Finding Text
Department of Housing and Urban Development
2024-001 Eligibility
Federal Program: Public and Indian Housing, Federal Assistance Listing Number 14.850
Condition and Criteria: The Authority’s purpose for existence is to provide decent, safe, and affordable housing for low-income families. As such, the Authority prepares a file for each admitted family, which contains information necessary to determine eligibility for assistance and calculations of rent to be paid by the family. HUD regulations prescribe the content of these family files. These requirements consist of the following:
a. As a condition of admission or continued occupancy, the tenant and other family members are required to provide necessary information, documentation, and releases for the PHA to verify income eligibility.
b. For both family income examinations and reexaminations, obtain and document in the family file third party verification of: (1) reported family annual income; (2) the value of assets; (3) expenses related to deductions from annual income; and (4) other factors that affect the determination of adjusted income or income-based rent.
c. Determine income eligibility and calculate the tenant’s rent payment in accordance with HUD regulations.
d. Select tenants from the public housing waiting list in accordance with the PHA’s tenant selection policies.
e. Re-examine family income and composition at least once every 12 months and adjust the tenant rent and housing assistance payment as necessary.
Population and Items Tested:
We selected seventeen public housing tenant files for testing.
One file did not contain an annual re-examination. The file indicates a re-examination for September 1, 2022. The next re-examination was conducted on September 1, 2024.
One file indicated the tenant should have been charged $399. The tenant was charged $387.
Auditor’s Recommendation: All re-examinations should be completed on an annual basis and the required documents should be signed by the tenant. All rent amounts should be updated to make sure they agree with the computed rent.
Views of responsible officials and planned corrective actions: We will comply with the auditor’s recommendation.