At long last, HUD has published a letter confirming that ABLE Accounts (and money coming in and out of them) will not adversely affect eligibility for housing benefits. Read the HUD letter here.
The letter states that: "Per the mandate of the ABLE Act, for the purpose of determining eligibility and continued occupancy, HUD will disregard amounts in the designated beneficiary’s/individual’s ABLE account."
The Achieving Better Life Experience (ABLE) Act (P.L. 113-295.) was signed into law on December 19, 2014. The ABLE Act allows States to establish and maintain a program under which contributions may be made to a tax-advantaged ABLE savings account to provide for the qualified disability expenses of the designated beneficiary of the account. The designated beneficiary must be a person with disabilities, whose disability began prior to his or her 26th birthday and who meets the statutory eligibility requirements.
The HUD letter confirms that ABLE Act's federally mandated exclusion for ABLE accounts is applicable to HUD programs. It goes on to specify that, when determining a family’s income, HUD will exclude the entire value of the individual’s ABLE account. Actual or imputed interest on the ABLE account balance will not be counted as income. Distributions from the ABLE account are also not considered income.
This is great news and helpful information for people with ABLE Accounts who are in some form of subsidized housing. Make sure to spread the word.