Shelter Cost Sharing
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This subject includes information about participants or budgetary unit sharing shelter costs.
Policy
Money for shelter costs exchanged between participants, or participants and nonparticipants, residing in the same dwelling, is not countable unearned income.
NOTE When the money is exchanged between members of the same budgetary unit the excess income is not countable since the income of all members is already being counted. (See Example 1)
However, the income may be countable when any of the following apply:
●When two or more budgetary units share rental expenses, the amount of money paid directly to the participant exceeding the participant’s actual expense is countable unearned income. (See Example 2)
●When a nonparticipant is renting from a participant homeowner, the rent paid to the participant homeowner is countable. See Rental Property Income on whether the income is counted as earned or unearned Income.
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.)
Procedures
Determine who is paying the shelter expenses.
When there is more than one person paying the shelter expenses and they live in the same residence, determine one of the following:
●Are the people paying the shelter expenses in the same budgetary unit? (See Example 1)
●Are the people paying the shelter expenses in separate budgetary units? (See Example 2)
When a budgetary unit (payer) pays the shelter expense to the other budgetary unit (payee), the amount that is over the payee’s share of shelter expense is countable. (See Example 3)
When more information is needed send one or more of the following notices:
●More Information Needed – Nutrition Assistance (NA) (F011)
●More Information Needed – Cash Assistance (CA) (A011)
When the participant is present, have them sign the Authority to Release (FAA‑1765A) form to contact any companies or businesses involved. The FAA-1765A can be faxed or emailed to the participant's employer when it is not possible to use the Application for Benefits (FAA-0001A) or the HEAplus Authority to Release signed statement.
Verification
System interface and the case file(g) must be reviewed before verification is requested. No additional verification is needed when AZTECS interface or HEAplus hubs have verified the information.
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 shelter cost sharing include, and are not limited to, any of the following:
●Signed statement from the agency or payer providing the income
●Rent receipt or lease agreement
●Collateral contact
●Participant statement verification when one of the following occur:
Obtaining documented or collateral contact verification may cause harm or undue hardship(g) for the participant.
When all of the following occur:
●Other attempts to obtain the verification have failed. This includes documented and collateral contact verification.
●The participant has requested assistance from FAA.
●The worker has evaluated the request for assistance and cannot obtain the verification from another acceptable source.
●The participant statement is not questionable(g).
Examples
1) Eric and Kent live together and are part of the same budgetary unit.
Kenny pays $300 rent to Eric each month
Eric’s rental obligation is only $200 per month
Eric receives $100 a month more than his rental obligation of $200.
Kenny’s income is $418 per month in CA. Eric is not part of the CA budgetary unit.
Kenny’s income is already being counted in the budgetary unit so, the $100 excess that Eric receives is not countable.
2) Kyle and Stan live together and are separate NA budgetary units.
Kyle is renting and has a rental obligation of $400 per month.
Stan pays $500 per month to Kyle, and they split the utility expenses.
Kyle receives $100 a month more than his actual rental expense from Stan. This income is countable as unearned income to Kyle’s budgetary unit.
3) John lives with his two brothers, Bill and Todd. John, Bill, and Todd are separate budgetary units and reside in the same house. Bill and John are co-owners of the house. The total amount for the mortgage is $1,200. Bill and Todd pay $150 each to John for rent (total $300).
John’s allowable mortgage expense would be $1,050 (the $150 that Bill, the co-owner, pays is deducted from the mortgage amount that John pays).
Key the $150 received from Todd for rent as countable unearned income.
Since the house is owned by John and Bill, the portion that Bill pays to John ($150) is not countable as income.
AZTECS Keying Procedures
When the income is not countable, key the OX Unearned Income Code in the INC TYPE field on UNIC.
When the income is countable, key the OT Unearned Income Code in the INC TYPE field on UNIC.
Document the case file(g) thoroughly to support keyed codes, amounts, and frequencies. See the AZTECS Data Entry Guide for instructions on keying the AZTECS income screens.
NOTE Documentation must support determinations of eligibility and benefit level. Document in sufficient detail to ensure that any reviewer can assess whether the determination is reasonable and accurate. Include specific information regarding the reason the income is determined to be normal. (See Budgeting Income Documentation Requirements for additional information.)
Legal Authorities
7 CFR 273.9
last revised 10/02/2023