Chapter 5: Rebate Applications
January 2018
Contents
References
Definitions
Applying for a Rental Rebate
New Tenancy
Automatic Fixed Rent Review (AFRR)
Six monthly (automated) contact reviews
Income Confirmation errors and discrepancies
Changes in Circumstances
Request for further documentation
No response to contact review, change in circumstances and request for further documentation letters
Automatic rebate cancellation
Standard procedure for staff processing rental rebate applications
Check the rental rebate application for completeness
Check the signature
Request for further documentation
Capturing the application in HiiP
Assessing a rental rebate application in HiiP
Sign up
Automatic Fixed Rent Review (Income confirmation and non-income confirmation households)
Manual assessments
Rebate assessments requiring manager approval
Rebate assessments for vacated accounts
Manual rebate cancellation
Age reviews
Quality assurance of rebate assessments
Specific Circumstances
When a tenant, resident or a dependant of a tenant dies
Household Member moves out – separation of a couple in a joint tenancy
Tenant or household member moves out
Household member moves out and then returns
Carers
Overseas students
Visitors
Fraud is suspected
Rental Subsidies
Introduction
Circumstances in which rental subsidies may be applied
Property related rental subsidies
Client related rental subsidies
VCAT or the department’s Legal Services Branch determinations
Fire/Flood
Estate improvement/minor property repair
Market rents and tenant relocation
Resident Liaison Officer
Resident Caretaker
Deferred rent payable (commencement of tenancy)
Specific circumstances
100 year old tenant
Tenants under 18 years of age
Sponsored migrants and those subject to the Centrelink two year waiting period
Residents on a temporary or bridging visa
Tenant or resident temporarily absent
Temporarily absent parent
Documentation required
Tenant temporarily absent – not returning
Neighbourhood Renewal
Neighbourhood renewal subsidy
Transfers between properties
General management of subsidies
HSM/HM approved subsidies
System applied subsidies
Expiry of Subsidy
Subsidy statuses
Subsidy Status and Recommendations in HiiP
Revision History
Version / Amended section / Effective / Details1.0 / September 2017 / Incorporation of 'version control table'
Accessible format
2.0 / Rebate assessments requiring manager approval
Quality assurance of rebate assessments / January 2018 / Update to staff delegations for credit backdate rebate assessments
Update to rebate audit procedure by local office
References
Symbol / ReferenceAFRR / Automatic Fixed Rent Review
DOH / Director of Housing
The department / Department of Health and Human Services
FRED / Fixed Rent Effective Date
ICS / Income Confirmation Service
VCAT / Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal
Definitions
Acronym / DefinitionHiiP / Housing integrated information program
FRED / Fixed Rent Effective Date
AFRR / Automatic Fixed Rent Review. This is the process that calculates rent and sends letter to the tenant confirming rent amount payable for the next fixed rent period.
IC / Income Confirmation
HSO / Housing Services Officer
HSM / Housing Services Manager
FSO / Field Services Officer
RLO / Resident Liaison Officer
VCAT / Victorian Civil Administrative Tribunal
RTA / Residential Tenancies Act
DOH / Director of Housing
DHHS / Department of Health and Human Services
NRA / Neighbourhood Renewal area
CJP / Community Jobs Program
Applying for a Rental Rebate
Eligibility for a rental rebate based on household income is determined via an application and assessment process. The process for applying for a rental rebate depends on the circumstances of the tenancy as outlined below.
Fundamental to being considered for a rental rebate is the obligation on the tenant/s to advise changes in household income and/or composition with supporting evidence at the time these changes occur.
New Tenancy
When an offer of housing is accepted, the Department of Health and Human Services (the department) will require current income and asset information for the household.
Subsequently, eligibility for a rebate will be assessed in the Housing Integrated Information Program (HiiP) as part of the sign up process.
Automatic Fixed Rent Review (AFRR)
Consent by a client to use the Income Confirmation Service from Centrelink is taken to include an ongoing application for assessment of eligibility for a rental rebate as outlined in the Income Confirmation Chapter.
Centrelink and the Department of Veterans’ Affairs change pensions, benefits, allowances and family payment rates at various times of the year.
The rebated rents of households receiving these payments are reviewed and adjusted by the department to reflect the new income rates.
The department requests a download of information from Centrelink on a set date, including income, assets and some household details for all clients who have given consent.
Tenants are notified by mail before increases in rent are applied and rent deductions are automatically adjusted for households who pay their rent by direct debit prior to the Fixed Rent Effective Date (FRED).
