Finding 1146135 (2024-003)

2024-003 ALN 14.871 – Housing Voucher Cluster – Eligibility Condition and Criteria: The Authority is required to adhere to eligibility compliance requirements for all tenants participating in the housing program. Specifically: • Birth certificates, social security cards, and citizenship declaration forms must be maintained for all tenants as part of the eligibility documentation. • The Enterprise Income Verification (EIV) system must be used at least annually to verify tenant income and prevent overpayment. • The calculation of tenant assistance payments must include all sources of income, including child support payments. • The utility allowance amount reported on the HUD-50058 form must reflect accurate and current data in accordance with HUD requirements. During testing, it was noted that the Authority did not have adequate internal controls designed to ensure compliance with eligibility requirements. Amount of Questioned Costs: None Context: During our testing of a sample of 40 tenant files, it was noted that 11 files did not meet eligibility compliance requirements. • 2 instances of files missing birth certificates, social security cards, or citizenship declaration forms. • 3 instances where an EIV report was not ran within the current year. This is required to be produced at least once annually. • 1 instance where the assistance payment was incorrectly calculated as child support payments were not included in the tenant's income. • 5 instances where the Authority did not report the correct utility allowance amount on the 50058 forms. Cause: The Authority failed to provide adequate monitoring and oversight to ensure compliance with HUD rules and regulations, as well as their administrative policy. Effect: The Authority is not in compliance with federal regulations regarding eligibility. Auditor’s Recommendation: We recommend that management review their controls over recertifications and ensure compliance standards for the eligibility provision and HAP calculations are met. We also recommend that management should designate one person to review a sample of the files that have been recertified each month. The purpose of the review is to determine if the tenant files were prepared in accordance with internal policies and verify the compliance deficiencies have been corrected. Grantee Response: The Chief Executive Officer agrees with the finding and will follow the Auditor's recommendation