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Title 7: SNAP Page 21 Iowa Department of Health and Human Services Employees’ Manual Chapter E: Income Types of Income Revised September 27, 2024 Legally Obligated Money Legally Obligate Money (Cont.) 1. A household member has earnings that are garnished or diverted by the employer to a third party to pay for rent. This money is still earned income to the household member, because it legally belongs to the household member.
If the employer pays the household’s rent directly to the landlord in addition to paying the household all of its regular wages, the rent payment is an excluded vendor payment. The money belongs to the employer, not the household
If the employer provides free housing to an employee, do not count the value of the housing as income. It is an “in-kind” payment, and is excluded.
2. A public assistance grant is diverted to a protective payee to manage the household’s expenses. The grant is still unearned income to the household, because the money legally belongs to the household.
If the household gets assistance above the amount normally given to all households, exclude it as a vendor payment if it is paid to a third party on the household’s behalf. This excess is emergency or special assistance. It is not legally obligated to the household.
3. An absent father is court-ordered to pay child support to his ex-wife, who gets SNAP. If, instead of sending the money to his ex-wife, the father sends it to a third party for a household expense, the money is still unearned income to the household. It is still legally obligated to the ex-wife.
If the court order had specified that the money must go directly to the third party instead of the ex-wife, the money would be excluded as a vendor payment. Loans (Excluded) 7 CFR 273.9(c)(4) Exclude loans. Low-Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP) (Excluded) 7 CFR 273.9(c)(1)(ii) Do not count payments made under the Department of Health and Human Services Low-Income Energy Assistance Program, such as the Affordable Heating Program. See Energy Assistance.