602-2 A.     DEFINITION AND TYPES OF RESOURCES

Resources must be verified when questionable. See MS 601-4 for verification procedures.  Sources of verification are described in the Administrative Procedures Manual.  The following describes the definition of resources for purposes of SNAP.

1. Liquid Resources

1. Liquid resources are those that can be readily converted to cash.  Examples of liquid resources include: cash on hand, uncashed checks, money in a checking/savings account, money in a credit union, U.S.United States savings bonds, lump sum payments, stocks and bonds, Crowdfunding accounts (GoFundMe, Kickstarter, etc.), monies held by third parties, and bona fide loans. Refer to MS 602-2B for a list of exempt resources.
   
   All bona fide loans received, other than deferred repayment educational loans, are counted as a liquid resource the month after receipt if the money is retained as cash or in a bank account.

Note:

Money in a crowdfunding account is considered an accessible liquid resource if the account was set-up by the household. If the account was set-up by someone outside of the household, the money in the crowdfunding account is not considered an accessible liquid resource until the funds have been given to the household.

2. The net value of liquid resources is the total amount of cash or liquid resources the household has.

 Note:

The Eligibility Technician should count the actual value of funds accessible to the household at the time of interview.

3. Credit card company gift cards that can be spent as cash are considered cash on hand and are counted toward the resource test in the month after receipt.

Example:

Paul received a credit card company gift card from his mother two months ago with $1,200.00 preloaded on it when he moved into his new apartment. He states that he will not receive another gift card, no future funds will be deposited to this card it, and that there is $1,120.00 available now after purchasing a lamp. The $1,120.00 is counted as a liquid resource by the eligibility technician.

2. Non-liquid Resources

1. Non-liquid resources are those that cannot be readily converted to cash.  Examples of non-liquid resources are real property such as houses, buildings and land, and personal property such as cars, trucks, boats, snow machines, planes, travel trailers, campers, business inventory, livestock, virtual currency/cryptocurrency (Ex: Bitcoin).  Refer to MS 602-2B for a list of exempt resources.

2. Calculate the equity value of non-liquid resources as follows:

3. Determining Resource Eligibility

1. Applicant Households:

• Interview held during the month the application is filed - The total value of all household resources on the date of the interview is used to determine the eligibility for that household.  If the household's total countable resources exceed the resource limit, the household is ineligible and the application is denied.  The household can reapply anytime.
• Interview held during the month following the month the application is filed - The total value of all household resources on the date of the interview is used to determine eligibility for both the month of application and the following month.  If household resources exceed the limit on the date of the interview, the household is ineligible for both the month of application and the following month.

Note: 

The SNAPSupplemental Nutrition Assistance Program application may not be denied solely based on the knowledge that the household listed resources in the SNAP application, which exceed the SNAP resource limit.  An interview must be conducted before a determination of eligibility may be made. 

When the household confirmed their resources exceed the SNAP resource limit during the interview, we may deny the SNAP application at that time, but not prior to the household verbally confirming ineligibility during the interview.  (See MS 601-5D)

2. Participant Ongoing Households:  

For prospective eligibility determinations, the value of the resources anticipated to be held by the household on the first day of the issuance month will be used to determine ongoing eligibility.  Countable resources are considered held by the household until such time as they are spent, sold, or otherwise disposed of and the household no longer has interest or ownership in the resource.

4. Commingled Resources

When any money considered an exempt resource is commingled with a countable resource, the exempt portion is disregarded for six months from the date funds were commingled. After the six months the entire amount is counted toward the resource limit.

If only excluded money is in an interest bearing account, the interest earned does not constitute commingling with the excluded money.  The interest, which must be counted as unearned income, is identifiable from the excluded funds through the account history of deposits.

Exempt resources that are kept separate and identifiable from other countable resources retain their exempt status indefinitely.