Six monthly (automated) contact reviews
The rent of some households rent cannot be determined solely using the income confirmation service, for example, where a household member is working or chooses not to use the income confirmation, and are required to lodge an ‘Application for Rebated Rent’ form and provide supporting documentation identified in the ‘Guide to completing the Application for Rebated Rent’ at least twice per year.
To assist tenants, an ‘Automated contact review’ letter is issued by the department to the tenant along with an ‘Application for Rebated Rent’ and a guide every six months. The letter advises the tenant has 28 days to respond and submit the required documentation.[1][2]
Income Confirmation errors and discrepancies
When client income information between the department and Centrelink is inconsistent, an ‘Income confirmation error discrepancy’ letter is automatically sent to the tenant requesting them to confirm their household details.
Limited exclusions apply. For example, DVA clients with stable incomes may be excluded from the review process.
The tenant has 28 days to respond and submit the required documentation.
Refer to the Income Confirmation Service Chapter< more information regarding errors and discrepancies
Changes in Circumstances
When a tenant notifies the department or the department becomes aware of a change in household or income:
•an ‘Income verification’ letter can be sent requesting the tenant to confirm household details
•a ‘Request for further documentation’ letter can be sent when further documents are required where an incomplete ‘Application for Rebated Rent’ has been received.[3]
•Where a tenant wishes to add a new household member or dependent to the household, in addition to the income and asset information required for a rebate assessment, the following documents should also be provided:
•proof of identity documents for any new household member over 15 years of age who receives an independent income
•where the new household member is a dependent child:
•a Medicare Card, or Health Care Card, and
•a copy of the birth certificate or extract.
•where the dependents are not the children of household members, for example where the tenant has custody of their grandchild, documentation confirming the tenant is their guardian must be provided, that is, Centrelink documentation confirming that the tenant receives payments for the child, or a solicitor’s letters.
Request for further documentation
Where the department has previously sent correspondence requesting income information which provided a document due date and rebate cancellation date, a request for further documentation letter sent does not give the tenant an additional 28 days to submit documentation.
No response to contact review, change in circumstances and request for further documentation letters
Failure by the tenant to respond to the department’s ‘Automated contact review’ or ‘Request for further documentation’ letters and submit the required documentation within 28 days results in a reminder letter being sent advising the tenant that they will be charged full market rent from the next FRED.
Automatic rebate cancellation
Where the tenant fails to respond to the department’s letters prior to the commencement of the new fixed rent period, the rebated rent is cancelled and the rent payable is set to the market rent. A letter is sent to the tenant to advise them that the rebate has been cancelled.
Note: if an ‘Income verification’ or ‘Request for further documentation’, for a tenancy that doesn’t already have a document due date, letter is issued and the 28 day document due date falls within the next fixed rent period, the rebate cancellation date will be the future FRED, not the immediate FRED. When the documentation is provided, the rent charged will be reassessed retrospectively to the effective date of the change as per the fixed rent policy.
Standard procedure for staff processing rental rebate applications
Check the rental rebate application for completeness
After an ‘Application for Rebated Rent’has been received, date stamp the application, including every page of each supporting document, with the date it was received at the local office.
Date stamp and complete the customer receipt on the front page of the application and provide it to the client. If the client requests a copy of the completed application, photocopy the full application.
After receiving an application and before entering the data in HiiP make sure that:
- the name, date of birth, type of income and amount of income received, Centrelink reference number (if applicable) has been recorded and relationship to the tenant sections for all household members have been completed
- the reason for lodging the application has been completed
- if someone other than a tenant has filled in the form they have filled in the relevant section on the application (Section B Q2)
- the Statutory declaration has been witnessed by an authorised person
- the Statutory declaration has been signed by each tenant or the tenant's representative
- current documentation has been included with the application to confirm the income of all household members, showing the commencement date of the income received and any changes to that income received
- the Centrelink Consent form has been completed by all eligible household members who wish to participate in Centrelink’s Income Confirmation Service
Check the signature
All signatories to the Residential Tenancy Agreement are required to sign the ‘Application for Rebated Rent’.
The tenant(s) may require a representative to sign the application where:
- the tenant is unable to read and write in English
- the tenant has a disability that makes it difficult for them to fill in the form
- the tenant’s financial and legal affairs are administered by State Trustees or an appointed guardian.
