The Trainer — June 2015

May 19, 2015

Certifying Households that Share Custody of Children; Charging Residents for Damage Repairs

In this month’s feature, we discussed how to certify households whose members include children who are part of a joint custody arrangement. That is, the children live part of the time with the household and part of the time with their other parent, who doesn’t live in the unit. In our article on dealing with households, we discussed what repairs you can charge residents for and how much you can charge them.

Certifying Households that Share Custody of Children; Charging Residents for Damage Repairs

In this month’s feature, we discussed how to certify households whose members include children who are part of a joint custody arrangement. That is, the children live part of the time with the household and part of the time with their other parent, who doesn’t live in the unit. In our article on dealing with households, we discussed what repairs you can charge residents for and how much you can charge them.

QUIZ

QUESTION 1

Lori shares custody of her two sons with her ex-husband. The sons live in the unit every other week, and each gets $400 a month in SSI. Should you count the sons as household members?

a.   Yes.

b.   No.

QUESTION 2

Joe shares custody of his daughter Sara with his ex-wife. Sara lives in Joe’s unit on Friday evenings, Saturdays, and Sundays and lives with her mother across town the rest of the week. Sara gets $300 a month in SSI, and Joe pays a babysitter $50 on Saturdays so he can go to work. Should you count Sara as a household member?

a.   Yes.

b.   No.

QUESTION 3

If a household shares custody of a child and the other parent also lives in assisted housing, the two assisted households with joint custody may split the child care expenses for that child. This means that each household can deduct its child care expenses. True or false?

a.   True.

b.   False.

QUESTION 4

You may charge a resident for damage that she causes to a unit by carelessness, misuse, or neglect. But you may not charge more than 10 percent above the actual cost of the repair. True or false?

a.   True.

b.   False.

 

Click To Show/Hide The Quiz Answers

ANSWERS & EXPLANATIONS

QUESTION 1

Correct answer: a

You should count the children as household members because they live in the unit at least 50 percent of the time. This means you should count the household as having three members for purposes of determining eligibility and unit size. Also count $800 per month in unearned income based on each of the sons’ SSI payments and give the household a $960 dependent deduction (2 x $480) for both sons.

QUESTION 2

Correct answer: b

You shouldn’t count Sara as a household member for eligibility or unit size purposes. And don’t count Sara’s SSI income or deduct any allowances, including the $50 a week Joe pays in child care expenses.

QUESTION 3

Correct answer: a

True. But before allowing the deduction, you must be sure to ask the household to document the custody arrangement (for example, by showing you the court order or custody agreement). You must also ask the household to document the total expenses that both households claim so you can be sure that the total expenses claimed by both households don’t exceed the cost of the actual time the child spends in care. This means you must get the child care provider to verify the amount that the other assisted household pays for child care, just as you must for the household that lives at your site.

QUESTION 4

Correct answer: b

False. You may charge a resident only “actual and reasonable costs” for repairs [Handbook 4350.3, par. 6-25(C)(3)]. So, a maintenance charge list should include only what a repair actually costs the site—and no more.

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