At the time of application and reapplication, request the EU to provide information regarding any resources transferred by any EU member (or ineligible alien or disqualified person whose resources are considered available to the EU) within the three months immediately preceding the date of filing the application. This also includes any property acquired and transferred during the certification period.
Program eligibility is not affected by the following transfers.
EXAMPLE: Mrs. Green moved from her apartment into a house and purchased new living room furniture. She gave much of her old furniture to her daughter-in-law. This is not considered a transfer as EU furniture is an exempt resource.
EXAMPLE: Mr. O'Connor owns available resources totaling $1,250. His son, John, is attending college and Mr. O'Connor gave him $300 to help pay tuition and fees. Mr. O'Connor applies for foods stamps and when discussing transfer of property with the caseworker, he states the money is not a loan. Although Mr. O'Connor has not placed the money into an educational trust fund and states it is not a loan, this is not considered a transfer of resources to qualify for FS benefits as Mr. O'Connor is under the resource maximum even if he had not given the money to his son ($1,250 + $300 = $1,550).
EXAMPLE: Ms. Jones owns a house for which she received an offer of $5,000 from a real estate agency. She sells the house to her brother for $4,700. To pay for the house, he gives her a car valued at $2,300 and $2,400 in cash. This is considered fair and valuable consideration.
Accept the applicant's statement that a bona fide loan was repaid unless it contradicts other statements made on the application or previous applications, or other information known to FSD.
If further verification is required, it may be established by a simple statement signed by both parties indicating payment was a loan requiring repayment.
EXAMPLE (Reasonable): Ms. Jones' son has been paying for her needs for over a year. She receives an insurance settlement of $2,000. She gives her son $1,000. Two months later, she applies for FS. The caseworker discusses transfer of property with Ms. Jones. Ms. Jones insists that she had promised to repay her son for helping her if she ever got any money. A written statement signed by both parties is sufficient verification.
EUs that have transferred resources knowingly for the purpose of qualifying or attempting to qualify for food stamps are disqualified from participation in the program for up to one year from the date of discovery of the transfer. An administrative fraud hearing is not required to impose the disqualification period.
Apply the disqualification period if the resources are transferred knowingly in the three-month period prior to application or if they are transferred knowingly after the EU is determined eligible for benefits.
EXAMPLE: Assets the EU acquires after certification and then transfers to prevent the EU from exceeding the maximum resource requirements are considered an improper transfer.
The period of disqualification begins with either: (1) the month of application, or (2) the first allotment issued after the notice of adverse action expired if the EU was participating at the time of transfer discovery. If a hearing is requested and the agency decision is upheld, the disqualification period begins with the first allotment following the hearing decision.
The length of the disqualification period is based on the amount by which non-exempt transferred resources, when added to other countable resources, exceed the resource limits.
EXAMPLE: A one-person EU with $1,500 in a bank transferred to her son $3,000 which she had received from a life insurance settlement. We consider $2,500 of the $3,000 a transfer because the first $500 is applied toward the $2,250 resource limit.
The period of disqualification is as follows:
| $ 0 to $ 249.99 | 1 month |
| $ 250 to $ 999.99 | 3 months |
| $1,000 to $2,999.99 | 6 months |
| $3,000 to $4,999.99 | 9 months |
| $5,000 and over | 12 months |
Refer to the Transfer of Property user guide for instructions on entering the transfer in FAMIS.