Code of Massachusetts Regulations
760 CMR - HOUSING AND LIVABLE COMMUNITIES, EXECUTIVE OFFICE OF
Title 760 CMR 6.00 - Occupancy Standards and Tenant Participation for State-Aided Housing
Section 6.05 - Determination of Gross Household Income and Net Household Income

Universal Citation: 760 MA Code of Regs 760.6

Current through Register 1531, September 27, 2024

(1) The Computation of Net Household Income. Rent is a percentage of net Household income, as provided in 760 CMR 6.04(1), (25%, 27%, 30%, or 32% except as provided in 760 CMR 6.04(1)(c) and (d)). In order to determine net Household income, the LHA shall first determine gross Household income. Gross Household income includes the income items set out in 760 CMR 6.05(2) and excludes the non income items set out in 760 CMR 6.05(3). The deductions set out in 760 CMR 6.05(4) are deducted from gross Household income so computed, and the result is net Household income.

(2) Inclusions in Gross Household Income. Gross Household income shall be the total of the following items:

(a) The full amount, before any payroll deductions, of wages and salaries, overtime pay, commissions, fees, tips and bonuses, and other compensation for personal services.

(b) Income from the operation of a business or profession by each self-employed Household Member after deduction for the ordinary and necessary expenses of the business or profession. The deductible expenses of the business or profession shall not exceed 85% of the gross receipts of the business or profession. Deductible expenses of the business or profession shall not include rent or Utilities paid for the Tenant's unit if the business or profession is located in the Tenant's unit.

(c) Income of any kind from real or personal property including rent, dividends, and interest. Amortization of capital indebtedness and depreciation shall not be deducted in computing net income. Any realization of taxable capital gain on sale or transfer of an investment or other real or personal property shall be included in income. If the Household has marketable real or personal property with a fair market value exceeding $25,000 (excluding any automobile used as the primary means of transportation by one or more Household Members), gross Household income shall include the higher of actual income derived from any such property or a percentage of the value of such property. This percentage shall be one percent or as otherwise determined from time to time by EOHLC and posted on EOHLC's website.

(d) Periodic payments received from social security, annuities, retirement funds, and pensions, individual retirement accounts, and other similar types of periodic payments of retirement benefits, excluding non taxable amounts which constitute return of capital and are specifically identified as such by payer.

(e) Payments in lieu of earnings, such as unemployment compensation; Supplemental Security Income (SSI); Social Security Disability Income (SSDI); and benefits in lieu of earnings under disability insurance, health and accident insurance or workers' compensation. An unallocated lump sum settlement or similar payment all or partly on account of lost wages resulting from an injury shall be equitably allocated to reflect a monthly payment on account of lost wages for the period during which the recipient is likely to be disabled from the injury and the recipient will be deemed to receive such a monthly payment each month during the continuance of his or her disability until the allocated funds are deemed exhausted. Payments from the government, subsequently reimbursed to the government, are not to be included as income.

(f) Contributions or gifts received from non Household Members that are more than $5,000 in the aggregate in a 12-month period, provided that only the amount of the contributions or gifts that exceeds $5,000 in the aggregate shall be included.

(g) Regular payments of public assistance, excluding food stamps.

(h) Payments received for the support of a Household Member, such as payments for child support, foster care, social security, or public assistance, including payments nominally made to a Household Member for his or her support but controlled for his or her benefit by another Household Member who is responsible for his or her support.

(i) Lottery winnings, gambling winnings and similar receipts.

(j) Receipts of principal and income from the trustee of a trust, and receipts of income from the executor or administrator of an estate or from some other fiduciary.

(k) Alimony or payment for separate support.

(3) Exclusions from Gross Household Income. Gross Household income shall not include any of the following items:

(a) Contributions or gifts received from non-Household Members totaling $5,000 or less in the aggregate in a 12-month period.

(b) Amounts (including lump sums), which are specifically received for the cost of medical care, or which are made to compensate for personal injury or damage to or loss of property under health, accident or liability insurance, worker's compensation, judgments or settlements of claims, insofar as these payments do not compensate for loss of income for a period when the recipient was or would be a Tenant.

(c) Amounts of educational scholarships or stipends for housing paid by a non-Household Member for a student at an educational institution, including amounts paid for these purposes to part time students, whether paid directly to the student or the educational institution, and amounts paid by the United States Government to a veteran for use in paying tuition, fees, or the cost of books, to the extent that such payments are so used.

(d) The special pay to a member of the armed forces on account of service in a war zone.

(e) Relocation payments made pursuant to state or federal law.

(f) Payments received from the Social Security Administration program known as the Plan to Attain Self Sufficiency (PASS), provided that recipient fulfills all PASS program requirements.

(g) The value of food stamps.

(h) Payments received by participants in programs pursuant to the Domestic Volunteer Service Act of 1973, 42 U.S.C. § 4950, et seq., or stipends received by volunteers for activities performed on behalf of a tax-exempt non-profit organization or foundation or an accredited educational or vocational institution. The amount of stipends to volunteers that shall be excluded may not exceed the total amount which would have been earned by a person working 20 hours per week at the minimum wage specified in M.G.L. c. 151, § 1.

(i) The increased amount of income earned from employment by one or more Household Members if the increase in earned income otherwise would result in a rent increase provided that:
1. the Household's income has been derived, at least in part, from Transitional Aid to Families with Dependent Children (TAFDC), Emergency Assistance to the Elderly, Disabled and Children Program (EAEDC), Supplemental Security Income (SSI), Social Security Disability Income (SSDI) or successor program for each of the previous 12 months;

2. the Household's increased earned income has been accompanied by a decrease in the amount of TAFDC, EAEDC, SSI, SSDI or public assistance from a successor program; and

3. at the commencement of this exclusion the recipient of such public assistance would have remained eligible for such assistance if the income had not been earned. This earned income exclusion shall be in effect for one continuous 12-month period, regardless of any changes or gaps in employment during that period. This exclusion may be exercised by the Tenant when a Household Member has procured either full or part time employment. It shall be within the Tenant's sole discretion whether or when to exercise this one time earned income exclusion.

