Eligibility Criteria

To participate in the security deposit guarantee or security deposit program an applicant shall satisfy the department that all of the following criteria are met: (a) The applicant meets one of the following requirements of financial eligibility: (1) The applicant is a current recipient of temporary family assistance (TFA), diversion assistance pursuant to section 17b-112g of the Connecticut General Statutes, state-administered general assistance (SAGA), refugee assistance, aid to the aged, blind or disabled (AABD), food stamps, Safety Net services pursuant to section 17b-112e of the Connecticut General Statutes, or Medicaid or (2) The annual gross income of the applicant and his or her household, excluding assets, does not exceed 150% of the federal poverty income guidelines (for the household's size) as established by the federal Department of Health and Human Services. (b) The applicant meets one of the following requirements of categorical eligibility: (1) The applicant holds a federal Section 8 housing choice voucher or holds a certificate from the Rental Assistance Program, the Transitionary Rental Assistance Program or any other rental assistance program operated by the department, that was issued while the applicant was on the waiting list of any of the aforementioned rental assistance programs within the six months prior to filing a security deposit guarantee or security deposit application pursuant to section 17b-802-5 of the Regulations of Connecticut State Agencies, or (2) The applicant is currently residing in emergency housing or an emergency shelter in Connecticut, or (3) The applicant cannot remain in permanent housing because: (A) The applicant has received a notice to quit, or a judgment has been entered against the applicant in a summary process action instituted pursuant to chapter 832 of the Connecticut General Statutes, provided the action was not based on criminal activity, or a judgment has been entered against the applicant in a foreclosure action pursuant to chapter 846 of the Connecticut General Statutes and the time limit for redemption has passed; (B) The applicant has left his or her permanent housing to escape domestic violence; (C) A catastrophic event, such as a fire or flood, has occurred within the 60 days prior to the application date and has made the permanent housing uninhabitable or the applicant has been ordered to vacate the permanent housing by a local code enforcement official within said 60 days; (D) The applicant has been issued a new federal Section 8 housing choice voucher or a new certificate from the Rental Assistance Program, the Transitionary Rental Assistance Program or any other rental assistance program operated by the department because the applicant resides in a unit assisted under any of the aforementioned rental assistance programs which has failed a housing quality standards inspection when that failure was the responsibility of the owner and the owner refused to correct the conditions causing the failure; (E) The applicant shares a dwelling unit with a primary tenant who is being evicted or who engages in criminal activity; (F) The applicant was illegally locked out by the landlord and has filed a police complaint concerning the lockout; (G) The applicant has been living with a tenant who received a preliminary notice under section 47a-15 of the Connecticut General Statutes or a notice to quit because of termination of a rental agreement for lapse of time; or (H) The applicant has left the permanent housing because a child in his or her family who resided in the dwelling unit with the applicant has been found to have a level of lead in the blood equal to or greater than twenty micrograms per deciliter of blood or any other abnormal body of lead and the local director of health has determined, after an epidemiological investigation pursuant to section 19a-111 of the Connecticut General Statutes, that the source of the lead poisoning was the dwelling unit in which the child resided with the applicant. (c) The applicant has found a rental dwelling unit in Connecticut of which the applicant and the landlord conduct an inspection, which the landlord represents to the department to meet local housing code enforcement laws, and which is intended to be occupied as permanent housing. (d) The department determines that the applicant's household can reasonably be expected to afford the monthly rental charge of the dwelling unit. (e) The applicant is precluded from occupying the otherwise affordable dwelling unit due to a security deposit requirement which is beyond the current financial means of the applicant.