Audit 176716

Section 8 Housing Choice Vouchers AL #14.871 Material Weakness Internal Control Over Compliance Lack of Timely Reinspection and Abatement of Housing Assistance Payments for Failed Inspections 2022-001 Condition: During audit fieldwork and at the time the Comission was preparing the SEMAP Certification, we identified that the Commission did not reinspect units with failed inspections within 30 calendar days. In addition, the Commission did not abate Housing Assistance Payments (HAP) timely. Criteria: Re-inspections should be performed by an inspector within 30 calendar days of the initial failed inspection. HAP should be abated in instances where the owner or family failed to correct the HQS deficiencies within the required timeframe. Cause: The inspector is relatively new to the position and scheduled re-inspections for the following month instead of counting 30 calendar days, resulting in some re-inspections occurring around days 32 to 35. For instances where re-inspection was performed or did not occur within 30 days, the Commission does not have a process to initiate abatement of HAP. Effect: The Commission did not perform re-inspections of units within 30 calendar days and did not initiate the process to abate HAP when required. Context: In our sample of 24 failed inspections, six were re-inspected after 30 calendar days. In 1 instance, rent should have been abated. The population of failed inspections was 231. The sample was statistically valid. The control deficiency and lack of abating HAP did not result in a material impact on the program and did not reach the threshold for reporting questioned costs. Repeat of Prior Year Finding: No Auditor?s Recommendation: The Commission should provide training for the inspector on Housing Quality Standards, the timeframes for correcting cited deficiencies, and logging the information within the compliance software. We recommend the Commission implement a system to ensure re-inspections are scheduled within 30 calendar days following a failed inspection. In addition, we recommend establishing a process for monitoring when HQS deficiencies are not corrected and when the Commission should abate HAP or terminate the HAP contract. View of Management: Management agrees with the finding. A response can be found in the Corrective Action Plan.

Section 8 Housing Choice Vouchers AL #14.871 Material Weakness Internal Control Over Compliance Lack of Timely Reinspection and Abatement of Housing Assistance Payments for Failed Inspections 2022-001 Condition: During audit fieldwork and at the time the Comission was preparing the SEMAP Certification, we identified that the Commission did not reinspect units with failed inspections within 30 calendar days. In addition, the Commission did not abate Housing Assistance Payments (HAP) timely. Criteria: Re-inspections should be performed by an inspector within 30 calendar days of the initial failed inspection. HAP should be abated in instances where the owner or family failed to correct the HQS deficiencies within the required timeframe. Cause: The inspector is relatively new to the position and scheduled re-inspections for the following month instead of counting 30 calendar days, resulting in some re-inspections occurring around days 32 to 35. For instances where re-inspection was performed or did not occur within 30 days, the Commission does not have a process to initiate abatement of HAP. Effect: The Commission did not perform re-inspections of units within 30 calendar days and did not initiate the process to abate HAP when required. Context: In our sample of 24 failed inspections, six were re-inspected after 30 calendar days. In 1 instance, rent should have been abated. The population of failed inspections was 231. The sample was statistically valid. The control deficiency and lack of abating HAP did not result in a material impact on the program and did not reach the threshold for reporting questioned costs. Repeat of Prior Year Finding: No Auditor?s Recommendation: The Commission should provide training for the inspector on Housing Quality Standards, the timeframes for correcting cited deficiencies, and logging the information within the compliance software. We recommend the Commission implement a system to ensure re-inspections are scheduled within 30 calendar days following a failed inspection. In addition, we recommend establishing a process for monitoring when HQS deficiencies are not corrected and when the Commission should abate HAP or terminate the HAP contract. View of Management: Management agrees with the finding. A response can be found in the Corrective Action Plan.