Q & A | Are Sporadic Car Payments Made for a Household Periodic Income?

Question from a Blog Reader

"I have a resident who is receiving monthly help from relatives to pay car payments. The problem is that the help comes from different people at different times. As the payments are coming from different sources every month I think that they may be sporadic, not periodic. Should the payments be counted?"

Answer

Summary: We think that these payments are periodic receipts and should be counted as income.
According to the HUD Handbook 4350.3 5-6 (G)(1) &(3), "owners must count as income any regular contributions and gifts from persons not living in the unit. These sources may include rent and utility payments paid on behalf of the family, and other cash or noncash contributions provided on a regular basis." However, it goes on to say that "temporary, nonrecurring, or sporadic income (including gifts) is not counted." We understand that the specific payments may be viewed as sporadic, in that it is unknown who specifically will be paying any given month. However, in our opinion, the nature of the obligation to pay the car payments is periodic as they must be met monthly, and history demonstrates that they have been met periodically.

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