When interviewing households at certifications or recertifications, residents are required to report all income from all sources to the owner or manager. One component of annual income is any income the household’s assets generate. And sometimes, households may dispose of assets for less than fair market value (FMV). These can include cash gifts or property. You must find out whether they have disposed of or sold, given away, or put in trust assets for less than fair market value within the past two years.

When certifying and recertifying low-income households at your tax credit site, you may encounter situations that require you to use special forms to get more information about household income. Sometimes, you’ll need to get household members to complete and sign these forms. These forms can be the right documentation to prove to your state housing agency and the IRS that a household meets the tax credit program’s income-eligibility requirements.

Site managers have to deal with countless situations presented to them by residents, one of which is shared custody of children. A low-income household may report to you that its members include children who are covered by a joint custody arrangement—that is, the children live part of the time with the household and part of the time with their parent (or other legal guardian) who doesn’t live in the unit or at your site. For example, a household head may report that she has two sons who will be living in the unit during the week and with their father on weekends.