Shelter & Utility Deductions On behalf of Quality Assurance: Tara Holcomb, Tammy Austin & Tracy Smith

Transcription

1 Welcome to the Shelter & Utility Deduction Accuracy Lab Please mute your mic as soon as you login to the Skype meeting. Please hold your questions until we come to the designated time for QA. We will answer question after each slide and also have time at the end of the presentation for questions. If attending from a Smartboard, please a list of all attendees names and OR# to: tara.r.holcomb@dhsoha.state.or.us Shelter & Utility Deductions On behalf of Quality Assurance: Tara Holcomb, Tammy Austin & Tracy Smith November 2017 Housing and Utilities Deductions Deductions for shelter and utilities are allowed when incurring a cost where the filing group is currently residing. The shelter deduction is made up of two parts, housing and utilities. 1

2 Where to Start? To determine the filing group, we must start by asking who lives in the home, how are they related to each other and who purchases and prepares food together. Once you know who is in the SNAP filing group, you will have a better understanding of what you need to ask about the shelter and utility costs. And remember to Narrate! Important Interview Questions 1. What is the total amount of your monthly rent or mortgage? What portion of the rent or mortgage are you responsible to pay? 2. Do you receive any help paying rent? If yes, how much do you receive and in what form? Is there an obligation to repay? 3. Do you pay heating or cooling costs separate from your rent or mortgage? 4. Do you receive energy assistance? 5. Do you have any other utility costs you are responsible for paying such as water, sewer, garbage or phone? Housing Costs Continuing charges for rent or mortgages (including a second mortgage) Foreclosure or reverse mortgage if still incurring the cost, although not paying Property tax, state or local assessments, mortgage insurance, homeowners insurance. Condominium and homeowners associate fees For homeless groups living in their vehicle, payments on the vehicle and the portion of insurance payments that cover vehicle damage (comprehensive and collision, not liability, PIP, etc.). 2

3 Utility Costs Utility costs include billed amounts for heating or cooling, cooking fuel, electricity, water, sewer, well installation and maintenance, septic tank system installation and maintenance, garbage collection fees and the basic service fee and taxes related to telephone charges. Wood heat is considered an allowable cost if it is the primary source of heat. If a filing group claims their vehicle as their home, allow gasoline as a utility cost when it is used for heat. The receipt of energy assistance does not affect the utility deduction as long as the group will incur and be billed for heating or cooling costs. Utility Allowances? Full Utility Allowance (FUA): Customer is responsible and paying heating or cooling costs separately from their housing costs. Limited Utility Allowance (LUA): Customer billed for multiple allowable utility costs other than heating. Individual Utility Allowance (IUA): Customer billed for single, non-heat cost. Telephone Utility Allowance (TUA): Customer is paying for a telephone, cell phone or internet phone service (does not include phone cards). Notes from the Family Service Manual Each filing group must have an identified utility bill. Utility costs included in rent are not generally a separately identified bill. To be separate, the rent receipt or identified billing statement must break out each identified cost (i.e., $350 rent, $50 electricity, $20 water and sewer, etc.). Fuels such as geothermal, solar panels, wood, oil, propane, gas and electricity are considered heating costs if they are the primary source actually used for heating. Cable TV or satellite is not an allowable utility cost. There is no requirement to address how a household pays reported shelter costs at interim report. How a household meets their shelter obligation is addressed at certification and recertification. 3

4 Let s Practice! Instructions: Please use the chat box to answer if attending from your desktop computer If attending as a group from a Smartboard, please write the answer or your branch number any where on the smartboard. We will answer the questions as we go! Question #1 Do shelter costs include the billed amounts for mortgage (including second mortgage), homeowner s insurance, property taxes, rent, condominium and association fees incurred where the filing group is currently residing. (Yes or No) Yes Question #2 Lana and Lisa are roommates and the total rent is $800 per month, they pay for all utilities separately. What is your first step towards figuring out Lana s housing deductions? We must determine the filing group in order to determine what housing deductions to allow. If Lana is a separate filing group, ask if she receives help for the rent or utilities and how much. 4

