Because of budget cuts in earlier years, the corporation says, it already turns away about half the people whose below-poverty-line incomes qualify them for help.

A family of three could have a maximum income of $84,750 to qualify for a $2,119-a-month two-bedroom apartment.

The only reason leases would not be renewed is if someone's income did not qualify, he said.

For a family of four, an annual income below $17,603 qualified them as impoverished; for one person, the poverty line was $8,794.

An annual income below $17,603 qualifies a family of four as impoverished; for one person, the poverty line is $8,794.

From where most small-business people stand, an income of $100,000 or so may be comfortable but certainly would never qualify as "rich."

The income of most people who live in Mitchell-Lama housing qualifies as low or moderate.

These co-ops work for people whose income otherwise would not qualify them to purchase a home.

Of those, 51 per cent come from families whose incomes qualify them for free or reduced meals.

"They may have good credit but their adjusted gross income doesn't qualify them for a standard bank loan."