Is Massachusetts Asking You to Pay Back Unemployment Benefits That You Have Received?

In late October, 2009, the state's Division of Unemployment Assistance (DUA) announced that it had mistakenly sent out approximately 4100 Unemployment Insurance checks to persons ineligible to receive them.  (For more information about this, see the Boston Herald article from Friday, October 30, available here.)

The state is now taking steps to get this money back.  If the state thinks you received an Unemployment Insurance check by mistake, it will send you a letter asking you to pay the money back.  If you cannot afford to pay the money back, you can file a form, available here, and ask the state to allow you to keep the money.  

Here is more information, in Question-and-Answer form, about your rights and the steps you can take to stop the state's repayment action.