Who Is Poor?

Today I went collecting matanos le-evyonim for the poor of the neighborhood. One of my neighbors said: "I told my sister that we certainly qualify as evyonim this year." That didn't make me feel so good....

So I returned and gave her some of the money I had collected. She then insisted that they don't really need. Well, she explained,  they really DO need but own TWO apartments [one they live in and one they rent] so how can they take??

This is very common here - people are in debt [as is this family] but they own an apartment [or two] which would pay off everything if they would sell. So the question is - do they qualify as poor in order to fulfill the mitva?

I saw a psak in one sefer that they don't. That didn't make me happy [second thing that made me not happy. And on Purim, yet!]. Why should someone have to sell their apartment? At the end of the day these people don't have enough to cover expenses. I saw that Rav Moiiiishe Feinstein ztz"l felt the same way and that these people qualify as poor.

The end of the story is not relevant for us...

[Note - One should generally ask a Rov and not rely on Mevakesh for psak halacha. Today this is especially the case since people kept inviting me in for li-chaim's and I am not the type to say "no". After drinking, one is not allowed to pasken:)].