Well, you didn't say where the check is from. Did you inherit money? Did you sell something?.. What you gotta worry about is the people that issued the check will probably enter its existence into the system, so whether you own up or not, HUD +/or SS will find out anyway. AND THAT'S HOW YOU'LL GET IN REAL TROUBLE. But if you just tell them about it up front, you haven't done anything wrong, and can pay your rent yourself till the cash is gone , then they'll let you back onto Section 8. One thing you can do (is this SSI you're on?) you're allowed to have $2,000 in savings. I don't know how that factors in, but its one thing to consider. Another is you are allowed to roll over cash received into housing, without being penalized (I mean BUY a house with the money...you can do that, and even if you're on SSI which owns you, even they will allow that. I know a guy who inherited 250k, and he bought a triple decker with it (without ever actually receiving the money, he "rolled it over", ie the money went straight to a house purchase without touching his hands on the way by, so to speak), so they never shut his SSI off. It's a finagle, but it is allowed. [*When he started experiencing profit from the rents received on the other two apartments (he moved into the third), THEN he had to tell SS, and be kicked off and just live on his own money. But at least they didn't kick him out till he was gonna land ok].
(((I'm talking about how that 60k could affect your SS, at this point. Not your HUD subsidy ("section 8").
They are BOTH to be concerned about when receiving money. And they BOTH impose similar restrictions as to what could make you ineligible all of a sudden. They're kind of a package deal.)))
SO-->You can receive housing (roll received cash into a house purchase), but you cant receive MONEY. Best advice: talk to lawyer, or google info from lawyers on this (you'll find some) Plus a lawyer will answer a couple questions before demanding that you hire (pay) him.
BOTTOM LINE THOUGH: If you're on assistance, you DON'T want to screw that up breaking the rules criminally and getting kicked out forever and fined! ....So you can try and strategize whats legally best to do, and that's wise, but in the end if what you find is you have to just tell Section 8 and pay your own rent for two years till they let you back on, then that's what you gotta do, and be glad of it. You do have a place to live and a small check. Fair is fair.
Now all that is if you're on SSI (federal welfare).
If you're on SSDI however (SS insurance you're entitled to because you BOUGHT it), the rules are different, you are allowed to EARN money without losing anything (it's like $1200 or $1500 a month you can earn from part time work or business, something like that. AND you can have savings without being penalized). So if SSDI is what you're on, you want to question in that direction. There MAY be a way to receive it without being penalized (having your benefits reduced or cut off temporarily). But you MIGHT just have to pay a lawyer even, to find all this out rightly. (OR you could try asking Social Security itself, they after all do know their own rules)
NOTE: It doesn't help people who've retired or become disabled, when you advertise a wish to scam the system!
You want people to have some compassion for your ailment, or retirement, and that Social Security (with the accompanying Medicare and housing subsidies) IS SOMETHING YOU BOUGHT WHEN YOU WORKED. ITS YOURS, AND NO ONE SHOULD SAY SH*T ABOUT YOUR STUFF.
THAT'S what you want people to think.
Not, "Oh, gee. They really are scammy bums! Here's one now.
There are MILLIONS of Americans you hurt by giving that impression for mean-hearted people to use
to smear people out of getting what they BOUGHT! (So dont help them hurt people, k?)
Good luck with it.