A successful real estate agent, Donna would not, during “normal” times, qualify for Legal Services assistance. Nor would she, under normal circumstances, be eligible for the Unemployment Insurance program. During the pandemic, however, workers like Donna were eligible to receive assistance through the Pandemic Unemployment Assistance (PUA) program, created by the federal CARES Act and funded by the federal government. Donna, and many others like her, tried their best to continue working, but the various limitations posed by COVID-19 made it almost impossible to generate income. She describes a situation where house showings came to a screeching halt and closings that had once taken a couple months took closer to a year.

Donna received PUA benefits for a time, but after closing on a home and reporting her hours, she was erroneously cut from the program based on general unemployment rules. With no income for an extended period of time, Donna began to fall behind on bills and, at times, struggled to pay for basic necessities such as food. Despite filing appeals on her own, she got nowhere until she reached out to Legal Services. The LSNJ Workers Legal Rights Project assisted Donna with subsequent appeals and did not give up until the denial was overturned and she began receiving retroactive benefits.