I went through a similar situation last year with an "able and available" overpayment for caregiving. The good news is that temporary family caregiving can qualify for exceptions, especially if you properly disclosed it during certification. When you appeal, emphasize that you were transparent about your situation and had every intention of returning to work once your mom recovered. I also recommend calling your local Assembly member's office - they often have caseworkers who can help expedite EDD issues. Mine helped me get my appeal resolved in 6 weeks instead of months. Document everything and don't let them intimidate you into paying without fighting it first!

I'm so sorry you're going through this stress - I know exactly how overwhelming it feels! I had a similar overpayment notice for $4,200 last year and was terrified. The most important thing is DON'T PANIC and don't ignore it. Since you were caring for your mom and reported it during certification, you actually have a strong case for appeal. The "able and available" requirement has specific exceptions for temporary family caregiving situations. When I appealed mine, I gathered all my certification records showing I was honest about my situation, medical documentation for my family member, and a detailed timeline of events. I also filed for the overpayment waiver (DE 1446W form) at the same time, documenting my financial hardship. The whole process took about 3 months, but I ended up getting 80% of the overpayment waived. During the appeal process, they can't garnish your wages or take collection action, which gives you breathing room. Stay strong - you reported everything honestly and that matters a lot in these cases!

To clarify on some of the responses here - when unreported wages are found to be an honest mistake rather than willful fraud, EDD typically won't issue an overpayment or disqualification, especially for smaller amounts like you mentioned. The interviewer was required to tell you about appeal rights because that's standard procedure for ALL determinations, even favorable ones. The Notice of Determination you'll receive will include language about appeal rights regardless of whether they ruled in your favor or not. This is because all EDD determinations, positive or negative, can be appealed (though obviously you wouldn't appeal a favorable decision). The payment status changing to PAID is the system implementation of their decision, which is clearly in your favor. While there are occasional system glitches, this sequence of events strongly indicates a positive outcome for your claim.

Congratulations on getting your payments! I went through a similar situation last year with unreported DoorDash earnings from 2022 that I completely forgot about (only like $1,800). The interviewer was ice cold and made me feel like a criminal, but my payments also switched to PAID right after the call. Got my money within 2 days and the determination letter a week later confirming they ruled it was an honest oversight. The key thing EDD looks for is whether you were trying to hide income deliberately vs. just making a mistake. Since you were honest about it during the interview and the amount was relatively small, they likely saw it as the latter. Definitely keep reporting everything going forward - even if it's just $50 from a random gig. Better safe than sorry with EDD!

lol welcome to the club. EDD's been a nightmare since covid hit. good luck getting anyone on the phone 💀

Hey Giovanni! I went through this exact same issue a few months ago. Here's what worked for me: I couldn't remember my last check amount either, so I went to my local EDD office in person with my ID and Social Security card. They were able to verify my identity on the spot and help me reset my password without needing the check details. It took about 2 hours of waiting, but I walked out with access to my account. Way faster than trying to get through on the phone! Check if your local office has walk-in hours - some are by appointment only now.

Don't worry, this happens more than you'd think! When this happened to me, I called the EDD phone number (1-800-300-5616) and pressed 1-2-1 to get through to someone. Make sure to mention that you were available during your scheduled time window and never received the call. They should be able to reschedule without penalizing your benefits. Also, keep detailed notes of when you call, who you speak with, and any reference numbers they give you. The key is being persistent but polite - they deal with this situation regularly and know it's not always the claimant's fault. Good luck!

This exact thing happened to my friend last week! EDD never called during her scheduled window either. She ended up calling the main number and explaining the situation - turns out there was a system glitch on their end that day. They rescheduled her for the following week with no issues or penalties to her benefits. The rep even apologized and noted in her file that the missed call wasn't her fault. So definitely don't stress too much about this affecting your benefits - it's more common than you'd think and they're usually pretty understanding when it's on their end. Just make sure to call them ASAP to get it sorted out!

I went through something very similar last year with a $185 overpayment. The local office transfer actually worked out better for me than I expected - they were much more responsive than the main EDD system. When they called (about 10 days after the transfer letter), the representative was actually helpful and walked me through exactly what happened with my claim. Since you've already acknowledged the overpayment and requested a payment plan, you're in a good position. In my case, they determined it was a non-fraud overpayment and I ended up with just 1 penalty week since the amount was under $200. The payment plan was easy to set up too - they let me do $20/month which was very manageable. One tip: when they call, have your claim details handy (claim number, the weeks in question, etc.) because they'll want to go through everything step by step. The whole process from transfer to resolution took about 4 weeks for me. Don't let some of the horror stories here scare you - most small overpayments like yours get resolved pretty smoothly!

I'm going through something very similar right now with a $150 overpayment that got transferred to the local office. Just wanted to share what I learned from calling around - apparently the local office transfer happens for overpayments when they need to do what's called an "administrative review" to determine if it was intentional or not. The good news is that for amounts under $300, they usually lean toward non-fraud classification if you can show it was an honest mistake. My case is still pending (got the transfer letter 2 weeks ago) but I spoke with someone at a different EDD office who said the penalty weeks are typically calculated as: 1 week for every $100 of overpayment for non-fraud cases, rounded up. So your $200 would likely be 2 penalty weeks if they determine it wasn't intentional. The main thing is to stay responsive - check your mail daily and answer any calls from 916 or 800 numbers. I've heard they sometimes send additional forms to fill out before making their final determination. Hang in there!