SR 02-13 Dated 07/02

STATE OF NEW HAMPSHIRE

INTER-DEPARTMENT COMMUNICATION

/Á*This SR:

·   eliminates the lien requirement associated with emergency assistance (EA) payments for mortgage arrearages;

·   revises the property ownership criteria for EA payments requested for mortgage arrearages;

·   obsoletes Form 761, Acknowledgement of Emergency Assistance Lien, and its instructions; and

·   releases revised Form 77r, Emergency Assistance for Housing: What You Need to Know.

POLICY

Effective July 1, 2002:

·   applicants who request EA for mortgage arrearages will no longer have to sign Form 761, Acknowledgement of Emergency Assistance Lien, as an eligibility requirement for receipt of EA payments;

·   the Department will no longer file liens on the property of individuals who receive EA payments for mortgage arrearages; and

·   the Office of Finance will release any liens that are still in place due to receipt of EA payments for mortgage arrearages.

In addition, applicants no longer have to be the current owner of the residence to be eligible for EA payments for mortgage arrearages. If not the current owner, the EA applicant must demonstrate that:

·   a court order authorizes a future transfer of the property to the applicant or to any of the individuals who reside on the property provided their needs, income and resources are used to determine eligibility for emergency assistance; or

·   any of the individuals whose needs, income and resources are used to determine eligibility for emergency assistance:

- reside on the property; or

- reside on the property and own the property with a spouse or adult child who also resides on the property.

Revised Family Assistance Manual Topics

703.07 Emergency Assistance Payment Limits

FORMS

Form 761, Acknowledgement of Emergency Assistance Lien

Form 761, Acknowledgement of Emergency Assistance Lien, and its instructions have been obsoleted. Any copies in District Office possession must be recycled or destroyed.

Form 77r, Emergency Assistance For Housing: What You Need to Know

Form 77r, Emergency Assistance For Housing: What You Need to Know, has been revised to delete references to the lien requirement for EA payment for mortgage arrearages. Revised Form 77r will be distributed to District Offices under separate cover prior to July 1, 2002.

PROCEDURES FOR NEW HEIGHTS WORKAROUND

DFA has submitted a New HEIGHTS systems request to eliminate the lien and reimbursement question on the "Emergency Assistance" screen. Until this request is implemented, District Offices must use the following "workaround" procedures when processing an EA request for assistance with mortgage arrearages:

·   reply "yes" to the question "If applying for the mortgage arrearage, has the lien and reimbursement agreement been signed?" found on the "Emergency Assistance" screen under the "Rent/Mortgage Information" tab; and

·   enter the following statement on the "Maintain Case/Indv Comments" screen:

IMPLEMENTATION

The revised policy applies to all new EA applicants who request EA payments for mortgage arrearages on or after July 1, 2002. The Office of Finance will date the Release of Lien Form to the appropriate county July 1, 2002 for individuals with liens on their property due to receipt of EA payments for mortgage arrearages.

CLIENT NOTIFICATION

There are less than 15 cases statewide whose property liens will be released due to the revised policy. The Office of Finance will notify affected individuals by mail. District Offices will be provided with the names of individuals whose liens will be released and will be sent a copy of the client letter under separate cover.

TRAINING

No training is planned.

POSTING INSTRUCTIONS

DISPOSITION

This SR may be destroyed or deleted after its contents have been noted and the revised manual topics released by this SR have been posted to the On-line manuals.

DISTRIBUTION

This SR will be distributed according to the electronic distribution list for Division of Family Assistance policy releases. This SR, and revised On-Line Manuals, will be available for agency staff in the On-Line Manual Library, and for public access on the Internet at http://www.dhhs.state.nh.us/PMIndex.htm, effective July 1, 2002.

This SR, and printed pages with posting instructions, will be distributed under separate cover to all hard copy holders of the Family Assistance and Forms Manuals.

DFA/SJC:s