<p>My mom and I currently live in a rented house. My dad lives at an owned house separate from us on the weekdays and comes to the rented house on weekends (for work, because his office is 2 hours away; my parents are NOT divorced).</p>
<p>The address I put on the CSS profile AND my commonapp (if that matters) is the rental house, so for the housing status on the CSS do I put "rent home" or "own home"?</p>
<p>Hmmm. I would think you put rental for your primary residence. BUT you will have to list that other owned house as secondary real estate on the Profile and FAFSA, I believe.</p>
<p>^^^
I don’t agree.</p>
<p>The family only owns one home, and it’s not being used for income. One parent is living in it. It would be crazy to have to count that one home as an asset on FAFSA (and if the rules would require that, then that is nutty.)</p>
<p>What was the situation for how you came about owning the home, but renting elsewhere? Is that owned home going to be sold soon?</p>
<p>If this were me, I would have put the owned home as the family home and not have listed the rented home at all. The parents probably consider that owned home as the primary residence. That is probably their primary home on their taxes as well.</p>
<p>Sounds like that rented home is for some odd reason.</p>
<p>It all comes down to the definition of :“primary residence”. I think Kelsmom can give more defintive answers to this . IF your family considers the owned house the primary residence and you and your mom are renting, then both FAFSA and PROFILE should reflect this. You do realize that you will have to include the value of your owned home on FAFSA if it is not your primary residence, and you do not, if it is. The FAFSA and PROFILE should agree, however, it is decided to go on this.</p>
<p>I agree with Mom2 at this point. I could see the opposite where the Dad lives in a rental to be close to work. OP, why do you and your Mom live in the rental, to be in a better school district or for your Mom’s work or some other reason? Did all of you live in the owned home at some point?</p>
<p>Thanks everyone for the quick replies. I’m a senior in high school so when I graduate my mom and younger sister will move with my dad at the new place. Basically my dad got relocated the beginning of my senior year and they didn’t want to make me change schools at such an inconvenient time, and they didn’t want me to live here by myself, so my mom and I are renting here while we just bought a new house where my dad currently lives which we will all move to come June.</p>
<p>If a non-primary residence is owned, I don’t believe it matters if it is income generating…or not. It must be reported as an asset. Unless I’m wrong, I believe the student can only have ONE primary residence. Any other real estate owned by them would be considered an asset (the equity in that second piece of real estate). </p>
<p>Mom2…you own rental properties. Would you think that IF they were vacant and not generating income they don’t have to be included as assets? They would be included anyway.</p>
<p>I’m hoping Kelsmom weighs in.</p>
<p>I would think the family could ask for a special circumstances consideration because the dad has to live in the second house for employment purposes, and the family rental is very temporary.</p>
<p>Re: the home…the student was HONEST…and listed the place where she is living…and where her high school is located. She is not attending the high school two hours away. if she had listed a town two hours away from her high school, it would be pretty clear that something wasn’t right.</p>
<p>Mom2…you own rental properties. Would you think that IF they were vacant and not generating income they don’t have to be included as assets? They would be included anyway</p>
<p>No, because I have an owned home that is my primary residence. But, if I didn’t, and my H had to live in one, and that was our only “owned home,” then that one owned home that H was living in would be our primary residence.</p>
<p>your description is more like my vacation home. that is an asset.</p>
<p>we just bought a new house where my dad currently lives which we will all move to come June.</p>
<p>Then that is not an asset on FAFSA. That is the only owned home, dad lives there. Your rented home is a temporary home right now.</p>
<p>Your primary residence for FAFSA purposes MUST be where the student resides. I don’t believe there are any exceptions to that. If the student resides in town A, and the student is graduating from high school in town A, how could the student’s primary residence be in town B which is TWO hours away?</p>
<p>Remember…the FAFSA belongs to the student. When the primary residence is listed, it MUST be the student’s primary residence.</p>
<p>Your primary residence for FAFSA purposes MUST be where the student resides.</p>
<p>I don’t agree.</p>
<p>Many seniors get “left behind” to live with friends to finish senior year and parents move elsewhere. Their friends’ addresses do not become their primary residences. The parents’ newly purchased home doesnt’ become an asset for FAFSA.</p>
