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Chapter: 1800 Income Program: FS 4 1810.0118 Vendor Payments (FS) A vendor payment is a money payment made for SFU expenses by an individual or organization outside the SFU from funds not legally owed to the SFU. Vendor payments are excluded as income and any expense which is entirely paid by a vendor payment is not an allowable deduction from income.

The monies are not a vendor payment when the person or organization provides housing or pays assistance group expense(s) exclusively from their own assets or funds.

Examples of vendor payments are:

1. rent payments made directly to the landlord by a third party; 2. rent or mortgage payments made to landlords or mortgagees by DCF, Housing and Urban Development (HUD), or by state or local housing authorities; 3. payments made directly to the utility or phone company by a third party; 4. payments by a government agency to a child care facility to provide care for an assistance group member; 5. car payments made by disability insurance on behalf of an assistance group member due to accident or illness when it is specified as a part of the insurance policy; 6. payments made on behalf of the assistance group directly to a third party under a court order or legal agreement; 7. payments for an expense made by an employer, agency, former spouse, or other person to a third party from funds not legally owed to the assistance group; or 8. Any payments to the SFU by a non-SFU member(s) are not vendor payments regardless of the purpose or intent of the payment. 1810.0120 Charitable Donations (FS) An income exclusion of no more than $300 per quarter may be granted when cash donations, based on need, are received from one or more private nonprofit charitable organizations.

Example: An assistance group received $100 in July from a private, nonprofit charitable organization, and another $100 in August from the same organization. In September it received $150 from a different organization (determined as nonprofit). The AG would be entitled to $100 in July, August, and September. The $150 received in September puts the assistance group over the $300 exclusion for that quarter. Therefore, $50 of the donation would count as unearned income. 1810.0121 Verification of Excluded Income (FS) The eligibility specialist must verify excluded income prior to eligibility determination only if it is questionable and affects an assistance group's eligibility or benefit level. To be considered questionable, the information on the application must be inconsistent with:

1. statements made by the applicant, 2. other information on a current or previous application, or 3. other information received by DCF.