CALCULATING MY RENT

"A budget should be a reflection of our values," Steve Bullock said on May 1, 2019, for an article written by Phil Drake of the Great Falls Tribune. Unfortunately, HUD does not project such an attitude about what a budget should reflect. In this article, I will be sharing my current experience with the Montana Board of Housing HUD Home Choice Voucher Section 8 program, and how the 2019 HUD budget has impacted my life.

I will be using real numbers here, not made up ones, the numbers that the Social Security Administration and the IRS have for me. This will not be a smoke and mirror type demonstration, but one based on my perception of the facts in this situation.

“We’re in the midst of this housing crisis and Trump wants to walk away from America’s commitment to housing and increase rents on poor families.” Sarah Mickelson of the National Low Income Housing Coalition stated in an article with thinkprogress.org.

I currently receive $851 on Social Security Disability, before you start making judgments, I worked all my life. I paid into the system, and have continued to pay into the system even while on disability. Not all of us are takers. I also receive $102 in Snap Benefits, a Section 8 Home Choice Voucher (I am supposed to pay 30% of my gross income for rent) and HUD pays the 70%  I can not afford. Last December, I was fortunate to have a job that paid $9.50 an hour. Even though I could not work 20 hours a week consistently, those hours were used to calculate my gross income from that job.

Let us do the calculation for the earned income, the $9.50 for 20 hours a week comes to $760 gross a month. Now we multiply $760 by 12, even though I only could work that job for six months out of the year, as it is based on seasonal activity, $9,120 gross a year plus the gross yearly SSDI $10, 212 comes to $19,332 total monies.

METHOD 1

TOTAL PROJECTED YEARLY INCOME

Using the yearly incomes calculated above, Earned Income at $9,120 gross from a seasonal, part-time, six months long job, and the SSDI, which no taxes are required to be paid from, $10,212 gross.

$760 earned income + $851 SSDI = $1,611 x 12 months= $19, 332 yearly income with seasonal (6 months, part-time, contracted 20 hrs a week, inconsisten in meeting required hours) work.

$851 x 12 months = $10,212 yearly income SSDI Only

ADJUSTABLE INCOME

Allowable Deduction yearly Disabled: $400   

SSDI + EARNED INCOME

$19,332-$400 disabled deduction= $18,932 adjusted yearly unearned income x 30%= $5,679 (30% of income) available to pay rent/12 = Total Tenant Payment $473 30% of monthly income for rent. 

I actually paid $551 per month while working that $9.50, 20 hours a week, part-time, seasonal job, that I could not meet 20 hours a week consistently during that six month period. 

SSDI ALONE

$10,212 - $400 disabled deduction = $9,812 adjusted yearly income x 30%= $2,943 (30% of SSDI) available to pay rent/12= Total Tenant Payment of $245 30% of monthly income for rent.

I actually pay $292 per month from just my SSDI, as I am no longer working that part-time, seasonal position. I am told that is because the rent is $47 above the allowed amount, yet when working it is an overage of $78 a month.

METHOD 2 ANTICIPATED INCOME

PHA (Housing Authority) uses all known sources of income- PHA's are required to use and verify income through the EIV (Enterprise Income Verification) system. 

We see in my personal examples, using my income come that I have overpaid rent while working, and when not working as there seems to be a mathematical error in the amounts I arrived at compared to the Montana Department of Commerce Housing Division claims I am and was to pay for rent. They continue to not send confirmation by a Family Summary Report required by HUD to me stating what numbers they used to calculate my rents.

After meeting with Helena Housing Authority on August 27, 2019, it was confirmed that I had not been allowed the EID. HRDC in Bozeman did not transfer over the EID when I moved to Helena. and since they made the error of not allowing me the EID, Helena used the wrong information to calculate the rent I was to pay. My earned income should have been divided in half as the EID allows for a 50% disallowance of this income for a total of 24 months, the preceding 24 months are disallowed at 100%.  The EID can only be used once in a lifetime, and for an accumulation of 48 months total. There will be more information in another article on the Earned Income Disallowance.