PM 07-02-04-a
1) When a person is absent from their homestead over 90 days, or there is reason to believe that the absence will leave the property vacant for an extended period of time, encourage the person or a near relative to rent the property for the duration of the absence.
When it is evident that the person will not be able to return to their home (even though the absence was intended to be temporary) review the advisability of selling the homestead with the person.
2) 
Use TA 05 TAR 40 to deny applicants determined ineligible due to excess home equity but suppress the central notice (90 in Item 39 Client Notice Code). Send a manual 360 with the message, "You are ineligible based on the equity value of your home (PM 01-08-02)."
Use TA 22 TAR 88 to cancel active cases due to excess home equity but suppress the central notice (90 in Item 39 Client Notice Code). Send a manual 157 with the message, "You are ineligible based on the equity value of your home (PM 01-08-02)."
A person may use reverse mortgages or similar arrangements to decrease the equity value of their home.
For homestead property that includes farmland, send an inquiry to HFS.OIG.LTC-ADI@illinois.gov including the name of the county in which the property is located and the year for which value is needed. LTC-ADI will return a per-acre value via email that the caseworker multiplies by the number of acres to determine the FMV of the farmland acreage. The FCRC adds that value to the FMV of the home and other buildings of the farm to determine the total FMV of the property. Equipment, tools, livestock, grain in storage and other farm resources are not part of the property value and must be valued and applied toward the resources for self-support (see PM 07-02-11).
Example: Mr. B owns a home in DuPage County. The current assessment on this year's tax bill is $170,900. Multiplied by 3, the property is worth about $512,700.
