LAS VEGAS (KTNV) — A Las Vegas man says he is stuck in financial limbo after he got notices from the state’s unemployment department.
He says he was told he must pay back thousands of dollars after being overpaid unemployment benefits.
Joel Pearlman says he filed for unemployment with the Department of Employment, Training and Rehabilitation in late 2019.
He says DETR approved him and he was getting help through the Pandemic Unemployment Assistance program also called PUA.
He says he tried to stop the unemployment benefits once he started getting Social Security benefits in May of 2021, he says he recently got a notice that he owes back $2,100. He says when he tried to dispute that, that is when he got even more overpayment notices.
“As soon as I hung up with her I got notices going back for an entire two years, whatever she plugged in there, they want $30,000 back, they are saying all claims are denied,” says Joel Pearlman.
Pearlman showed us the stack of notices, some state he was getting benefits before the pandemic started and he did not qualify for the money. He wants to appeal that claiming he could not work during that time in his profession.
The frustrations about overpayments and appeals are not new and are an on-going discussion on popular Facebook unemployment assistance pages.
Amber Hansen is the administrator on one page, she says she has been getting messages about overpayment worries.
“This is a huge slap in the face three years later people are trying to learn how to survive and they are being told they have to pay $30,000 or tens of thousands of dollars back,” says Amber Hansen.
We reached out to DETR about Pearlman’s situation and questions about overpayment notices. A spokesperson tells KTNV they are working on a response. We will update this story when we learn more.
DETR demanding money back from already struggling legit claimants
