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SNAP CERTIFICATION MANUAL – SECTION 4000 7B4800 Vehicles 43B4820 Leased Vehicles

In these instances, the household will be asked to provide verification that someone other than a household member is making payments on the vehicle and is driving and maintaining the vehicle. Verification of non-accessibility must be in the form of canceled checks or money order receipts that show the name of the person who actually makes the car payments and other documents (gas tickets, repair bills, etc.) that show this vehicle is being used and maintained by a person who is not a household member. In the absence of any of these documents, the household may provide collateral statements to verify the vehicle is inaccessible.  NOTE: This policy will not be applied to those situations where one person owns a vehicle but allows another person to drive it. The policy will only apply when the person who has possession of the vehicle is making payments on the vehicle and is using his own funds to maintain the vehicle. 4820 Leased Vehicles SNAP Manual 07/01/01 Generally, a leased vehicle will not be considered a resource unless the title to the vehicle is registered in the customer’s name and the lease stipulates that the payments are credited towards ownership of the vehicle. Each lease must be evaluated individually to determine if the payments can be credited towards ownership of the vehicle. • A “Smart Buy” lease leads to ownership of the vehicle. The person who purchases a vehicle under the “Smart Buy” plan is considered to be the vehicle’s owner immediately at the time of purchase. Vehicles purchased under a “Smart Buy” plan will be considered a resource to the household. • An open-ended lease provides the customer an option to buy at the end of the lease period. Each open-ended lease must be evaluated individually. Generally, open-ended leases with the car title in the dealership’s name are not considered a resource to the household and open-ended leases with the car title in the customer’s name are considered a resource to the household. • A close-ended lease does not provide the customer with an option to buy at the end of the lease period. A vehicle listed under a close- ended lease will not be counted as a resource to the household.