Public Housing FSS Escrow Account
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This subject includes information about benefits paid to participants in the Family Self Sufficiency (FSS) Program.
Policy
The Family Self Sufficiency (FSS) program promotes employment and increased savings for public housing residents to end dependence on public assistance.
The Public Housing FSS Escrow Account program is run the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD).
When an FSS participant’s rent is increased due to earned income, the Public Housing Authority opens an escrow account for the participant. The Public Housing Authority deposits the amount of the rent increase into the account each month upon receipt of the participant’s rent payment.
The FSS escrow account funds are disbursed to the participant at any of the following times:
●Before the completion of the FSS program, for the purposes related to the goal of the FSS contract, such as any of the following:
●Home ownership
●Higher Education
●Job Training
●Start-up expenses involved in self-employment
●Upon successful completion of the FSS program
Funds received for a Public Housing FSS escrow account before the completion of the FSS program are not countable unearned income.
Funds received upon the successful completion of the FSS program are received in a lump sum. (See Lump Sum for instruction on budgeting)
Countable income is used to determine an income budget. (See Income Budgeting to see how FAA determines the income budget.) FAA needs to know about income that is both countable and not countable to determine whether a budgetary unit’s income is exceeding their expenses. (See Income Eligibility for more information about how FAA uses countable and not countable income.)
Verification
The participant has the primary responsibility for providing verification. (See Participant Responsibilities – Providing Verification for additional policy.)
For NA, all of the following income is required to be verified before eligibility is determined:
●Reported on a new application, during the interview of a new application, or changes reported before the eligibility determination of a new application.
●Changes after an eligibility determination of a new application (e.g., a renewal application, mid approval contact, etc.) and any of the following apply:
The source of the income has changed.
The income is questionable(g) or unclear(g).
The reported income amount has changed by $51 or more.
The previous verification in the case file is more than 59 calendar days old.
For CA, all income is required to be verified before determining eligibility.
Examples of verification that can be used for Public Housing FSS Escrow Account include, and are not limited to, any of the following:
●Agency or payer providing the income
●Assistance payments records
●Bank records
●Signed statement from the agency or payer providing the income
●Collateral Contact
●Participant statement verification when any of the following occur:
Other attempts to obtain verification have failed
Obtaining documented or collateral contact verification may cause harm or undue hardship(g) for the participant.
NOTE A participant’s statement is not allowed to verify income when it is considered questionable.
Legal Authorities
AAC R6-12-503(42)
A.R.S 46-292-P01
24 CFR 984.305(c)
7 U.S.C 2014 (d)(1)
7 U.S.C 2014 (d)(9)
last revised 10/02/2023