Finding 2022-003 ? Allowable Costs (Significant Deficiency and Non-compliance) Corrective Action: The ARPA?s stated purpose is for housing provision, stabilization services, and eviction prevention. The rental assistance funds may be used for arrearage, forward payments, deposits, late fees, and u...
Finding 2022-003 ? Allowable Costs (Significant Deficiency and Non-compliance) Corrective Action: The ARPA?s stated purpose is for housing provision, stabilization services, and eviction prevention. The rental assistance funds may be used for arrearage, forward payments, deposits, late fees, and utilities. The grant provides separate application forms for rental assistance and utilities assistance. The grant does not require maximizing the amount paid on behalf of applicants. Every disbursement involves obtaining documents from the applicant and the landlord. The landlord signs an agreement stating they will allow the client to remain housed by accepting the payment. It is common to negotiate the agreed upon amount because some landlords include fees in their amounts that are not allowable under the grant or ask for more months of assistance that is allowed. The disbursements tested included agreements that were all signed and accepted by the landlords. LSA documented the costs which were reimbursed by the funder. One of the payments included a document that had not been updated. The payment included an additional month?s rent due to the time lag between the start of the application and the completed documents and the revised total amount was included on the signed landlord agreement. In this case, the agreement did not include an additional late fee that would have been expected per the terms of the lease. The landlord accepted the payment less the late fee. LSA staff will document negotiated amounts that are different from the support and provide explanation and the amount included or excluded. A second payment did not include a beginning ledger balance. The landlord charges an insurance fee that is not covered by the grant. Rather than attempting to determine if the balance forward was due to eligible charges or ineligible charges, the amount was excluded from the total. The documentation attached did not specifically mention that the amount was excluded, but a handwritten total of the included charges was included. LSA staff will document negotiated amounts that are different from the support and provide explanation and the amount included or excluded. The third payment was deemed an exception because the reimbursement did not include the client?s utilities charges. Although the charges are eligible under the grant, the applicant and landlord did not request assistance with utilities. LSA staff will document negotiated amounts that are different from the support and provide explanation and the amount included or excluded. Regarding employee time for the program, LSA staff will look for solutions to help prevent time entry errors, and the Finance Department will conduct a review of every grant report. LSA will review if changes can be made in the timekeeping system to restrict certain fund sources from being applied to programs, to enhance controls over time attributed to particular funding. The grant report review will also include a review of program reports when new staff join the program to ensure the time activity is correct and can be allocated as reported. LSA will complete a review of the timekeeping system and procedures by the end of the second quarter 2023 and implement changes by the third quarter of 2023. The grant report review will commence as of the date of this audit report. Contact Person: David Roberson, Director of Finance; (334) 223-0251; droberson@alsp.org