Can I Still Qualify for Food Stamps if I Buy or Rent?

Many people on food stamps rent, though a much smaller proportion own a house or other property. Federal food assistance (now called the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program or SNAP, instead of "food stamps") is meant to help low-income people buy healthy food; hence, you do not have to be impoverished to qualify.

Program Purpose

• SNAP is a federal program administered by state governments. SNAP provides extra money for Americans to buy healthy food to round out their diets; SNAP is not meant to cover beneficiaries' entire grocery bill. In 2010, SNAP provided monthly benefits to more than 40 million people in the U.S.

Eligibility

• Monthly income is the single most important factor in figuring your eligibility for SNAP benefits and your monthly allotment. Your household must make less than 130 percent of the federal poverty rate per month to qualify. In the 2011 fiscal year, 130 percent meant $1,174 for one person, $1,579 for two people and $2,389 for a family of four. Other financial resources, such as bank accounts, can affect your eligibility as well.

Calculating Benefits

• SNAP publishes a guide to estimating your allotment, though only a state case worker can approve your application and assign you an amount. Your monthly income -- called gross income -- is subjected to a list of deductions (20 percent earned income deduction, standard deduction, dependent care costs, child support, medical costs for elderly and disabled, rent or other shelter costs) which figure your net income. The lower your net income, the higher your food assistance benefits.

Rent

• Rent is factored into your food stamps allotment. The application will ask how much you spend on rent or other shelter each month. If the amount is more than half of your income, the amount over half can be deducted from your income when figuring your benefit allotment. For example, if you make $1,000 in a month and pay $600 in rent, your case worker will deduct $100 from your gross income when figuring your SNAP benefits.

Houses and Other Property

• If you own your house, condominium, lot, motor home or any other shelter, ownership cannot disqualify you for food assistance. The SNAP application will ask how much you pay each month in mortgage or other property-related loans, and you may actually be able to deduct some of those payments from your gross income. While a savings account with $20,000 will be counted as an available resource and may disqualify you from food assistance, owning a house worth $100,000 will not count against you.