter requesting this) 3. Visiting the office in person and asking for a receipt showing your current balance Also, make sure they're only collecting for CalFresh and not incorrectly collecting for CalWORKs cash aid too. I've seen cases where they mix up the benefit types.

Try Claimyr if you need to get through to your worker. I was in a similar situation with overpayment notices and couldn't get anyone on the phone for weeks. Used claimyr.com and they got me connected to a real person at the county within 20 minutes. They have a video showing how it works: https://youtu.be/jzISHxCPLwE Worth it to get this sorted out - my situation was that they had me paying twice (once through benefit reduction AND they were trying to collect the full amount separately). Got it fixed in one call once I finally reached someone.

THEY ARE SCAMMING YOU!!!!! This happened to me and they were taking money from my benefits AND still sending collection letters and then they tried to say I never paid anything!!!! The whole system is corrupt and they WANT you to just keep paying. DEMAND a receipt for every payment they take from your benefits and send a certified letter telling them to STOP SENDING COLLECTION NOTICES!!! They tried this with me for over $1200 and I had to get legal aid involved.

Make sure to check if you've signed an Overpayment Agreement Form (CF 377.7E for CalFresh). Without that form, sometimes the system doesn't properly track your repayments. The letters will stop eventually, but it can take 2-3 months after repayment starts for the collection system to catch up. Also, if your overpayment was due to a county error rather than something you did, you might qualify for a reduced repayment amount or even a waiver. The collection notices don't distinguish between types of overpayments.

Just keep all the letters and your EBT statements together in a folder. Take pictures of everything too in case something gets lost. These counties are so disorganized it's ridiculous. My roommate had her benefits reduced for an overpayment and still got collection calls for months.

They told me those letters would stop too but they kept coming for like 5 months! Even after my overpayment was completely paid off! Then I got a letter saying I still owed $27 when I had already paid everything back through benefit reduction. Had to go to the office and wait 3 hours just to get a supervisor to finally fix it in their system. Good luck!!

u can ask for a statment showing how much u paid and how much u still owe. they have to give u that. call the number on the letter not ur regular caseworker number

After using Claimyr to reach my worker, they mentioned something important - sometimes these collection letters are sent automatically by a system that doesn't communicate with the benefit reduction system. My worker actually noted in my file to ignore the letters until the balance is paid off. Could save you a lot of stress if you can get that confirmation too.

One more thing to check - make sure the overpayment amount is correct. Caseworkers sometimes make calculation errors. You have the right to request a detailed accounting of how they determined the overpayment amount, and you can appeal if you believe it's incorrect. There are specific timeframes for appeals though, so don't delay if you think there's an error. You mentioned they claimed you didn't report income quickly enough. California has specific rules about when you must report income changes (within 10 days if it puts you over the Income Reporting Threshold). If you reported within the required timeframe, the overpayment calculation should be adjusted.

Hey! I went through something really similar last year with CalFresh overpayment collections. Those letters are super scary but they're mostly automated - the collection system and benefits system don't talk to each other at all. One thing that really helped me was keeping a simple spreadsheet tracking my EBT statements each month to make sure the $60 reduction was actually happening. Screenshot your benefit amount before and after each month if you can. Also, if you reported your income through BenefitsCal, there should be a timestamp on your submission. You might be able to log in and check your message history to see the exact date you reported. If it was within 10 days like the rules require, definitely fight the overpayment amount. The letters will probably keep coming for a few more months unfortunately, but as long as your benefits are being reduced each month you're doing everything right. Just keep all the paperwork together in case you need it later!

I'm dealing with something very similar right now! Got my first collection letter last week even though they've been reducing my CalFresh by $45/month since December. It's such a relief to read all these responses and know this is normal (even if it's frustrating). One thing I learned from calling the county's main number is that you can request a "payment history statement" that shows all the benefit reductions they've taken so far. They told me to send a written request with my case number and they'll mail it back within 10 business days. Might be worth trying since phone calls aren't working. Also wanted to mention - if you're getting collection letters that mention both CalWORKs and CalFresh like some people mentioned, definitely double-check that with someone. My cousin had an issue where they were accidentally collecting for the wrong program and it took months to sort out. Stay strong - sounds like you're doing everything right! The system is just really bad at communicating between departments.