The gross income amount received by an applicant or recipient from a room and board arrangement in their principal residence is subject to a 75% income deduction.

Note:
A recipient who lives with relatives who are also receiving Income Support benefits is not paying room and board. The “landlord” is using the “tenant’s” money to buy food for the “tenant”. Do not deduct this money from the “landlord’s” benefits.

Rental Income

The gross income amount received by an applicant or recipient from a rental arrangement in their principal residence is subject to a 50% income deduction.

Gross rental income from a property that is not the applicant or recipient's principal residence is not eligible for an exemption and must be deducted, dollar for dollar, from benefits.

Notes:

• Staff must determine that a rental situation exists before applying the above policy. For example, situations may occur where a recipient collects rent money from a roommate to provide a lump-sum payment to the landlord. In these cases, the money collected is not considered income of the recipient because they do not have the discretion to use the money for a purpose other than paying the rent. See the Available Income policy for details.
• If a recipient fails to report all or part of their room and board and/or rental income and there is intent to mislead the department, the income deduction is not applied. In situations where a recipient receives late income, but reports it the following month, the income deduction is applied.