Judge rules real estate agent improperly received unemployment benefits

Realtor listed, marketed, visited and showed properties while collecting state checks

An Aberdeen real estate agent will have to repay unemployment benefits received during the COVID-19 pandemic after a Brown County judge this spring upheld a lower courts ruling.

An administrative law judge in 2022 determined Breanne Davis inappropriately applied for and received unemployment benefits in early 2020 before the Aberdeen woman appealed the ruling to the 5th Judicial District Court.

Judge Richard Sommers, though, found no grounds to overturn the lower court’s ruling that Davis knowingly or fraudulently applied for unemployment benefits she wasn’t entitled to.

As a result Davis must repay $15,624 in unemployment assistance benefits and pay a $7,812 administrative penalty, according to civil court paperwork.

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