Counting SSI Payment: Before or After Wage Deduction?

February 1, 2009

Q An applicant for a unit at our assisted site is employed but also collects SSI. Because of her wages, the SSI payment is reduced. SSI lists the maximum allowable payment as $637, but then deducts $249.50 because of her wages, making her net monthly benefit $387.50. Which amount should I count toward her income?

Q An applicant for a unit at our assisted site is employed but also collects SSI. Because of her wages, the SSI payment is reduced. SSI lists the maximum allowable payment as $637, but then deducts $249.50 because of her wages, making her net monthly benefit $387.50. Which amount should I count toward her income?

A You count the amount the person actually receives, which is the $637 less the wage deductions—that is, $387.50, says assisted housing consultant Elizabeth Moreland, an expert in HUD rules.

Although the HUD Occupancy Handbook 4350.3 REV-1, CHG-2, doesn't exactly address your question, it does provide enough information to provide guidance here. Exhibit 5-1, “Income Inclusions and Exclusions,” page 5-81, says to count the full amount received. Also, on page 5-11, the handbook states: “If an agency is reducing a family's benefits to adjust for a prior overpayment (e.g., social security, SSI, TANF, or unemployment benefits), count the amount that is actually provided after the adjustment.” So, even though the handbook doesn't address your specific situation, count the net amount received by the resident.

Insider Source

Elizabeth Moreland: President, Elizabeth Moreland Consulting Services, Inc., 6907 University Ave., Ste. 196, Middleton, WI 53562; (800) 644-0390; elizabeth@taxcredit.com; http://www.housingcreditcollege.com.

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