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8. Utility expenses. Households cannot claim actual utility expenses and are entitled to only one of the mandatory utility allowances (see below). These expenses should be verified at Application and Recertification. ACCEPTABLE FORMS OF VERIFICATION: 1. Current lease or landlord/tenant agreement. Valid leases should be no older than one year old. Verification of a client’s rent expense can come in many forms. The most common are lease agreements and Landlord/Tenant forms. However, any type of rent verification can be accepted, even rent receipts, if that verification is: 1) completed by a third party, and 2) includes all of the following information: • Name and address of all tenants • Amount of monthly obligated rent • Indication of whether the rent is subsidized or not • How utilities are paid (i.e., included in rent, flat rate, separate, etc.) • Contact information and signature of the landlord 2. Month to month leases or agreements should always be verified with collateral contact with landlord at time of Application and Recertification. This includes 12-month leases that transition into month-to-month agreements at the end of 12 months.

If the client submits verification of their rent expense that meets the above criteria, this would be an acceptable form of verification and used to establish an appropriate SNAP deduction. 3. Mortgage statement from the last 30 days. 4. Current tax bills (these may be found online on the County Treasurer’s website). 5. LIHEAP interface. 6. Power, water, garbage, phone bills from last 30 days. 7. Collateral contacts. SPECIAL CIRCUMSTANCES: 1. Moving - if a household reports moving during the month and submits one set of bills from the previous address and one set of bills from the current address, the expenses from both locations that are due in the benefit month are allowed as expenses. NOTE: Only one mandatory utility allowance for both homes is allowed as an expense. 2. Unoccupied home - the shelter costs for the home if temporarily unoccupied by the household because of employment or training away from home, illness, or abandonment caused by a natural disaster or casualty loss. The household may claim both the shelter costs of its current residence and the costs of the unoccupied home as deductions. The maximum shelter deduction applies. All of the following criteria must be met for costs of an unoccupied home to be included in the household's shelter costs: a. The household must intend to return to the home;