Disability may be verified only as to whether the person meets the programme definition; the nature and extent of the disability may not be asked, and the EIV disability status may not be used

s8.certification.disability_verification_limits · v1.0.0

An owner may verify disability to determine whether a family or person meets the definition of disability used for project eligibility, a preference or an allowance, or to identify a need for accessible features or a reasonable accommodation. The owner may not specifically ask for or verify the nature and extent of the disability. Verification may be sought on a third-party form sent to an appropriate source -- a physician, psychologist, clinical social worker, other licensed health care provider, or the Veterans Administration -- signed by the applicant authorising release; the form should carry the definitions of disability used for eligibility and rent and ask the source to state whether the applicant meets them, so that the owner makes no judgement about whether a condition is a disability and does not receive prohibited information. Receipt of social security disability payments is adequate verification for the programmes that use definition E, and an applicant who meets the Social Security definition is eligible even without receiving benefits, although that does not hold for Section 202 or 811 projects, which use a different definition. Because the Disability Status shown in EIV is not always accurate, owners must not use it to determine eligibility as disabled or entitlement to the elderly/disabled household allowance, and must obtain current tenant-provided documentation or verification directly from the Social Security office. Receipt of veterans' disability benefits does not automatically qualify a person as disabled, because the VA and SSA define disability differently.

Confidence

high

Effective from

2013-08-07

Last reviewed

2026-09-01