Under the Evidence Act 1958, and the Evidence (Affidavits and Statutory Declarations) Regulations 1990, Statutory Declarations may be witnessed by prescribed officers, for example, Justice of the Peace, Pharmacist, Police Officer or Medical Practitioner, some public servants VPS grade 2 and above; including Housing Services Officers (HSOs) are also able to act as witnesses to the Statutory Declaration.
Check the signature on the application with the tenants’ signatures on the previous rebate application (if there is one), and the tenancy agreement.
Where signatures do not match and there is no record of a representative of the tenant signing the application, contact the tenant and ask them to provide further identification.
Check whether the details on the application match the details provided on a previous rebate application. For example, check whether the tenant's new application includes a resident in the household who was not previously listed on a rebate application or if the resident listed is not the same person.
In addition, check whether the tenant's new application includes income that was not listed on the previous application. If there is no documentation indicating when the change occurred, contact the tenant and request further documentation to establish the effective date(s).
Request for further documentation
If the ‘Application for Rebated Rent’ is incomplete in terms of the above criteria, any additional documentation or information required must be requested within 14 days of receipt.
Once all documentation has been provided, the rental rebate should be assessed within 28 days. That is, if all documentation was provided originally, the assessment should be completed within 28 days of the application being lodged.
Where additional information was required, the rental rebate should be assessed within 28 days of receipt of the last piece of requested documentation.
Capturing the application in HiiP
Following the receipt of an ‘Application for Rebated Rent’, enter the information from the application into HiiP then scan and upload the application form and all accompanying documents
Assessing a rental rebate application in HiiP
Sign up
Before commencing the sign up, reconfirm if there are any changes in income or household details. All changes must be made in the Housing application so eligibility for housing can be reassessed.
Once eligibility has been confirmed, commence the sign up process in HiiP and create the rebate application.
Confirm all necessary documentation and complete the HiiP checklist. Where additional information is required, contact the applicant prior to sign up to ensure all necessary income and asset documents have been provided.
Capture the income and asset details for each household member in HiiP client register and scan and upload the documentation against each client in HiiP.
Confirm income and household changes have been correctly loaded in HiiP.
Using the assess button HiiP calculates the rebate and rental charge.
Check default rent effective date and set it to Next Sunday (as rent is charged from the Sunday following the tenancy start date). Save and finalise.
Check rent details, select Approve application and Save.
Automatic Fixed Rent Review (Income confirmation and non-income confirmation households)
For the Automatic Fixed Rent Review, the department requests from Centrelink, on a set date, a download of income, asset and some household details for all clients who have given consent.
Where the household details provided by Centrelink are consistent with the information held by the department, HiiP automatically applies the rental rebate assessment rules to calculate the household rent payable for the next Fixed Rent period. HiiP then generates a letter to these tenancies with details of the new rent payable, the date from which it is payable and stores these details to take effect from the FRED.
Households with clients who are not participating in or are not eligible to participate in IC have their rent recalculated based on the current household and income details, including any stored assessments resulting from a contact review.
Tenants are notified by mail before increases in rent are applied and rent deductions are automatically adjusted for households who pay their rent by direct debit prior to the FRED.
Manual assessments
For manual assessments there are 4 steps in the process and a HiiP screen to manage each of those steps.
Checklist: Confirm all necessary documentation has been provided. Where additional information is required generate a request via HiiP for further documentation.
Household: View and update household composition over time, capture income and asset details for each household member (which are entered in the HiiP client register) and scan and upload the documentation against each client in HiiP.
Income and household changes are entered on the date the change occurred.
Centrelink CPI changes that occur in January, March, July and September should also be entered. For example, Age Pension- pension reform income increased from 329.20 to 335.45 effective 20 March 2011.
The deemed interest calculator determines weekly amounts per client, not for a couple. Split the asset equally between the couple prior to using the deemed interest calculator.
Confirm income and household changes have been correctly loaded in HiiP.
HiiP determines rent assessment periods based on the changes entered and fixed rent effective dates. Changes prior to 1 October 2000 are assigned to Client Services and Programs branch via the HiiP rebate application workflow.
Using the assess button HiiP calculates the rebate and rental charge for each period.
A number of income and household Validation Checks occur.
Rent is calculated per client, for all tenants and residents aged 18 years and over, by adding all of assessable their incomes, applying rebate rates (25 per cent & 15 per cent) and rounding down to the nearest five cents. Each client’s rent share is added to determine the rebated rent payable.