Opinion ID: 519240
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Proposed Plaintiff Annie Alvin

Text: 13 Annie Alvin lived with her daughter in a building owned by the Philadelphia Housing Authority. Her sister Sharon and Sharon's son lived in the same building. The sisters had separate cooking facilities, bedrooms, living rooms, kitchens and telephones, but had common doors and stairs. Until February 1984, the sisters had received separate food stamp allotments. However, in February the DPW terminated Sharon's food stamp benefits and advised Annie that she would receive food stamps for a household that consisted of her family as well as Sharon's. 3 Because of this change, Sharon became uncooperative in paying her share of the rent and the utility bills. The friction between them increased to the point where Sharon moved out in September of 1984. 14 In December 1984, DPW informed Annie that she had received an overpayment of $1,134 in food stamps between April 1, 1983, and February 29, 1984. The basis for this calculation was the sibling rule: for the period in question, the DPW combined the amount of food stamp benefits received by Annie and Sharon Alvin separately, and then subtracted the amount to which they were entitled as a single household. In December 1984, DPW demanded full repayment, in installments of at least $15 per month. As of this date, the DPW has not pursued collection activities nor reduced Annie's current allotment to recover the alleged past overissuances. 4