Self-employed, low income but just sold house

Paying for College
1

My husband is self-employed and our income plummeted last year to under $40k, I lost my job, and we had to sell our house, which gave us a large sum of money. We have tried to buy another house, but are coming up short on funds and being out of a job AND self-employed, we don’t expect we would qualify for a loan. So after doing the FAFSA for 2016-17, our EFC is $17900! There is no way we can afford that, and I understand since we had to file a 1040, they will not exclude the house money. Any suggestions?

2

Did you put that you were a dislocated worker? That is one of the other qualifiers for the implied needs test…and if you qualify for that…your assets will not be counted.

Do you qualify for free or reduced lunch? That is another second qualifier.

It’s not JUST filing a 1040A or 1040EZ.

3

No I did not.

4

Well…if you are a dislocated worker…when you got to that question…why didn’t you answer YES?

5

As husband is self employed, it’s unlikely they can file a 1040A, so they won’t qualify for simplified assets.

You need to appeal. On the school’s FA page, there might be a form you use to appeal, or you might have to contact them directly. You complete the forms and then submit them and the supporting documentation to the FA office. Then wait. Make sure you explain all three things, that the asset is your proceeds from a home sale and you are going to reinvest it in another home, that your husband’s income is less in 2016 than 2015 (or did you mean 2014?), and that you are a displaced worker.

6

Not true. There are THREE qualifiers in addition to income to qualify for simplified needs. A family needs to have the income threshold of under $50,000 a year income and ONE of the following…not all three…just one

  1. Ability to file a 1040a or 1040ez tax form

OR

  1. Qualifies for a means tested benefit like SNAP or free/reduced lunch

OR

  1. Is a dislocated worker.

If income is now below $40,000 a year, the family might also qualify for reduced lunch. They would need to apply and see.

The one parent IS a dislocated worker, per the above post.

It doesn’t matter that the husband is self employed. If they satisfy the income threshold…AND one of the three other qualifiers, they would be eligible for simplified needs test,