5 Question #3 Samantha and her children, Carrie and Charlotte, receive housing assistance. Samantha reported total rent of $950 per month on her application for SNAP benefits. She also reported Section 8 pays $650 per month. What shelter deduction do you allow? $300 per month for shelter deductions as this is the amount she pays each month. Question #4 Jim was laid off months ago and has not been able to pay his house mortgage, property taxes and home owners insurance totaling $895 per month. He reports that he is in foreclosure. Can he get a deduction for shelter, please explain? Yes, Jim gets a shelter deduction of $895 per month, because we allow the cost of the participant s monthly mortgage bill even when it is not being paid because it is in foreclosure, the participant is still incurring the cost. Question #5 Jenny Lewis calls to report that she is no longer paying her mortgage and she is very excited as she has been struggling to pay. Per phone conversation, you clarified that she is on a Mortgage Assistance Program (MAP) and has conditions to repay the mortgage cost back after 12 months. Do we remove the mortgage which was already coded on her SNAP case? Do not remove the mortgage, continue to allow Jenny s ongoing monthly mortgage cost as she is on a MAP program and has terms and condition for repayment. ***If there are no conditions for repayment, a shelter deduction is not allowed. If removing the housing deduction results in a reduction be sure to send 10-day notice. 5

6 Question #6 Sally is applying for SNAP. She and her friend, Jack, recently moved into an apartment together. She reports no other household members. They paid an $800 deposit, first & last month s rent of $1600 and two application fees of $45 each. The total rent is $800 per month and they pay for heating and cooling, internet, TV and phone separate from rent. Who is in the SNAP filing group? Can we include the move-in deposit or fees as part of the shelter deduction? What should we ask in order to determine the correct deductions? Sally is the only Filing Group member. No, we cannot include fees or deposits because these are not continuing charges. Ask Sally what portion of the rent and utilities she pays each month. Question #7 Bella Thomas is 27 years old and living with her Aunt Linda. They purchase and prepare separately and therefore Bella is the only SNAP filing group member. On the application Bella reports $150 per month for rent and no utility. During the face-to-face intake you discovered that she works around the house for the rent. How much shelter deduction will we allow? We allow no deductions and do not count any of the in-kind income on the SNAP case. A participant may not be eligible for shelter costs if they are working around the home in lieu of rent. The value of the rent is not counted as income as it is income in-kind. Question #8 Max lives with roommates Duke and Gidget, they all purchase and prepare separately, which leave Max as the only SNAP filing group member. He reports that he doesn t pay for rent, but he pays for his phone and for all the water/sewage cost. What utility deductions is allowable? LUA is granted because Max pays and is billed for multiple utilities and no heating. Narrate the reason for the choice of utility allowance, name the utility cost(s) and code accordingly. 6

7 Question #9 Chad Tatum lives in a cabin which has electricity which is used only to pump the well water and sewage system. He reports that his Grandparents own the cabin and they pay for the electricity and housing costs. Chad goes on to tell you that he uses some of his SSI income to buys wood to heat the cabin and spends about $150 - $300 per month. What utility deductions is allowable, tell us why? FUA is allowed because the wood cost is separate from the shelter and it is the primary source of heat for the home. Question #10 Larry, Kim and Kevin are roommates and P&P meals separately. Larry is the home owner and the total cost for his mortgage is $1200/mo. His roommates each pay $200/mo. Larry pays for all the heating cost and utilities separate from mortgage. What do we do with the income from the roommates and what do we code for shelter and utility deductions? FUA is allowed because Larry pays for heating cost separate from shelter cost. For shelter $1200 mortgage - $400 ($200 x 2) = $800 granted as shelter cost. No income coded as PTY because income from roommates do not exceed the obligated shelter cost for Larry. If income from roommate was greater than Larry s $1200 shelter, any amount greater would be coded as PTY. Time for Questions! If you have questions please write your branch number any where on the smartboard screen and we will call on you. If attending from a desktop computer, please send your question by using the chat box. If we are unable to answer your questions, we will get clarification from SNAP Policy and follow up with the group. 7

8 Questions? the Quality Assurance team at: 8