2023-002 Eligibility
Moving to Work Demonstration Program AL No. 14.881
Material Weakness in Internal Control
Material Noncompliance
Condition: Out of an approximate population of 18,300 of Section 8 Housing Choice Voucher and 2,300 Low Rent Public Housing tenants the following deficiencies were n...
2023-002 Eligibility
Moving to Work Demonstration Program AL No. 14.881
Material Weakness in Internal Control
Material Noncompliance
Condition: Out of an approximate population of 18,300 of Section 8 Housing Choice Voucher and 2,300 Low Rent Public Housing tenants the following deficiencies were noted:
Section 8 Housing Choice Voucher (a total of 40 tenants selected for testing):
• Thirty-five files did not have annual recertifications performed during the year,
• Nine files did not have 9886 release of information forms within 15 months of annual recertification,
• Four files did not have a annual recertification performed with 12 months of the previous certification,
• Three file did not have an inspection performed during the year
• Three files did not have documentation necessary to verify the reported income,
• Two files did not have a 214 declaration for a member of the household, and
• Two files did not have documentation necessary to verify custody of dependents.
Low Rent Public Housing (a total of 40 tenants selected for testing):
• Fourteen files did not contain flat rent options forms,
• Ten files did not have documentation necessary to verify the reported income,
• Seven files did not have the annual recertification performed or documented,
• Five files did not have a 214 declaration for a member of the household,
• Three files did not have support necessary to verify income allowances,
• Two files did not have 9886 release of information form within 15 months of the annual recertification, and
• One file did not have annual recertifications performed within 12 months of the previous annual certification.
Auditor Recommendations: The Authority should reevaluate their established procedures and controls in place to ensure full compliance in regards to eligibility and the timeliness of recertifications. The Authority needs to correct the deficiencies noted in the tested files and consider the impact to the rest of the population of tenant files that were not selected as part of the auditor’s sample.
Action Taken:
The Houston Housing Authority agrees with this finding.
The Houston Housing Authority has for the past several months undertaken a program to review all voucher files for purposes of getting all delinquent recertifications completed. During this process if other required documents are found to be missing steps are being taken to complete the missing documentation and make sure that the files are complete.
This review is substantially completed with final completion expected during the final quarter of 2024. Procedures have been implemented with regards to preventing this situation from recurring. Where needed staff will be provided the necessary training to make sure that all HCVP staff have the skills needed to successfully complete their job tasks. To facilitate this training, the Houston Housing Authority has created a training center that is made available to not only Houston Housing Authority staff but also others to provide a wide variety of training classes. Current leadership at the Houston Housing Authority is committed to having a competent trained staff working in the HCVP as well as other departments with the agency.
Because the file clean up work was being performed in calendar year 2024 we expected this finding would be present for the 2023 audit.
This work is handled by the Voucher Program Operations department. The VP of this department and the Director of this department are primarily responsible for making sure the necessary corrections are made and the fill review is completed within the final quarter of 2024.