(j) Payments for a Household Member in association with participation in a bona fide program providing training for employment, approved by EOHLC or sponsored or administered by a government agency, to cover costs related to training or employment, such as transportation, program fees, books, or child care (during training). This exclusion shall apply to wages received through programs for training for employment, such as wages from on the job training, or apprenticeship, for a period not to exceed two years. This amount of the exclusion shall be limited to the amount of wages received in such programs for working up to 37.5 hours per week that do not exceed PA times the minimum wage specified in M.G.L. c. 151, §1.

(k) Wages and/or salary earned by an at least Half time Student, as defined in 760 CMR 6.03, or by an unemancipated minor.

(l) Income of a live in Personal Care Attendant (PCA), as defined herein, that is paid to a PCA for PCA services, provided that a PCA who is a Household Member shall not be considered a remaining member of the Family (Household) as defined in 760 CMR 5.03: Family (Household) for the purpose of continued occupancy after the Household Member requiring assistance ceases to occupy the unit unless the PCA has income that is included in gross Household income.

(m) Inheritances and Life Insurance Proceeds. This exclusion does not apply to post death interest paid on inheritances or insurance proceeds.

(n) Total Disability Veterans Compensation.
1. Total Disability Veterans Compensation that is in excess of $ 1,800 per month shall be excluded.

2. If, prior to October 6, 2016, an LHA had exercised its discretion to exclude Total Disability Veterans Compensation in excess of $ 1,800 per year, such LHA shall continue to exclude all of such amounts for those Tenants who were previously granted the exclusion.

(o) A return of capital on sale or transfer of an investment or of other real or personal property.

(p) Earned wages and/or salary and income received from unemployment insurance, workers' compensation, and short-term and long-term disability received by a Tenant 62 years of age or older, or other Household Member, 62 years of age or older, not to exceed the total amount which would have been earned by a person working 20 hours per week at the minimum wage specified in M.G.L. c. 151, § 1.

(q) Transitional support services stipends for work related expenses such as transportation received from the Department of Transitional Assistance by former clients whose benefits terminated due to earnings.

(r) Contributions to, and withdrawals from, Achieving a Better Life Experience (ABLE) accounts established pursuant to 26 U.S.C. § 529A.

(s) Annuity payments made pursuant to M.G.L. c. 115, § 6B to certain disabled veterans or to the parents or non-remarried surviving spouses of such veterans who are deceased.

(4) Deductions from Gross Household Income. Net Household income shall be gross Household income less the following deductions but in no event shall be less than zero:

(a) $400 for a Household living in family housing in which the Tenant is an elderly person of low income or a person with a disability of low income provided that the Household is not Overhoused.

(b) $300 for each unemancipated minor Household Member (younger than 18 years old).

(c) $300 for each adult Household Member (other than the Tenant); this deduction is limited by the amount by which the gross income of such adult Household Member exceeds all other deductions claimed against his or her income.

(d) A deduction for heat in the amount prescribed by EOHLC's schedule of heat deductions; this deduction is only available to a Household which separately pays for the cost of heat.

(e) Payments for necessary medical expenses (including co payment amounts) which are not covered by insurance or otherwise reimbursed, provided that such expenses are in excess of 3% of annual gross Household income and are paid by Household Members. Payments for medical health insurance are considered medical expenses.

(f) Payments for the care of child(ren) or of a sick or incapacitated Household Member provided that the LHA shall have determined the payments to be necessary for the employment of another Household Member who would otherwise have provided such care; the total amount deducted for this deduction and the deductions in 760 CMR 6.05(4)(g) and (h) for this Household Member who makes the payment shall not exceed his or her gross income.

(g) Child support, separate support, and/or alimony paid under court order or court approved agreement by a Household Member for the support of a child, spouse, or ex spouse, not residing with the Household, provided that the total amount deducted for this deduction and the deductions in 760 CMR 6.05(4)(f) and (h) for this Household Member shall not exceed his or her gross income.

(h) Non reimbursable payments of tuition and fees of vocational or post secondary education of a Household Member, provided that the amount deducted for this deduction and the deductions in 760 CMR 6.05(4)(f) and (g) for this Household Member shall not exceed the income of the Household Member that has been included in the gross Household income.

(i) Non reimbursable payments for reasonable and necessary housekeeping or personal care services for a Household Member with a disability who as a result of the disability is physically unable to perform the housekeeping or personal care services provided that no Household Member is reasonably available to perform these services.

(j) Travel expense, in excess of the cost of the least expensive available transportation, for a Household Member with a disability who as a result of the disability is physically unable to use the least expensive available transportation and who uses the least expensive transportation practical in connection with necessary activities which cannot be performed by another Household Member.

(5) Notice of Determined or Redetermined Rent. Upon calculating or recalculating a Tenant's rent, the LHA shall provide the Tenant with written notice of the determined or redetermined rent containing the following information:

(a) The rental amount and the date when it will be effective;

(b) The calculation of Tenant's monthly gross Household income and monthly net Household income detailing the amounts and sources of income and any deductions; and

(c) Notice of the Tenant's right to file a Grievance under the LHA's Grievance procedure in the event of a factual error.

Disclaimer: These regulations may not be the most recent version. Massachusetts may have more current or accurate information. We make no warranties or guarantees about the accuracy, completeness, or adequacy of the information contained on this site or the information linked to on the state site. Please check official sources.
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