Law Office of Cris Wasserman, Pllc

02/27/2026

LSEM has received additional funding to assist Michigan residents with unemployment benefits. These services include eliminating or reducing restitution and the collection of benefits. If you qualify, these legal services will be provided to you free of charge. Ask for me by name when you contact LSEM and hopefully I will be able to help with your legal issues.

02/15/2026

Michigan Unemployment Overpayment Notices — Important Rights to Know

As always, I am here to assist as well, but there are also agencies out there that provide services for free or at a reduced rate. Here is some advice from the core group fighting for SB700 and fundamental fairness in handling these pandemic unemployment issues.

Do not ignore UIA notices, but don’t rush to pay either.

Getting advice first can protect your rights and your finances. Please share! This information could save you or someone you know thousands of dollars!

If you received a notice from the Michigan Unemployment Insurance Agency (UIA) in the past six months saying you owe money related to COVID-era unemployment benefits, please read this carefully.

In September 2025, UIA restarted collection efforts for alleged “improper payments” from the pandemic. Many of these debts are wrong or legally waivable.


Before you pay anything, know this:
• Do NOT pay right away or agree to voluntary garnishment.
Paying immediately can result in repaying money you were never required to repay. If you already agreed to voluntary garnishment, you may still have options—reach out to an attorney.

• You do NOT have to admit fault to request a waiver.
Your right to a waiver is NOT dependent on admitting responsibility for the alleged overpayment. Admitting responsibility can prevent you from filing an appeal later.

• Make sure you can access your MiWAM account.
This is the primary method the Unemployment Insurance Agency will use to communicate and accept waiver requests or appeals. MiWAM is accessed through Michigan’s single login system, MiLogin (https://milogin.michigan.gov).


Help is available — for free:
• Counsel & Advocacy Law Line (CALL):
A statewide network of trained advocates who help with unemployment issues.
Online: https://michiganlegalhelp.org/guide-to-legal-help
Phone: 1-888-783-8190

• Michigan Legal Help:
Offers a free step-by-step guide on requesting a waiver so you don’t have to repay. Find more information at the link below.
https://michiganlegalhelp.org/resources/employment/unemployment-overpayments


Contact your elected officials!
Legislation has already been filed to help provide systemic relief to workers facing unfair unemployment debts. If you are facing an unemployment debt from the pandemic, reach out to your Michigan House Representative and Senator to tell them to take action.

Find your State House Rep: https://www.house.mi.gov/
Find your State Senator: https://senate.michigan.gov/senators/all-senators/

01/27/2026

For those of you who are receiving garnishment papers and threats to having their tax refunds intercepted to pay back "restitution" to the unemployment agency for claims arising out of the Pandemic, a group of Advocates, with the full support and faith of Senator John Cherry and Darrin Camilleri have proposed an amendment to the unemployment statute to assist individuals who have been told by the UIA that they owe restitution from 2020 and 2021. We need your help though. Late last year a similar bill died in the House of Representatives so this time around we are urging everyone to contact their House Representative and let them know that you need this amendment. I have included a couple of links below to find out who your House Rep is. Michigan House - Home Page, https://www.michiganvotes.org/legislators, and https://www.house.mi.gov/. You can call or email them, it doesn't matter. Just make sure they know what SB 700 is and how important it is to pass it for Michigan residents!

09/10/2025

Folks - the Email received today is not AI - it is a real email from the Michigan Unemployment Agency. A lawsuit was filed many years ago called Saunders v. UIA. It was a class action lawsuit and dealt in part with the Agencies improper collection activities. As a result when that lawsuit was settled a couple of years ago, part of the settlement involved having the UIA STOP all collection activities. Well, the time limit on that settlement has expired and the UIA has sent out that email to each and everyone who has collected UIA benefits back to 2020 (I think). This includes people who collected during the pandemic and received something called PUA. If you read the email carefully it indicates in the first couple of sentences that you "may" be subject to restitution and collection activities. I have represented over 1000 individuals with regards to their unemployment benefits and all of them received this email. Even when I successfully got their restitution waived based upon "agency error" or "financial hardship". Access your Miwam account and see if the Agency has posted a restitution balance. If they have, then call an attorney to help you figure out what is going on. There are agencies that will help you pay for an attorney like Legal Services of Eastern, Western and Southern MIchigan. To sum up: JUST CAUSE YOU GOT THE EMAIL DOES NOT MEAN THAT YOU OWE RESTITUTION - but don't ignore!

06/06/2023

02/16/2023

Ms. Cristine Wasserman - recognized in "Top Women Attorneys In Michigan" , HD, February 2023

07/20/2021

So many people out there with Unemployment Issues! So glad I have been able to help so many people navigate that process. If people have questions, please let me know. (810)877-6732

03/31/2021

Thank you for participating in my survey! It was close but the tree card won!

03/28/2021

Hoping for a few more responses. It takes about five seconds. Thanks

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