On October 10, 1989, Mr. Hosea Hooper,a widower, filed for SSI benefits. Mr. Hooper
alleged owning countable liquid resources totaling $900 plus a second automobile worth
$2,000. (His only other resource, another automobile, was excluded totally as necessary
for transportation because of distance.) The interviewer was about to suggest a conditional
benefits agreement when Mr. Hooper volunteered the information that he only expected
to have the second car for about 2 more weeks since his neighbor had agreed to buy
it and Mr. Hooper was confident that the transaction would be completed by November
1.