EDD denied my husband because of open AZ claim - but he never received AZ benefits!

The same EXACT thing happened to us when we moved from Nevada to California last year!!! The EDD system is so broken it's unbelievable. They kept telling my wife she couldn't file in CA because of her "active" Nevada claim even though Nevada DENIED her claim too. We spent WEEKS trying to get someone on the phone who could actually help.

This is actually a common issue with interstate claims. Your husband needs to contact the Arizona DES (Department of Economic Security) directly and request a "Notice of Determination of Invalid Claim" or similar document that explicitly states his claim was denied and no benefits were paid. Once he has this documentation, he should submit it to California EDD along with a request to reconsider his claim. The key is having official documentation from Arizona showing the claim was denied and inactive despite technically being "open" in their system until September.

u need 2 contact BOTH states. az needs 2 send something 2 ca saying ur hubby didnt get $ and ca needs 2 accept it. good luck getting anyone on phone tho lol

This happened to me between California and Texas. It took forever to reach EDD by phone, but I finally found this service called Claimyr that got me through to an EDD agent in under 20 minutes. It was the only way I could actually talk to someone and get my interstate claim issue resolved. They have a demo video at https://youtu.be/JmuwXR7HA10?si=TSwYbu_GOwYzt9km that shows how it works. After I talked to a real person, they were able to process an interstate claim exception since I never actually received benefits from the other state.

I work with unemployment claims professionally, and there's an important distinction here. An "active" claim just means the benefit year is still open (typically 12 months from initial filing), but a DENIED claim means no benefits were awarded or received. Your husband is in what's called a "combined wage claim" situation, but with a twist since no benefits were paid. The correct process is: 1. Request a formal denial letter from Arizona DES 2. File an appeal with California EDD specifically citing Interstate Arrangement for Combining Employment and Wages 3. Include evidence that no benefits were received from Arizona 4. Reference California UI Code Section 1253(c) regarding availability for work in California Don't wait until September - that's unnecessary. This is a documentation issue that can be resolved.

Not to go off-topic but the whole system is BROKEN!!!! I had a similar issue with Oregon and they kept sending me in circles for MONTHS!!!! Eventually I just gave up and took a minimum wage job I hate because I couldn't wait any longer for them to figure out their own stupid rules!!!!!

Just to follow up on my earlier comment - your husband should also ask Arizona DES for his "wage transcript" or "wage history report" showing all benefits paid (which should be zero in his case). Having both the formal denial letter AND documentation showing no benefits were paid will strengthen his case with California EDD.

has he checked his UI Online account in both states? sometimes the systems don't communicate properly and you can see different status info depending which state's portal you log into

Just remembered something important from our experience - make sure you keep detailed records of EVERY conversation including the name and ID number of any rep you speak with in either state. When we finally got our interstate issue resolved, it was because we had documentation of every single conversation which proved the contradictory information we'd been given.