ESD overpayment waiver stuck 'in review' for 14 months - anyone actually gotten approval?

Thx for the response! That gives me some hope. I did submit bank statements and my monthly expense sheet showing I'm barely making ends meet. Did they notify you by mail or email when it was approved? Did the balance on your account immediately disappear?

16 months? That's even worse than mine. Have you tried calling them? I'm starting to think these so-called "reviews" are just sitting in a digital pile somewhere that nobody looks at.

That shouldn't be happening. Per ESD guidelines, collection activities should be paused while a waiver request is under review. You need to escalate this immediately. Contact your state representative's office and file a formal complaint. Also, document every interaction with ESD - names, dates, reference numbers. The tax intercept can be reversed if it was done in error.

This is really good to know. I've been killing myself trying to reach them by phone. Never heard of Claimyr before but at this point I'll try anything. Was it easy to use? I'm worried my application might be stuck for a similar reason and nobody's actually looking at it.

Super easy to use. You just enter your number and they call you when they've got an ESD agent on the line. Definitely ask the agent to check if your waiver is properly categorized in their system. The rep told me a bunch of them got misfiled during the transition from pandemic claims back to regular unemployment processes.

That's somewhat reassuring. Did they send you a letter or email? Or did you just notice the balance was gone one day?

got a letter in the mail AND an eServices message about 2 weeks later. the online balance took another week to update to zero.

This is really helpful info. I'm going to start keeping a better log of all my calls and interactions. If you don't mind me asking, what kind of financial hardship evidence made the difference in your appeal? I submitted basic income/expense sheets but wonder if I should be more detailed.

The judge specifically mentioned these documents as being persuasive: - Complete bank statements for 3 months showing my actual cash flow - A detailed budget showing income vs. expenses with every bill itemized - Letters from my landlord about late rent payments - Medical bills showing I was already in collections for those - A personal statement explaining how repayment would impact my ability to afford basic necessities Basically, you need to prove that repayment would cause genuine financial hardship beyond just being inconvenient. The more specific evidence, the better.

EXACTLY!!!! they hope we just give up and setup payment plans even tho we did nothing wrong!!!

While I understand the frustration, I don't think that's entirely accurate. The system is definitely overwhelmed and inefficient, but the pandemic created unprecedented challenges for unemployment systems nationwide. The overpayment waiver program exists specifically because they recognize many people received benefits in good faith and shouldn't have to repay. It's worth pursuing the proper channels even if it takes time.

Thank you so much for this detailed response. I haven't tried contacting my state rep yet - that's a great idea. Do you know if partial waivers are common? I'm worried they might only waive part of the amount even though I can't afford to pay any of it.

Partial waivers do happen, but they're less common for pandemic-era claims than for regular unemployment overpayments. When partial waivers occur, it's typically because ESD determined some weeks were properly paid while others weren't. If your entire claim period is under the same circumstances, it's more likely to be an all-or-nothing decision. When contacting your state representative, be sure to include your ESD claim ID number, the date you filed your waiver request, and a brief explanation of your financial hardship. Their constituent services staff are often remarkably effective at getting movement on these cases.

That's a really good point about the address. I've moved since I initially filed, and while I updated my address in the system, I should probably double-check that it's correct. Would hate to miss the notification letter if it finally gets approved.