HUD Handbook 7465.1 § 3-4

a.      POLICY

            (1)   PHAs must consider an applicant to be an elderly
                  family if the head of the household or the spouse
                  or the sole member is:

                  (a)   at least 62 years old;
                           or
                  (b)   disabled;
                           or
                  (c)   handicapped.

            (2)   PHAs must also consider households composed of two
                  or more persons each of whom is at least 62 years
                  old, disabled, or handicapped to be an elderly
                  family.

            (3)   The PHA may not establish a minimum age (like 50
                  or 55) for a handicapped or disabled person to
                  qualify as an elderly family.

            (4)   An elderly family may include one or more live-in
                  care attendants, as necessary.

    b.      DISCUSSION

            (1)   Definitions

                  (a)   A person is disabled if the person has a
                        disability defined in:

                   o    Section 223 of the Social Security Act
                        or
                   o    Section 102 (b)(5) of the Developmental
                        Disabilities Services and Facilities
                        Construction Amendments of 1970.

       These definitions can be found in Appendix 3.

             (b)   A person is handicapped if the person has a
                   physical or mental impairment which:

o     is expected to be of long-continued and
                         indefinite duration;
                              and
                    o    substantially impedes his or her ability
                   to live independently;
                              and
                    o    is of such a nature that such ability
                         could be improved by more suitable
                         housing conditions.

       (2)   The PHA may determine whether to permit single
             persons who are qualifying as an elderly family on
             the basis of age to be put on the waiting list
             before reaching age 62. If the PHA decides to
             permit it, the policy must be uniform (e.g., any
             otherwise qualified single applicant who is at
             least 61 must be put on the waiting list). The
             PHA must make sure that any single person who is
             qualifying on the basis of age and is not yet 62
             is not admitted before reaching that age.

       (3)   If a member of the household other than the head
             or spouse is over 62, disabled, or handicapped,
             the household does not qualify as an elderly
             family. The following are not elderly families:

             (a)   A three-generation family consisting of a
                   grandmother, mother, and daughter. The
                   mother is the head of household and the
                   grandmother is 70.

             (b)   A mother and her 17-year old son.   The son is
                   handicapped.

                   (While neither would be an elderly family,
                   both of these households would qualify as a
                   family, however.)

       (4)   There is significant overlap in the definitions of
             disabled and handicapped. A number of people may

                  qualify under both. This does not make them any
                  more of an elderly family.

                  While it is not usually a practical concern, the
                  emphasis in the social security definition of
                  disabled is on "inability to engage in any
                  substantial gainful activity". Therefore,
                  "disabled" may indicate difficulty working. The
                  emphasis in the definition of handicapped is on
                  "substantially impedes his or her ability to live
                  independently". Therefore, "handicapped"
                  indicates difficulty living independently.

            (5)   The PHA my consider an applicant receiving social
                  security disability benefits or supplemental
                  security income (SSI) disability benefits to be
                  disabled under HUD's definition.

(6)   An applicant receiving veterans disability benefits
                  does not necessarily qualify as disabled under
                  HUD's definition.

            (7)   An applicant who is not receiving disability
                  benefits or whose disability benefits have been
                  discontinued may or may not qualify under the HUD
                  definitions of disabled and handicapped. The PHA
                  would have to consider other pertinent factors in
                  determining whether the applicant would qualify
                  under HUD's definitions.

            (8)   The presence of a live-in attendant does not, by
                  itself, make a family an elderly family.

            (9)   After admission, a household must continue to
                  qualify as an elderly family at the time of the
                  reexamination in order to get the benefit of the
                  deduction for elderly families and in order to
                  have medical expenses considered in determining
                  rent.

                  These families would not be considered elderly at
                  the time of the reexamination:

                  (a)   The 60-year-old widow of a man who was 65 when
                        he died. They were public housing tenants at
                        the time of his death.

                  (b)   A disabled person who "recovers".

            (10) After admission, a handicapped or disabled person
                 who "recovers" can remain in public housing, but
                 is no longer considered an "elderly family".

       c.   REFERENCES
            U.S. Housing Act of 1937, Sections 3(a) and 3(b)(3)
            24 CFR 912.2