Help me fill out my FAFA

June 3, 2009 8:31 PM

On my FAFSA, do I need to somehow include the fact that my friends let me stay with them without paying rent?

So I'm filling out my FAFSA (I know, I know, I should have done it a while ago) and I get to the question 47g, which is mostly about clergy and the military who receive housing benefits as part of their stipend. But I'm wondering if that (or the question about any other bills paid on my behalf) would apply to my situation. Essentially, I didn't pay rent for any part of 2008 because I was visiting friends for a while and then because I was living with friends who let me stay with them without paying rent. I did pay for food and utilities, but the reason I didn't pay rent was because the house was full and so the landlord couldn't know I was living there. Also, I was just sleeping in my friend's (really large) closet. So it was probably illegal (at least in terms of the housing code/occupancy) that I was staying there. But my financial situation doesn't really make sense without considering that I wasn't paying rent. I want to be honest on my FAFSA but I really don't know if this applies. Do you know?

posted by overglow to Law & Government (4 answers total)

Does not apply. You weren't having your expenses paid for you, because you had no expenses; crashing in a closet isn't the same as having someone else write the check for your place.
posted by ellF at 8:40 PM on June 3, 2009

The Department of Education discusses this slightly in their FAQ:

Q. What if I live with a girlfriend or boyfriend who pays the rent?
A. You should not report any information for a friend or roommate unless the two of you are actually married or are considered to have a common-law marriage under state law. You must report in Question 47(j) any cash support given by the friend, except food and housing. You would have to report the rent the roommate paid on your behalf.

Q. What's the difference between cash support and in-kind support?
A. Cash support is support given either in the form of money or money that is paid on your (the student's) behalf. You must report cash support as untaxed income. Thus, if a friend or relative gives you grocery money, it must be reported as untaxed income in Question 47 (j) If the friend or relative pays your electric bill or part of your rent, you must also report those payments.

Examples of in-kind support are free food or housing that a family receives, usually in exchange for work or services. You usually don't report such support.

However, the application does require you to report the value of housing a family receives as compensation for a job. The most common example is free housing or a housing allowance provided to military personnel or members of the clergy, which is required to be reported in Question 47(g).

I'd say it's pretty clear that you shouldn't report it under 47(g). The question is whether you should report it under 47(j). Can it be said that part of the money they paid for rent is really money paid on your behalf?
posted by grouse at 8:42 PM on June 3, 2009 [1 favorite]

My guess is that you don't include them because they were not compensation or an allowance for membership in a group (military, clergy) or a job (i.e., on site housing for off shore oil rig workers ... or something). The question seems to contemplate compensation rather than gifts. However, the housing issues are another topic.

Or ... Get help from fafsa directly:
http://www.fafsa.ed.gov/faq012.htm

or email them:
[e-mail]

The question for reference:

Housing, food and other living allowances. Enter the amount of housing, food and other living allowances provided to you or your spouse. These allowances must be reported when they are part of a compensation package that some people, particularly clergy and military personnel, receive for their jobs. Include cash payments and cash value of benefits. If you received free room and board for a job that was not awarded as federal student aid, you must report the value of the room and board as untaxed income. (This category, "housing allowances," excludes rent subsidies for low-income housing.)

posted by unclezeb at 8:46 PM on June 3, 2009

Response by poster: Aagh, I hate that I misspelled FAFSA in the heading. Oh well.

Thanks, grouse, those Q and A's are very relevant. I don't think any of the money they paid was really on my behalf--I mean, they would have been paying the same amount if I wasn't living there.
posted by overglow at 8:56 PM on June 3, 2009