Subdivision 1.Vendor payment.

(a) Effective July 1, 1997, when a county is required to provide assistance to a participant in vendor form for shelter costs and utilities under this chapter or chapter 256D, the cost of utilities for a given family may be assumed to be:

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Terms Used In Minnesota Statutes 256J.395

  • Agency: has the meaning given in section 256P. See Minnesota Statutes 256J.08
  • Applicant: means a person who has submitted to a county agency an application and whose application has not been acted upon, denied, or voluntarily withdrawn. See Minnesota Statutes 256J.08
  • Contract: A legal written agreement that becomes binding when signed.
  • County agency: means the agency designated by the county board to implement financial assistance for current programs and for MFIP and the agency responsible for enforcement of child support collection, and a county or multicounty agency that is authorized under sections 393. See Minnesota Statutes 256J.08
  • Deed: The legal instrument used to transfer title in real property from one person to another.
  • Family: includes :

    (1) the following individuals who live together: a minor child or a group of minor children related to each other as siblings, half siblings, stepsiblings, or adoptive siblings, together with their natural, adoptive parents, stepparents, or caregiver as defined in subdivision 11; and

    (2) a pregnant woman with no other children. See Minnesota Statutes 256J.08

  • MFIP: means the assistance program authorized in this chapter. See Minnesota Statutes 256J.08
  • Mortgage: The written agreement pledging property to a creditor as collateral for a loan.
  • Participant: includes any of the following:

    (1) a person who is currently receiving cash assistance or the food portion available through MFIP;

    (2) a person who withdraws a cash or food assistance payment by electronic transfer or receives and cashes an MFIP assistance check or food coupons and is subsequently determined to be ineligible for assistance for that period of time is a participant, regardless whether that assistance is repaid;

    (3) the caregiver relative and the minor child whose needs are included in the assistance payment;

    (4) a person in an assistance unit who does not receive a cash and food assistance payment because the case has been suspended from MFIP; and

    (5) a person who receives cash payments under family stabilization services under section 256J. See Minnesota Statutes 256J.08

  • Shelter costs: means rent, manufactured home lot rental costs, or monthly principal, interest, insurance premiums, and property taxes due for mortgages or contracts for deed. See Minnesota Statutes 256J.08
  • state: extends to and includes the District of Columbia and the several territories. See Minnesota Statutes 645.44
  • Vendor: means a provider of goods or services. See Minnesota Statutes 256J.08
  • Vendor payment: means a payment authorized by a county agency to a vendor. See Minnesota Statutes 256J.08

(1) the average of the actual monthly cost of utilities for that family for the prior 12 months at the family’s current residence, if applicable;

(2) the monthly plan amount, if any, set by the local utilities for that family at the family’s current residence; or

(3) the estimated monthly utility costs for the dwelling in which the family currently resides.

(b) For purposes of this section, “utility” means any of the following: municipal water and sewer service; electric, gas, or heating fuel service; or wood, if that is the heating source.

(c) In any instance where a vendor payment for rent is directed to a landlord not legally entitled to the payment, the county social services agency shall immediately institute proceedings to collect the amount of the vendored rent payment, which shall be considered a debt under section 270A.03, subdivision 5.

Subd. 2.Vendor payment notification.

(a) When a county agency is required to provide assistance to a participant in vendor payment form for shelter costs or utilities under subdivision 1, and the participant does not give the agency the information needed to pay the vendor, the county agency shall notify the participant of the intent to terminate assistance by mail at least ten days before the effective date of the adverse action.

(b) The notice of action shall include a request for information about:

(1) the amount of the participant’s shelter costs or utilities;

(2) the due date of the shelter costs or utilities; and

(3) the name and address of the landlord, contract for deed holder, mortgage company, and utility vendor.

(c) If the participant fails to provide the requested information by the effective date of the adverse action, the county must terminate the MFIP grant. If the applicant or participant verifies they do not have shelter costs or utility obligations, the county shall not terminate assistance if the assistance unit is otherwise eligible.

Subd. 3.Discontinuing vendor payments due to dispute with landlord.

The county agency shall discontinue vendor payments for shelter costs imposed under this chapter when the vendor payment interferes with the participant’s right to withhold rent due to a dispute with the participant’s landlord in accordance with federal, state, or local housing laws.