Unemployment payment problems (credit card, how much, attorney)

[Trish80017]

I filed for unemployment 6 years ago and got it, my ex boss at that time disputed it and won, due to the dishonesty of employees who testified during the dispute claim to the referee with the employer on the phone, my unemployment was taken away from me but I was never told there was any other actions to be taken, and now after all that time I got a letter from a collection agency a month ago and also have had a process server trying to serve me a summons for court, I am terrified and they want 3000.00 for payment with almost 900.00 in interest that I wasnt even aware I owed, is there anything I can do about this? Someone PLEASE HELP

[POhdNcrzy]

Well Trish that's a sad story. Sorry but I'm not an attorney and I don't have any actionable advice for you.

I wish you luck with that, however.

I DO wish to point out that your story is not unusual in Colorado. Where I live in RI, approximately 90% of unemployment claims are successful and pay out benefits to the unemployed claimant.

I recently discovered in an article in the New York Times that in Colorado only 18% of unemployment claims result in the paying of benefits to claimants.

Many of the Colorado claims are reversed on employer appeal. It is a real culture amongst Colorado employers to get out of paying unemployment. Deceit and coerced witnesses are some of the methods used, as you yourself experienced, like something right out of an AFL-CIO labor history handbook or something. It is shameful. I experienced it myself several times while living there. Coloradans should be more aware of this situation.

[Trish80017]

Thanks for your response, I wish I knew what to do about this, and the funniest thing is that the process server thats been trying to serve me actually called and left a message she was trying to serve me, now doesnt that kinda defeat the purpose, Im not trying to avoid them, Im just trying to figure out what to do so as I dont have to go into debt paying them back with the huge interest rate they are trying to put on it as well since I wasnt ever aware I had to pay any of it back, they sure didnt tell me that when the appeal was denied.

[POhdNcrzy]

Trish, one thing to keep in mind, ultimately they will agree to you paying a very nominal amount on this per month. It may take forever to pay off. So what. Most everybody can payout $10 per month for whatever. I would look into getting the state to agree to remove the interest charges.

[Trish80017]

lol, well ten a month wouldnt hurt but if its already gone to a summons that means court and I may not have the choice on what to pay, oh dear I dont know but I will find out soon Im sure, thx for your kind words in this PohdNcrzy.

[Doyleu]

The group of unemployed most likely to be insured are job losers. The number of unemployment compensation claimants measured as a percentage of the number of job losers remained fairly stable from 1968 through 1979. Over that 12-year span, there were from 90 to 110 recipients of regular State UC for every 100 job losers. This ratio fluctuated somewhat over the business cycle, but it was otherwise quite stable.

[POhdNcrzy]

Doyleu thanks for your input. Apparently your source and my NYT article are in conflict. However you are quoting data from ancient history economically speaking, i.e. 1968-1979.

There is definitely some truth to what I'm saying about Colorado being a difficult state to successfully obtain unemployment benefits, I know that. It's part of that wonderful "What? Government and Taxes? Oh, no thanks" Frontier spirit still lingering in Colorado.

[chilaili]

Originally Posted by Trish80017

I filed for unemployment 6 years ago and got it, my ex boss at that time disputed it and won, due to the dishonesty of employees who testified during the dispute claim to the referee with the employer on the phone, my unemployment was taken away from me but I was never told there was any other actions to be taken, and now after all that time I got a letter from a collection agency a month ago and also have had a process server trying to serve me a summons for court, I am terrified and they want 3000.00 for payment with almost 900.00 in interest that I wasnt even aware I owed, is there anything I can do about this? Someone PLEASE HELP

Firstly, do you have any documentation from the original case, especially anything that stated there was no more action pending? Having that might be quite helpful. Secondly, I'm not an attorney either but is there a legal professional you can contact for advice? Even if it's the person who drew up your family's will, they may know something or can point you in the right direction. Failing that, what about a free legal service where you can go in and ask your questions?

It seems extremely odd to me that they waited SIX years to let you know this money was owed and yet never sent you any letters or notices prior till now. Or is that normal behaviour for Colorado?

[Trish80017]

chilaili-no, I dont have any paperwork from that time, after all that happened my sons wife left him and he wanted me to move in with him to care for his kids and all was quite chaos, so anything at that point I dont have anymore and I have been back at work the same place for over 2 years now and never heard anything up to this point. As far as free legal help, that sort of thing they only do under certain circumstances such as divorces or bancruptcies something major not this sort of thing, but Im sure if I did contact an attorney they would probably want some sort of retainer fee to even speak to me on the subject and quite frankly I just dont have it, and I dont know if thats normal behavior, I havent ever been in this situation.

[ebeth79]

I don't know how they do it in CO, but in AR if someone is court ordered to pay something they can garnish your current wages for it, and the garnishment cannot exceed X% of your income. I had an hourly employee who was garnished for a credit card she never paid off. When I figured payroll every two weeks, 25% of her check was court ordered to be written over to them - after taxes. The amount she paid varied every cycle as it depended upon the hours she worked. She never dealt with the repayment, I would give her a paystub showing how much was garnished and then I'd cut them a check and send it in for her. After it was paid off (about 2 years worth of garnishment) they sent me a letter saying to cease garnishment and she resumed getting 100% of her pay. It was much more of a hassle for me as her employer than it was for her, but it did cut into her budget as she automatically had 25% taken off the top for an old bill.