EDD overpayment notice - appeal or ignore? Scared about $3,200 repayment demand

defnitly appeal!!! they sent me 5 overpayment notices last yr for almost $4000. i appealed and won bc they screwed up calculating my hrs. dont worry about lawyer, i did it myself and just wrote out exactly what happened n sent in my timesheets as proof. took like 4 months to get resolved tho.

You absolutely need to respond to the overpayment notices - ignoring them is the worst option. If you don't appeal within 30 days, the determination becomes final and EDD can begin collection activities including: - Tax refund intercepts - Wage garnishments (up to 25%) - Bank account levies - Adding penalties and interest to the amount owed Regarding your work search efforts - the standard requirement is to perform reasonable search activities and keep detailed records. If you didn't document your job search activities properly during certification, that could be what triggered this issue. If the notices mention "insufficient work search efforts" specifically, gather any evidence you have of job applications, emails, confirmation numbers, or interview documentation from that period.

this happened to my cousin and he just ignored it lol. now hes got wage garnishment and his credit is trashed. dont be like my cousin!!!

I successfully appealed an overpayment notice last year. Here's what you should do: 1. File your appeal IMMEDIATELY - you only have 30 days from the notice date 2. Request all documents EDD used to make their determination through a formal records request 3. Collect any evidence you have about your work search activities (emails, application confirmations, interview follow-ups) 4. Create a simple timeline document showing when you certified and what work search activities you performed You don't need a lawyer for the initial appeal. The process starts with a written appeal where you explain why you believe the determination is incorrect. Only about 20% of cases end up needing an actual hearing. Also, if you truly cannot afford to repay, you can request a financial hardship waiver after exhausting the appeal process. Don't feel like a criminal - the EDD system is incredibly complex and these notices are extremely common, especially with changing requirements during and after the pandemic.

They're doing this to EVERYONE lately!!! The whole system is designed to intimidate people into not appealing because EDD knows most people won't fight back. This is how they recover money from their own mistakes during the pandemic. MY ADVICE: FIGHT IT!!!

I went through this exact situation about 6 months ago with a $2,900 overpayment notice. My biggest problem was actually REACHING someone at EDD to discuss the issue before my appeal deadline. I would call 50+ times a day and always got the "too many callers" message. I finally discovered a service called Claimyr (claimyr.com) that got me connected to an EDD rep within 20 minutes. They have a video showing how it works here: https://youtu.be/JmuwXR7HA10?si=TSwYbu_GOwYzt9km The EDD agent was actually helpful and explained that my notice was triggered by a discrepancy between hours reported by me versus hours reported by my employer. She guided me through exactly what documentation I needed for my appeal. Made a huge difference having that conversation before submitting my paperwork.

To answer your specific question about representing yourself - yes, you absolutely can self-represent in the appeal process. The Administrative Law Judges (ALJs) who handle these cases are used to working with people who don't have legal representation. A few tips if your appeal moves to a hearing stage: 1. Organize your documents chronologically with a simple cover page explaining what each document shows 2. Practice explaining your situation clearly and concisely (3-5 minutes maximum) 3. Answer questions directly without going off-topic 4. Be honest if you don't know an answer rather than guessing The main thing judges look for is credibility and consistency in your explanation of events.

i had a similar situation last year n what helped me was getting my former manager to write a statement confirming my work hours for the period in question. EDD actually dropped the overpayment claim after i submitted that with my appeal form. might be worth asking ur employer if they'd be willing to provide something like that?

The EDD system is BROKEN!!! I appealed an overpayment notice and had to wait 7 MONTHS for a hearing. Meanwhile, they kept sending threatening letters about collection. The whole system is designed to wear you down so you just give up and pay. DON'T GIVE UP!!!

One more thing to consider - in your appeal, you can request a waiver of the overpayment even if you lose the main appeal. There are two grounds for waiver: 1. The overpayment was not your fault AND repayment would cause extraordinary hardship 2. The overpayment was received in good faith AND recovery would be against equity and good conscience Make sure to specifically request this waiver consideration in your appeal letter. You'll need to provide financial information showing hardship (rent/mortgage, utilities, medical expenses, income, etc.). Don't give up - many of these notices are automatically generated by their system and don't account for individual circumstances.

Hey Nia, I just went through something similar a few months back and wanted to share what worked for me. First off, definitely don't ignore those notices - that's the worst thing you can do. Here's what I learned: Start your appeal immediately but also try to get someone at EDD on the phone to clarify exactly what they're claiming. In my case, they said I had "insufficient work search" but when I finally got through to someone, they explained it was actually about not logging my job searches in their specific online portal (CalJOBS) rather than not doing enough searches. For the work search documentation issue - even if you didn't save confirmation emails, you can often go back to the company websites where you applied and screenshot your application history. Many job sites like Indeed, LinkedIn, etc. keep records of your applications. Also check your browser history for that time period - it can help reconstruct where you applied. The appeal process isn't as scary as it seems. I represented myself and just focused on being honest and organized. Gather whatever evidence you can find, write a clear timeline of what happened, and submit it with your appeal form. Even if your documentation isn't perfect, showing good faith effort goes a long way. You've got this! The system is overwhelming but lots of people successfully appeal these notices every day.

I'm going through the exact same thing right now! Got my overpayment notice last week for $2,800 and I've been panicking ever since. Reading through everyone's responses here is giving me so much hope though - it sounds like appealing is definitely the way to go. I made the same mistake you did with not keeping detailed records of my job searches. I was applying to jobs but didn't think to save every confirmation email or document everything properly. Now I'm scrambling to piece together what I can find. One thing that's helping me is going through my email trash folder - I found a few automated confirmation emails from job applications that I had deleted. Also checking my LinkedIn "Jobs you've applied for" section showed some applications from that time period. We can do this! From what everyone's saying, the key is just to respond and fight it rather than giving up. I'm going to start my appeal tomorrow and it sounds like you should too. At least we're not alone in dealing with this mess!