Finding Text
Criteria: As a condition of admission or continued occupancy, the Organization requires the tenant and other family members to provide necessary information, documentation, and releases for the Organization to verify income eligibility.
Condition: Of a sample of 25 participants, 24 out of the 25 files were missing one or more various required documentation. The missing documentation included application, government photo identification, social security cards, birth certificates, declaration of citizenship, criminal history certification, verification of income, assets, expenses and allowances, and/or landlord documents for the period examined.
Cause: The Organization periodically purges documentation.
Effect: The Organization had inadequate documentation for participant eligibility for the period examined. Documentation from subsequent recertifications was used to conclude that the HAP vouchers paid for the period examined were reasonable.
Recommendation: The Organization needs to maintain all required documentation to support the participants’ eligibility and calculation of the HAP voucher during the participants tenancy and up to three years from termination of assistance.
Management’s Response: The Agency acknowledges this error and agrees with the recommendations. The Agency provides the additional context that the purge of records was carried out by a previous program staff member who was terminated from the Agency. The Agency has adopted a new Document Retention and Destruction Policy, and all program and administrative staff leadership has received training on the new policy.