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1) Verify the Applicant’s household address and residency, as contained on the Energy Utility bill, with independent documentation, if not already provided; 2) Self-certify that the Applicant’s household will not receive payment from any other source for Energy Utilities for which they are applying for LIHEAP benefits; and 3) Provide proof of obligation to pay the Energy Utilities billed to the household (e.g., a rent or lease agreement). iii. Issue a Notice of Payment Letter directly to an energy Vendor or Applicant for a Crisis within 48 hours. b. Allocation of Benefits i. LIHEAP benefits are paid to eligible Energy Utility Vendor accounts based upon the Applicant’s indicated priority. Priority is the order in which benefits will be paid to multiple Energy Utility Vendor accounts. ii. Applicants who request LIHEAP benefits for more than one Energy Utility Vendor must indicate priority. A) Priority of Energy Utility Vendors is set from Priority 1 (highest priority) to Priority 5 (lowest priority). B) Applicants must indicate priority for each separately-billed Energy Utility Vendor. C) Applicants who request LIHEAP benefits for only one Energy Utility Vendor are not required to indicate priority. All LIHEAP benefits will be paid to the single Energy Utility Vendor. iii. LIHEAP benefits are paid based on an Applicant’s indicated priority according to the below guidelines: A) Minimum Payment. A LIHEAP benefits payment made to any Energy Utility Vendor must exceed $5.00. Any disbursement that is required of $5.00 or less will automatically be rounded up to $5.01. B) Maximum Payment. LIHEAP benefits payments will not exceed the cumulative Benefit Limits of this policy. 34 of 41