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Thanks for sharing your experience. I'm sure this thread will help other people who get similar confusing determination letters from Washington ESD. The 'denied with relief' wording really is terrible - sounds like bad news when it's actually good news.
Congrats on getting a favorable determination! I went through something similar last year and the whole process was so stressful. The wording on these letters is absolutely terrible - I remember panicking when I saw "denied" even though it was actually good news. Make sure to keep filing your weekly claims while you wait for the payments to start processing. In my case, it took about 10 business days after getting the determination letter for the first payment to hit my account, and then I got all the back pay for the weeks I'd been waiting. The relief you'll feel when you see those deposits is amazing after all that uncertainty!
the 26 weeks went by so fast for me too. feels like i just started filing and now its over. back to the drawing board i guess
Just want to echo what others said about Claimyr - I was skeptical at first but it really does work. Used it to get clarification about my benefit calculation and the ESD agent was able to explain everything clearly. Sometimes you just need to talk to a real person.
For what it's worth, I used Claimyr when I needed to talk to Washington ESD about wage verification issues and it was worth every penny. Saved me hours of trying to get through on the phone. Sometimes paying for convenience is worth it when you're dealing with government agencies.
UPDATE: I checked my wage records through SecureAccess Washington like someone suggested and my employer's wages ARE showing up! So they must be paying unemployment insurance. Thanks everyone for the advice - I feel much better about my situation now.
Wait, that was me posting the update - I think there might be some confusion with the profile numbers. But yes, I did check and everything looks good with my wage records!
just wanted to thank everyone for explaining this. I had no idea credit weeks were even a thing until I saw this thread. Now I need to go check my account and see what my situation actually is
This thread has been incredibly helpful! I'm a newcomer to Washington unemployment and had no clue about credit weeks either. From reading all the responses, it sounds like the key points are: 1) Credit weeks = weeks where you earned at least 1.5x your weekly benefit amount, 2) You can only collect benefits for the number of credit weeks you have (up to 26 max), and 3) It's based on your work history in the base period (first 4 of last 5 quarters). I'm definitely going to check my account to see how many credit weeks I have and compare it to my actual work history. Thanks everyone for breaking this down so clearly!
NeonNebula
One more thing - some property management companies have specific policies about unemployment income. Call ahead and ask before wasting time on applications. Saves everyone time and frustration.
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Zainab Ahmed
•Great suggestion. I'll start calling places before scheduling viewings to make sure they accept unemployment benefits.
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James Johnson
I went through this exact situation about a year ago in Tacoma. What helped me was creating a "rental package" with all my documents organized in a folder: monetary determination letter, 3 months of bank statements showing UI deposits, my job search log from WorkSource, and a brief cover letter explaining my situation and timeline for finding work. Most landlords appreciated the transparency and organization. Also consider looking at smaller, independent landlords rather than big property management companies - they tend to be more flexible about income sources. Don't get discouraged if a few places say no, there are definitely landlords out there who understand that unemployment benefits are reliable government income.
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