u/lil_liberal

My spouse just lost their job and I am disabled but am only pending SSI approval, so at the moment we have no income. We do live with in-laws, and they have been nice enough to not charge us rent while we have been trying to get back on our feet (lol *cries*).

I am currently filling out the application and it’s asking about rent…anyone have experience being denied due to not paying rent and therefore not being perceived as “poor enough” to receive Medicaid?

I am also not sure whether or not “other people in your home (NOT “household“)“ would need to include my in-laws…this is far more complicated if it must, because then I would have to have all of their financial info I imagine, and…well they’re somewhat well off (Middle Class), but aside from not charging us rent, we are not receiving help from them, so that would of course be unfair but I wouldn’t be surprised if I am required to list them (which would be a waste of time—if I must list them and their finances, this isn’t even worth doing).

Any advice or clarity on this rent issue is much appreciated.

note: drafting up a “rent agreement” is not an option. since we are not paying rent, my in-laws would absolutely refuse to sign anything that says we are, even if it will help us get medical assistance.

I am disabled (though still haven’t been approved for disability—no surprise there) and my spouse just lost their job through a “firing” due to “performance issues” (the company got bought out and a bunch of people got fired, and they’re also paying my partner 2 weeks of pay *without requiring them to work,* which sounds more like a layoff, so we are going to apply anyway).

My question is…has anyone suspected that they got denied because they don’t pay rent? We live with my in-laws (due to financial issues) and at the moment they do not charge us rent, though we do pay utilities. My friend recently applied for SNAP and said he thinks it would be very unlikey that we would get aprroved for SNAP (even with zero income right now) if we don’t have some document showing we pay rent…because he lives with my friend and they had to type up a document with a rent price and both he and my friend (home owner) had to sign it.

But…SNAP is paid for by taxes where technically unemployment insurance is specifically taken out of our paychecks. However I don’t have confidence that our government would honor the fact that we are basically just asking for our own money, until my partner finds another job. I’m afraid not reporting rent might fuck us over…

”Just lie!” Yes, well…my in-laws are Conservative Christian’s and there’s no way in hell they’d sign a document saying we’re paying rent when we aren’t.