Exclusion of resources.

(i) The home and surrounding property which is not separated from the home by intervening property owned by others. Public rights-of-way, such as roads which run through the surrounding property and separate it from the home do not affect the exemption of the property. The home and surrounding property shall remain exempt when temporarily unoccupied for reasons of employment, training for future employment, illness, or uninhabitability caused by casualty or natural disaster provided further that the household intends to return. Households that currently do not own a home, but own or are purchasing a lot on which they intend to build or are building a permanent home shall receive an exclusion for the value of the lot and, if it is partially completed, for the home.

(ii) Household goods, personal effects, including one burial plot per household member, and the cash value of life insurance policies. The cash value of pension plans or funds shall be excluded, except that Keogh plans which involve no contractual relationship with individuals who are not household members and individual retirement accounts (IRA's) shall not be excluded under this paragraph.

(iii)

(a) Licensed vehicles must have their entire value excluded when the vehicle meets any of the requirements set forth in subclauses ( 1 ) through ( 9 ) of this clause. However, when vehicles do not qualify for any of these exclusions, such vehicles must be valued according to the market value test as described in clauses ( b ), ( c ) and ( d ) of this subparagraph. The tests for exclusions are as follows:

(1) used primarily (over 50 percent of the time) for income-producing purposes;

(2) annually producing income consistent with its fair market value, even if used only on a seasonal basis;

(3) necessary for long-distance travel, other than daily commuting, if it is essential to the employment of a household member or ineligible alien or disqualified person whose resources are being considered available to the household;

(4) used as the household's home and is, therefore, excluded as such;

(5) necessary to transport a physically disabled household member or ineligible alien or disqualified person whose resources are being considered available to the household regardless of the purpose of such transportation;

(6) any vehicle operated on those Indian reservations that do not require vehicles driven by tribal members to be licensed;

(7) any vehicle leased by a household member;

(8) any vehicle title which is held by a non-household member so long as no member of the household is permitted to access the cash value of the vehicle; or

(9) any vehicle upon which a household depends to carry fuel for heating or water for home use when such transported fuel or water is the primary source of fuel or water for the household.

(b) All licensed vehicles not excluded under clause ( a ) of this subparagraph must be evaluated individually for their fair market value. That portion of the value which exceeds $4,600 through September 30, 1996, and $4,650 beginning October 1, 1996 must be attributed in full toward the household's resource level, regardless of any encumbrances on the vehicle.

(c) Licensed vehicles shall also be evaluated for their equity value except for the following types of vehicles:

(1) vehicles excluded under clause ( a ) of this subparagraph;

(2) one general purpose licensed vehicle per household;

(3) additional licensed vehicles which are used by household members (or an ineligible alien or excluded individual whose resources are being considered available to the household) to attend training or education preparatory to employment, to travel to and from employment, or to seek employment in compliance with the job search requirements of the food stamp program.

(d) In the event a licensed vehicle is assigned both a fair market value in excess of the amounts provided for in clause ( b ) of this subparagraph and an equity value, only the greater of the two amounts is to be counted as a resource.

(iv) Property which annually produces income consistent with its fair market value, even if only used on a seasonal basis. Such property shall include rental houses and vacation homes.

(ix) Resources which have been counted as income such as those of students or self- employed persons, which have been prorated as income.

(v) Property, such as farm land and rental homes, or work-related equipment, such as the tools of a tradesman or the machinery of a farmer, which is essential to the employment or self-employment of a household member, except that rental homes which are used by households for vacation purposes at some time during the year must be counted as resources unless excluded by subparagraph (iv) of this paragraph. Property, such as land, equipment and supplies, which is essential to the self-employment of a household member engaged in farming must continue to be excluded for one year from the date the household member terminates self-employment from farming.

(vi) Installment contracts for the sale of land or buildings if the contract or agreement is producing income consistent with its fair market value. The exclusion shall also apply to the value of the property sold under the installment contract, or held as security in exchange for a purchase price consistent with the fair market value of that property.

(vii) Any governmental payments which are designated for the restoration of a home damaged in a disaster, provided that the household is subject to a legal sanction if the funds are not used as intended; for example, payments made by the Department of Housing and Urban Development through the individual and family grant program or disaster loans or grants made by the Small Business Administration.

(viii) Resources having a cash value which is not accessible to the household, such as but not limited to irrevocable trust funds, security deposits on rental property or utilities, property in probate, and real property which the household is making a good-faith effort to sell at a reasonable price. Any funds in a trust or transferred to a trust, and the income produced by that trust to the extent it is not available to the household, shall be considered inaccessible to the household if:

(a) the trust arrangement is not likely to cease during the certification period and no household member has the power to revoke the trust arrangement or change the name of the beneficiary during the certification period;

(b) the trustee administering the funds is either:

(1) a court, or an institution, corporation, or organization which is not under the direction or ownership of any household member; or

(2) an individual appointed by the court who has court-imposed limitations placed on his/her use of the funds;

(c) the trust investments made on behalf of the trust do not directly involve or assist any business or corporation under the control, direction or influence of a household member; and

(d) the funds held in irrevocable trust are either:

(1) established from the household's own funds, if the trustee uses the funds solely to make investments on behalf of the trust or to pay the educational or medical expenses of any person named by the household creating the trust; or

(2) established from nonhousehold funds by a nonhousehold member.

(x) Indian lands held jointly with the tribe, or land that can be sold only with the approval of the Department of the Interior's Bureau of Indian Affairs.

(xi) Resources which are excluded for food stamp purposes by express provision of Federal statute.

(xii) Where an exclusion applies because of use of a resource by or for a household member, the exclusion shall also apply when the resource is being used by or for an ineligible alien or disqualified person whose resources are being counted as part of the household's resources.

(xiii) Energy assistance payments or allowances which are excluded from income.

(xiv) Resources of non-household members as referred to in the definition of household concept in section 387.1 of this Part.

(xix) Resources of any household member who receives or is authorized to receive Supplemental Security Income (SSI) benefits under title XVI of the Social Security Act or benefits under part A of title IV of the Social Security Act (Aid to Families with Dependent Children).

(xv) Nonliquid asset(s) against which a lien has been placed as a result of taking out a business loan and the household is prohibited by the security or lien agreement with the lienholder (creditor) from selling the asset(s).

(xvi) Property, real or personal, to the extent that it is directly related to the maintenance or use of a vehicle excluded under subclause (iii)( a )( 1 ), ( 2 ) or ( 5 ) of this paragraph or this subparagraph. Only that portion of the real property determined necessary for the maintenance or use of the vehicle is excludable under this provision.

(xvii) Any income tax refund made to a household member or the member's spouse by reason of an earned income tax credit, as authorized by the Internal Revenue Code, for the month of its receipt and the month following the month of its receipt. Any income tax refund made to a household member by reason of an earned income tax credit must be excluded for a period of 12 months from receipt if such member was participating in the food stamp program at the time the credits were received and participated in such program continuously during the 12-month period. For purposes of this subparagraph, participation in the food stamp program is considered continuous when a household does not leave the program or temporarily leaves the program for a period of one month or less. However, such households must continue to otherwise meet the income and resource criteria of the food stamp program.

(xviii) Resources of ineligible students and non-household members as referred to in the definition of household concept in section 387.1 of this Part.

(xix) Resources of any household member who receives or is authorized to receive Supplemental Security Income (SSI) benefits under title XVI of the Social Security Act or benefits under part A of title IV of the Social Security Act (Aid to Families with Dependent Children).