RE: HUD housing for over 55 seniors with assets? (low income, section 8)

[christianstad]

Can a person qualify for a 55 and over HUD sponsored building if they have a "nest egg?"

My friend, a 60 year old single lady, meets the very low income criteria (under 60% of annual median income) but her mom left her the savings that she had accumulated (around 100k.)

She is living on her own small savings, has no insurance, lives very simply, etc but she would like to keep the inheritance money for her old age in case she might need it for a rainy day which is what her mom intended.

Thanks for any advice.

P.S. Yes, she has looked for many jobs in her field but, at age 61, not much out there. She's been unemployed for about 2 years.

[damba]

Most accurate info if you call them:

https://www.hud.gov/states/illinois/offices

[HollyhockGarden]

christstad -

The very first Google search I would do is "[county name, state name] low income senior housing". That is the best way to get started. There are many options out there besides HUD.

I put in the phrase "HUD senior housing asset limits" into Google, and came up with quite a list of sites to review - some not govt related, but those are great learning sites, too. You can also do a "low-income housing asset limit" search without the word HUD and you may come up with some different answers involving different programs. First, your friend needs to understand there are several different programs out there, in most places, and the rules vary according to each program.

Another option is for her to go and talk to the people at her local county housing office, or maybe a senior office for her county. Some of the programs, like most Section 8 programs, have closed waiting lists. But, that may not be the case everywhere. Some places, particularly in smaller populated areas, may have shorter lists.

You did not mention if your friend is already renting where she lives? One option is to also go talk to the people in the leasing office and talk to them directly. They may have some ideas - a good leasing agent always knows about the competition out there. Religious-owned senior apartment complexes are also around. There are some programs where you can apply right through the leasing office at the apartments.

It will take some research and investigating to find out what is out there, locally. I hope this helps a little bit. Good luck!

[chet everett]

I have been involved on the "development side" of working with groups who wish to build "HUD Section 202 Elderly Low Income Housing" and I believe the income standards are such that any assets over $5k are counted as "capable of generating income" at the rate of official "passbook saving rate" as is done with Sec 8 --

This was set in 2014 -- https://www.hud.gov/sites/documents/14-15HSGN.PDF

These rates are comically low -- https://www.fdic.gov/regulations/res...ce=govdelivery

The bigger challenge is likely finding a "nice enough" place -- this is from NYC, but essentially EVERY area, urban, suburban, or rural is like this -- The senior housing crisis Basically the only "developers" that bother to build / run these low return apartments are charities like YMCA or those with a faith based mission who just want to cover their costs...