Finding 1074628 (2023-003)

2023-003 ALN 14.871 – Housing Voucher Cluster – Waiting List Condition and Criteria: For compliance requirements related to selection from the waiting list, Housing Voucher Cluster applicants must be selected from the Authority’s waiting list in accordance with the Authority’s applicant selection policies documented in the Section 8 Administrative Plan and in accordance with federal regulations. Per 24 CFR section 960.202, applicants must be admitted for participation into the Program in accordance with HUD regulations and other requirements, including the Authority’s policies stated in the Section 8 Admin Plan, and that the Authority’s admission policy must state the system of admission preferences the Authority uses in determining the applicant selection order from the waiting list, including preferences such as any residency or other local preferences. The Authority was unable to provide sufficient waiting list documentation to evidence the order of the selection of applicants from the waiting list at any given time during the current audit period. Therefore, this resulted in an inability to test the Waiting List applicant selection procedures for internal controls and compliance. Context: Testing on compliance over the order in which applicants were selected from the waiting list was unavailable to be performed for the current audit period as supporting documentation for the waiting list applicant selection procedures was unable to be obtained from or reproduced by the Authority for testing. Questioned Costs None. Cause: The Authority's previous staff did not utilize appropriate internal controls over the waiting list applicant selection process. This resulted in the Authority not maintaining the appropriate documentation to adequately provide information required by federal regulations and the Section 8 Administrative Plan policies and procedures so that the waiting list could be monitored for proper compliance. Effect: Housing Voucher Cluster applicants could have been selected from the waiting list and admitted to the program in the incorrect order in accordance with the Authority's applicant selection policies included in the Authority's Section 8 Administrative Plan. Auditor’s Recommendation: The Authority's previous staff should have had a more effective set of monitoring controls in place to verify that evidence supporting any and all selected applicants from the waiting list was being documented and retained. The Authority's new management has already implemented proper internal control procedures and is currently in the process of addressing and correcting the internal control deficiencies and noncompliance. Grantee Response: The Executive Director acknowledges the finding and is following the auditor’s recommendation.