Program: Housing Voucher Cluster Federal Financial Assistance Listing Number: 14.871 / 14.879 Federal Grantor: U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development Award No. and Year: Multiple Compliance Requirements: Special Tests and Provisions – HQS Enforcement Type of Finding: Significant Deficiency...
Program: Housing Voucher Cluster Federal Financial Assistance Listing Number: 14.871 / 14.879 Federal Grantor: U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development Award No. and Year: Multiple Compliance Requirements: Special Tests and Provisions – HQS Enforcement Type of Finding: Significant Deficiency in Internal Control Over Compliance and Instance of Noncompliance Criteria: The 2025 OMB Compliance Supplement requires that for dwellings under Housing Assistance Payment (HAP) contracts that fail a Housing Quality Standards (HQS) inspection, the County must enforce HQS requirements. Specifically, upon notification that a unit has failed HQS, the County must inspect the unit within 15 days to confirm the deficiency and notify the owner if the deficiency is confirmed. Once notified, the owner is required to make the necessary repairs within the prescribed time frame. If the owner does not correct the cited HQS deficiencies within the specified correction period, the County must stop (abate) HAPs beginning no later than the first of the month following the specified correction period or must terminate the HAP contract. Condition: For one sample selected for testing, the County did not timely enforce HQS requirements. Cause: The cause of the finding was an administrative oversight that resulted in delays in issuing the final inspection notice following a missed inspection appointment. The County’s existing procedures did not adequately ensure timely follow-up and escalation when an inspection resulted in a noshow. Effect: Because the required inspection and notification were not completed timely, the County did not fully comply with the HQS enforcement requirements. This delay increased the risk that housing assistance payments could continue for a unit that did not meet HUD’s minimum housing quality standards, potentially affecting program compliance and participant health and safety. Questioned Costs: No questioned costs were identified as a result of our procedures. Context/Sampling: A nonstatistical sample of sixty (60) out of a total population of 1,029 instances of failed HQS were selected. The condition noted above was identified during our procedures related to special tests and provisions – HQS enforcement. Repeat Finding from Prior Years: No. Recommendation: We recommend the County strengthen its HQS enforcement procedures by implementing controls to ensure timely follow-up on failed inspections, including missed appointments. Such controls may include automated tracking of inspection deadlines, supervisory review of no-show appointments, and escalation procedures to ensure owners are notified within required time frames. Management Response and Corrective Action Plan: 1. Person Responsible: Linda Tarzjani, Leasing Manager 2. Corrective action plan: Concur. We will strengthen our HQS enforcement procedures by implementing controls to ensure timely follow-up on failed inspections, including missed appointments. In doing so we will consider automated tracking of inspection deadlines, supervisory review of noshow appointments, and escalation procedures to ensure owners are notified within required time frames. 3. Anticipated Implementation date: February 1, 2026