I have to repay unemployment benefits because they said they were overpayments.

by Josh

(Harrisburg, PA)

Ok, so I took a seasonal position with the Ocean City, Maryland police dept for 6 months. I lived down there for 4 months before I quit early.

The whole time I worked in Ocean City I held a job that I had in PA for a year and I came home to PA and worked on my days off. So, I held two jobs.

I left Ocean City early to come back to PA to pick up my FULL TIME JOB I had. I got laid off from my full-time job in PA a month later.

I went to collect unemployment, I got approved and a month after that I got a new job. For that month on unemployment I got paid $1000.

I got a letter saying I was over paid and they want there $ 1000 back. I fought it and now I asked why I was over paid they said because Ocean City said that they are not paying because I quit my job in Ocean City and I had signed paper work saying I could not collect unemployment from Ocean City.

I understand that, but I am not collecting from ocean city so how does it effect them or even have anything to do with them.

Should I get legal help?

Josh, I think you need to give a little more information.

What do you mean by “I quit my job in Ocean City and I had signed paper work saying I could not collect unemployment from Ocean City”. An employer doesn’t make you sign paperwork like this unless you were a contract employee. Were you?

PA unemployment statutes do not have a provision which allows for a wavier of repayment whether the overpayment is your fault or not. They expect to be repaid, they charge the same interest the IRS charges, they will reduce any future benefits you receive by 33 1/3 if it was not your fault and they can take civil action to get the repayment. If they are saying it was your fault, it’s even worse.

I can’t really tell you what going on without being able to read your paperwork. I suggest you do contact someone to look everything over for you before an appeal deadline passes.

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