2.1 Application and Initial Eligibility

POLICY

Households wishing to receive rent-geared-to-income assistance in the Manitoulin-Sudbury District Services Board jurisdiction will apply at any local DSB office.  Applications will be screened in accordance with eligibility requirements established both provincially and locally. If the household meets all eligibility requirements, it will be added to the central waiting list that is managed and maintained by the Service Manager.
 

PROCEDURE

Applications 

General 

Application for housing assistance can be made at any Manitoulin-Sudbury DSB location.  Applications are accepted in person, via telephone, fax, email, or using the paper application available at a local office or on the DSB website.

Persons applying will be asked a series of pre-screening questions. (reference application)  The screening questions will determine the applicant’s ranking on the waiting list for housing.  Applications are ranked according to Provincial and local priority using a needs-based approach. 

Priority ranking is as follows: 

1. Victims of Family violence or human trafficking (Provincially mandated)
2. Homelessness – local priority
3. Senior – local priority
4. Income/Assets 

Verification of information provided will not be required at screening.

Applicants are encouraged to supply the DSB with updated information should their circumstances change. 

From time-to-time, DSB staff will contact current applicants to ensure that their information is current. 

Applicant contact is contingent upon the information as supplied at the time of application, or at the periodic update as performed by the Service Manager  (DSB).  Should DSB staff not be able to reach an applicant with the information supplied, the application will be cancelled.  The applicant can reapply at any time without sufficient disruption to the ranking given the needs-based ranking method.

Screening

Before being formally offered accommodation, applicants will be screened to verify information submitted at application.  At this time, applicants will be requested to supply verification documents to the DSB to validate all income and assets. 

Applicants who are deemed to meet the eligibility requirement for the intended vacancy (RGI, Affordable, Market or DSS), will then be offered the intended unit or subsidy available.  Information for other screened applicants will be kept on file.

Review of Eligibility

On an annual basis, Residents who are not Social Assistance Recipients (SAR) will be requested to supply updated information on their income and assets to determine the correct rental amount. These residents will receive an update request starting 6-months prior to the anniversary date of their most current lease agreement

Should a resident not respond, 2nd requests will be sent 5-months in advance of the anniversary date, and 3rd (final) requests will be sent 4-months in advance.

After the final request, residents who do not respond are subject to notice to the market rent value for non-compliance.

Information for Social Assistance Recipients (SAR) who are not employed, or do not have dependents will be updated once every 36 months. 

Cessation of Eligibility 

A household would cease to be eligible for RGI assistance, whether or not the household is actually receiving such assistance, if: 

• the DSB or a Housing Provider discovers that, at the time of the initial or a previous determination of eligibility, the household did not meet an eligibility requirement as outlined in these procedural guidelines;
• the household has ceased to meet, or does not meet, an eligibility requirement as set out in these procedural guidelines;
• the household has been deemed to be over-housed, has subsequently been added to either the internal or the central waiting list, and has either refused one valid offers of a transfer, or who has requested that their name be removed from said waiting list;
• if, for a period of twenty-four consecutive months, the geared-to-income rent payable by a household for the unit it occupies, is equivalent to the rent that would be payable for the unit by a household not receiving RGI assistance.

Consequences of Cessation of Eligibility

1. If the DSB or a Housing Provider determines that a household receiving RGI assistance has ceased to be eligible:
   • The DSB or the Housing Provider shall cease to provide RGI assistance in respect of the household, beginning with the month as outlined below (#2);
   • The household shall pay rent for the unit it occupies at the rate at which rent is payable for the unit by a household not receiving RGI assistance, beginning with the month as outlined below (#2). 
2. The month as of which the provision of RGI assistance must cease and the payment of the higher rent must begin is the month immediately following the ninetieth (90th) day after the date the DSB or the Housing Provider gives the household written notice of the decision that the household has ceased to be eligible for RGI assistance.

Reapplication - Ineligibility

A household that is determined by the DSB or a Housing Provider to be ineligible for RGI assistance because of offences under Section 55 of the current Act, or section 85 of the former Act, or a crime under the Criminal Code (Canada) in relation to the receipt of RGI (i.e. fraud), or the Landlord and Tenant Board may not reapply for RGI assistance for a period of two years. 

Eligibility Requirements for Special Needs Units 

1. A household is eligible for special needs housing if one or more of its members require accessibility modifications in order to live independently in the community.
2. A household does not need to be eligible for RGI assistance in order to be eligible for special needs housing.