Florida homeowners still waiting on COVID relief
VIDEO: Florida Homeowners still waiting on COVID relief VIDEO: Florida Homeowners still waiting on COVID relief (Christopher Heath, WFTV.com/WFTV)ORLANDO, Fla. — More than a year after President Biden approved $676 million for Florida homeowners financially impacted by COVID-19, residents say they are still struggling to get answers from the state agency responsible for distributing the money. “I have never had to ask for this kind of help in my life,” says Lake County resident Darren Cerier. The Florida Department of Economic Opportunity, the same state agency that oversees unemployment, was tasked with distributing the hundreds of millions of dollars to homeowners. “It has been difficult,” says Brevard County resident Stephanie Hare. “I am grateful for the assistance; however, there is no transparency,” says Seminole County resident Scott Silver.
wftv.comFlorida homeowners still waiting for COVID-19 relief funds
ORANGE COUNTY, Fla. — More than a year after President Joe Biden signed into law the American Rescue Plan and more than two months after the Florida Department of Economic Opportunity opened its portal for pre-applications, Florida homeowners impacted by COVID-19, Florida homeowners are still waiting. As part of the ARP, the state has $670 million for homeowners who can show financial hardship due to COVID-19. “I wish I could say how much longer I’ll be waiting, but I just don’t know,” said homeowner Scott Silver. READ: Florida’s homeowner’s insurance market continues to spiral with 9 companies in liquidationOn Feb. 28, the DEO launched its registration portal for prospective applicants to the Homeowner Assistance Fund. That same day Scott registered; he’s still waiting.
wftv.com78-year-old real estate broker waiting 18 months for unemployment benefits turns to News 6
John “Jack” Sullivan never thought he would be collecting unemployment benefits at this stage of his life, but at 78 years old, the retired sales manager not only needed benefits, but was “stuck” waiting for those benefits since August 2020.
9 Invesitgates DEO overpayment obstacles
From mid-March to May 2020, the DEO was automatically requesting payments for people. “All I drew (for unemployment) was about six weeks,” Watwood said. They’re among those dealing with the latest round of overpayment notices from DEO. Read: City of Winter Park hosting job fair to fill 50 open positions“Navigating this has been one of the newest crises of the unemployment system,” State Rep. Anna Eskamani said. “While the system automatically processed your Reemployment Assistance benefits, claimants will now need to recertify these weeks in the system.
wftv.comReports of ID.me duplicate accounts increasing in Florida
ID.me, the company hired to verify the identification of Florida unemployment account holders has launched a full-court press to stop cybercriminals employing social engineering to steal the personal information of claimants applying for unemployment assistance.
Some Floridians who claimed unemployment receiving bills for ‘overpayment’
ORLANDO, FLA. — After 18 months of people reporting problems receiving payments from the state’s unemployment system, now many are receiving bills; the Department of Economic Opportunity (DEO) says those claimants were overpaid. “All I drew [for unemployment] was about six weeks,” Watwood said. Neither of them have thought about Florida’s unemployment system since they stopped collecting benefits more than a year ago, until they received bills from the DEO. “Navigating this has been one of the newest crises of the unemployment system,” state Rep. Anna Eskamani said. Although the system has automatically processed re-employment assistance benefits, claimants will now need to recertify these weeks in the system.
wftv.comFlorida opens statewide COVID-19 vaccination pre-registration site
click to enlarge Myvaccine.fl.gov interfaceThe state of Florida has gone live with a website for Floridians to "pre-register" to receive a COVID-19 vaccination. We can only hope it functions better than the DEO virtual waiting room to register for unemployment benefits.The site, myvaccine.fl.gov , aims to offer a central online hub where residents can get in the queue to receive the vaccine in their home counties.Once you have used the site to pre-register, you will be contacted by phone or email when vaccination appointment slots become available in your county.Currently there are only four categories of the Florida populace eligible for vaccination: Florida residents 65 or more years of age; long-term care facility residents and staff; healthcare personnel with direct patient contact; and individuals deemed especially vulnerable to COVID-19.Those who don't meet any of those criteria may sign up through that same website to receive email updates on changes in eligibility requirements.
orlandoweekly.comIf you are filing for unemployment in Florida, use this website
click to enlarge Screenshot via DEO websiteOver the past couple weeks, Floridas unemployment claims have skyrocketed and the $7.7 million website meant to handle it all has been a catastrophic failure.However, yesterday the Florida Department of Economic Opportunity debuted a new mobile-friendly site that, so far, seems to actually work.The new site can be found here: www.FloridaJobs.org/RAApplication On Wednesday, the state of Florida also rolled out a new mobile-friendly coronavirus page, which can be found at: www.FloridaJobs.org/COVID-19 . The new site features links to the new job site, as well as info about paper applications.According to the site, before applying be sure to have the following: Social Security number Drivers License or State ID number Your employment for the last 18 months including for each employerAdditionally, if you are one of the following, make sure you have this additional information available: Not a US Citizen: Alien Registration Number or other work authorization form Military Employee: DD-214 Member 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, or 8 may be used Federal Employee: SF 8 or SF 50 Union Member: Union Name, Hall Number, and Phone Number
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