Covid-19 mix-up leaves Missouri woman facing $16,000 lien on home

By Matt Flener

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    GRANDVIEW, Missouri (KMBC) — A COVID-19 money mix-up is costing a Grandview woman thousands of dollars as she prepares to sell her home.

Linda Oakley is packing up her house to move. In the meantime, her realtor informed her that she has a lien on her home for more than $16,000.

The Missouri Department of Labor says Oakley was overpaid unemployment benefits during the pandemic.

While Oakley has known she owed the money, she did not realize a lien had been placed on her property.

At the time, Oakley was caring for her sick husband and had to quit her job, not realizing she did not qualify for unemployment benefits through her former employer.

“To go through this, I’d rather not have received anything,” she said.

Oakley said she can only afford to repay $40 a month. It wasn’t until she attempted to sell her home that she discovered the lien.

Oakley is not alone in owing unemployment benefits.

U.S. Department of Labor statistics show Missouri overpaid benefits at a rate of 8.85% from June 2020 to July 2023, while Kansas overpaid at a rate of 29.61% during the same period.

Federal law requires states to recover overpayments.

Oakley says her requests for help from the labor department have gone unanswered, so she contacted KMBC 9 Investigates.

KMBC attempted to email and call the Missouri Labor Department on Monday but did not receive a response. The station will continue to reach out.

In 2021, a bipartisan effort aimed to forgive overpayments made during the pandemic in Missouri, but the measure died in the legislature.

If you are affected by similar circumstances, email investigates@kmbc.com.

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