PORTLAND, Ore. ( KOIN ) — A North Portland family says they’re on the brink of selling their house due to a glitch in the unemployment insurance system.
The Oregon Employment Department (OED) launched a new website earlier this year, Frances Online. And while some delays were expected, some people are having trouble filing claims smoothly.
Gregory Smith is a father who recently got laid off, telling KOIN 6 News the state’s broken system sunk his lifeline.
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“It’s been five weeks, coming up on six weeks now, that I have seen dime zero. We’ve burned through our reserves,” said Smith, who was the household’s sole breadwinner.
The steady job he once had to support his family’s dreams is no more. Ever since he unexpectedly got laid off from Intel in early March, Smith said he’s been desperately waiting to receive his unemployment insurance.
“I’ve got two kids, a wife, pretty decent house that I worked really, really hard, 50-60 hours a week for seven years to be able to remodel my house and make it this happy place for my family,” he said. “And because of a simple typographical error that I cannot — somehow cannot — get repaired, it’s likely that I may lose this house.”