<p>A student could be living in a hotel his senior year while the primary home is remodeled or repaired. The hotel doesn’t become the primary residence.</p>
<p>But mom2…this student is living with a PARENT in her rental. Her FAMILY is renting this apartment. And the dad comes there every weekend. This kiddo is not living in a room with friends.</p>
<p>I DO believe this is an excellent special circumstances review situation as it is outside of the norm. </p>
<p>I really hope Kelsmom sees this thread and responds.</p>
<p>If the parents were separated, then I would agree. But the parents aren’t. They are a couple. They have to live separately because of dad’s job and the student’s schooling. They own ONE home and dad (a parent in the marriage) is living in it. They are only renting this other home for a short time until school ends and they can reunite as a family in their primary owned home.</p>
<p>Are you saying that if the mom and this child were staying in a hotel while this was going on that the hotel would be the primary residence? What if the mom and child were living with neighbors while this was going on?</p>
<p>This is not a case of separated parents where there is a determination of where the child lives most or anything like that. with intact parents, there is no figuring.</p>
<p>If the parents were separated, the dad’s info would not be on the FAFSA at all.</p>
<p>I’m hoping I’m wrong. </p>
<p>Until Kelsmom or someone with a specific citation regarding this posts, I’m going to bow out.</p>
<p>Unfortunately, this one is not cut and dried. Nothing in the regulations addresses this specific situation. One way to look at it is to say that the regs say you can exclude the value of the primary residence, and the OP’s family’s primary residence is the one they purchased - OP and Mom are in a temporary living situation. But that raises additional issues … for example, if Dad and Mom live in different states, what would be their state of residence for in-state tuition purposes? This is another not-so-simple question. And if the family owned both the home OP lives in and Dad’s home, which would be the correct primary residence (meaning the other is the asset)?</p>
<p>I know what I would do as the aid officer, but I won’t say - because another school might do it differently. As long as the school adheres to its own policies and procedures, whatever they choose to do is within regs.</p>
<p>My suggestion to OP is to call each school, explain the situation, and ask what they want done.</p>
<p>Kelsmom. Are you suggesting that this student would submit multiple FAFSA forms with different primary addresses depending on the college position? That sounds cumbersome…but possible.</p>
<p>But that raises additional issues … for example, if Dad and Mom live in different states, what would be their state of residence for in-state tuition purposes</p>
<p>but that isn’t relevant for FAFSA. The feds don’t care how that is determined.</p>
<p>The mother and child are in a temp living situation. Also…They don’t own the home that they’re living in, so no issue with that. the mom and child could be living in a hotel right now…and I doubt FAFSA rules would say that is their primary residence when the dad (in an intact family situation) is living in the home that they own.</p>
<p>No, the feds don’t care about residency … but it could be relevant for the totality of the situation and also raises issues about how things “should” be reported. </p>
<p>Again, FAFSA rules (more accurately, federal regulations) do not address this specific situation, and schools would have to apply their own policies to it if they were to learn of it.</p>
<p>I don’t suggest filing multiple FAFSAs based on the schools’ answers. The OP has to decide which position to take and act accordingly. If the answers from the schools differ, OP just needs to understand that an individual school may choose to update the FAFSA accordingly, and it might make a difference in aid.</p>
<p>Then again, it might make no difference. If the OP’s parents’ assets are under the threshold even with the home as an asset, it’s pretty much irrelevant.</p>
<p>Also, it’s the equity in that home that would be an asset (if it were not the primary residence). And Profile Schools use both primary home equity as well as secondary home equity to some degree. </p>
<p>Perhaps this really would not make much difference at all in the amount of financial aid awarded. </p>
<p>And as mentioned, there is an asset protection allowance too.</p>
<p>BUT…to answer the OPs question in the OP. if you list the rental property as your primary residence, you would indicate “rent” because you don’t own it. If you list the home your dad is living in, you would list “own” because you do own that one.</p>
<p>I think the student should list the parents’ home that they own as his primary residence. That will end this confusion. The rental should be viewed as it is…a temp housing situation while the student finishes school.</p>