Help (apartment, employment, calculating)

[serialtwitter]

So my partner was receiving unemployment last year from January to August but we did not put that in the application because he is not receiving it anymore.
Would that be a red flag? Even without it we are still within the income limits for the lottery we have been selected, also since he did not work he did not file any taxes for last year and since we are not married i did not include him on my taxes. would that be grounds for denial? i have a pretty stable job and my income is a little more than 100k. we have been selected for a 130ami apartment.

[WildAboutHarry]

Originally Posted by serialtwitter

So my partner was receiving unemployment last year from January to August but we did not put that in the application because he is not receiving it anymore.
Would that be a red flag? Even without it we are still within the income limits for the lottery we have been selected, also since he did not work he did not file any taxes for last year and since we are not married i did not include him on my taxes. would that be grounds for denial? i have a pretty stable job and my income is a little more than 100k. we have been selected for a 130ami apartment.

I don’t claim to be an authority on lotteries and the process. I just offer my opinions here. I don’t know if what you presented here is grounds for denial. I am confident they are grounds for corrections. You will very likely have to make the corrections. Nothing I write here asserts that you can’t prevail in the lottery only that adjustment are going to be asked to be made.

You say, ‘ Even without it we are still within the income limits for the lottery’. Ok, I believe you but you are not running the lottery or an authority on the rules. The folks who run the lottery get to make that decision and they use the application to do that. One might also ask, with the unemployment payments are you two still within the income limits?. The lottery people want to decide that too and need to know about your partner’s income.

( If you applied together I don’t imagine you can now demand they consider the application just for you alone. You say “we have been selected for a 130ami apartment.” Would it be more accurate to say your application is being reviewed for eligibility? You wrote “we”. I assume both names are on the application. )

Part of the review process is ensure the application was made out to the standards of the system according to the system’s rules. (What my standards or your standards are don’t matter.) If there are flaws in an application that doesn’t mean the system assumes they are a result of dishonesty or fraud; the system just seeks to correct them.

Unemployment benefit payments are considered income.. (The payments are considered taxable). You should prepare to do over the income section of the application because they are very likely going to ask you to do that. All income from each of you will be asked for this includes unemployment benefits.

[randomperson2]

When you say "the application," do you mean what you filed on Housing Connect, or what you provided the agency after being contacted? They don't rely on the HC data, but you need to be strictly honest when they reach out to you, and IIRC they do ask about the prior year's income then.

[WildAboutHarry]

Consult table of contents and portion of handbook on income.
https://www1.nyc.gov/assets/hpd/down...g-handbook.pdf

[WildAboutHarry]

From handbook, pages ~51 to 52 (?) mentions of unemployment benefits. A link is in a post above this one.

b. Example 2: If a household member is receiving unemployment benefits that will end during the following 12 months, income is annualized by calculating the amount s/he would receive if the benefit were to continue at the same rate for the remainder of the 12- month period. The unemployment benefit is expected to bridge a temporary gap in employment as the recipient actively searches for work, and it is expected that the household member will earn income after termination of the unemployment benefits. Because it is not possible to predict whether his or her wages will immediately match their pre-unemployment levels, annualizing the benefit rate provides a reasonable projection of income as a person searches for employment and re-enters the workforce.

c. Example 3: If an applicant is claiming unemployment benefits for one or more periods during the year due to layoffs or furloughs with an expected return to work date, or if they have a mix of employment income and unemployment benefits throughout the year, income from unemployment would be calculated by projecting the number of weeks per year that they receive benefits. Third-party documentation such as employer verifications or tax returns establishing the duration of the layoff is required to accurately project the total amount of unemployment income to be received.

2. Note: Any household member over 18 years old who is unemployed must complete an Unemployment Affidavit. See Unemployment Affidavit