If you are receiving public assistance and are sanctioned (or have your assistance reduced) by Social Services your portion of public housing or section 8 rent may not be decreased.

        There are two situations in which your public assistance benefits can be reduced, and your share of the rent will not be reduced accordingly: (1) if you or a family member committed fraud, or (2) if you failed to comply with the welfare agency’s required self-sufficiency program. In these cases, the housing authority will count the full amount of assistance you would otherwise be eligible for as annual income. This applies to both section 8 and public housing residents!

        The income you would have been entitled to (but are not actually receiving) is known as “imputed welfare income.” It is the amount of annual income that a family is eligible for, but is not receiving due to a reduction in benefits. Imputed income is still included in the family’s annual income for purposes of determining rent.

Example: A family of two is eligible for $400.00 monthly from public assistance. The head of household fails to fulfill work requirements and the family is sanctioned. The housing authority will continue to count the $400 per month as part of the family’s income even though the family received no income from Social Services that month

If a family begins to receive additional income after they are sanctioned, the amount of imputed income will be offset by that amount.

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Example:

A family of two is eligible for $400 each month in public assistance but is sanctioned for welfare fraud. The family receives no income from Social Services. The housing authority will continue to calculate the family’s rent based upon the $400.00 they would otherwise be entitled to. If a member of the family obtains employment paying $400 a month, the housing authority will reduce the imputed income by the amount of the wages. The housing authority would calculate the rent based on the family’s $400 income ($400 from wages and $0 in imputed income). If you found a job making $390, your income would still be based on $400 ($390 from wages and $10 in imputed income).

Imputed income is counted only if a family member committed fraud or if a family member failed to comply with the welfare agency’s required self-sufficiency program.

            If a family’s public assistance benefits are reduced for some other reason, the housing authority should reduce the family’s annual income accordingly. For example, if benefits are reduced because a time limit has run out, if a family member is not able to gain employment even though they have complied with the welfare agency’s work requirements, or if a family member has not complied with some other agency requirement not mentioned above, the housing authority will not impute income. The housing authority will only count the reduced amount that the family is receiving.

        The housing authority cannot count imputed welfare income if the family was not living in public or Section 8 housing the time of the sanction.

CAN A LANDLORD KEEP PERSONAL POSSESSIONS?

        Not legally. A landlord may not keep a tenant's personal possessions. If a tenant is evicted, the landlord, by law, must allow the tenant to get their personal possessions. If you cannot take your property with you, your landlord must store and safeguard your belongings for a reasonable length of time.

        If you are illegally locked out and your landlord will not let you back into your apartment, you should contact the police. If the police do not help, call Neighborhood Legal Services.

        You can take your landlord to Small Claims Court for the value of your belongings. You should contact Neighborhood Legal Services about how this is done.

HOUSING BENEFITS AVAILABLE FOR PEOPLE WITH AIDS OR HIV

        The Department of Social Services (DSS) now has a special program which pays cash benefits to individuals who have AIDS and who are homeless or threatened with homelessness. The allowance can be much higher than the shelter allowance paid to public assistance recipients.

        To qualify you must be homeless or be threatened with homelessness. You must either have AIDS, or have tested positive for HIV and have an HIV-related illness. You must apply for, be eligible for, or be getting Supplemental Security Income (SSI) benefits. If you are not getting SSI benefits, your income and resources must be low enough that you qualify for Home Relief.

        Information on this program may be obtained by contacting the Erie County Department of Social Services at 858-8525. You can apply for the program at the Rath Building (95 Franklin Street) filling out a regular public assistance application. Return the application to the reception desk. When you meet with a caseworker, explain that you are seeking an enhanced shelter allowance for people who have AIDS.

        There are also funds available through a federal program called Housing Opportunities for People With AIDS (HOPWA) which are distributed locally by AIDS Community Services at 847-2441.

        Persons with AIDS, HIV+, or a related disease and their families are eligible for HOPWA benefits. HOPWA funds may be used to provide money for rent, mortgage and utility payments and to prevent homelessness. Under the federal regulations governing HOPWA funding, a family or individual can not receive assistance for rent, mortgage or utility payments for more than 21 weeks of any 52 week period.

        AIDS Community Services generally limits assistance to a maximum of $300 in a calendar year. With its HOPWA funding, AIDS Community Services provides tenant-based rental subsidies to income eligible individuals. With a subsidy, a family or individual’s rent payment is reduced to approximately 30% of the household’s monthly adjusted income. There is currently a waiting list for rental subsidies.

        Rental assistance under the subsidy program will only terminate if program requirements or conditions of occupancy are violated. If this does occur, the tenant is entitled to a pre-termination notice containing a clear statement of the reasons for termination, an opportunity to schedule a review of the decision to terminate assistance, an opportunity to obtain legal counsel to provide representation at the review, and written notification of the final decision.

        Rental assistance under the subsidy program will also terminate following the death of the person with AIDS or HIV. Surviving members of the family receiving assistance under the HOPWA program will be entitled to housing assistance for a reasonable grace period.

        AIDS Community Services also provides supportive services including permanent housing placement, drug and alcohol abuse treatment and counseling; day care, and nutritional services with it’s HOPWA funding.

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