Finding Text
Federal Agency: U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development Federal Program Name: Housing Voucher Cluster Assistance Listing Number: 14.871/14.879 Federal Award Identification Number and Year: OR005 – 2025 Award Period: January 1, 2025 – December 31, 2025 Compliance Requirement:– Eligibility Type of Finding: • Significant Deficiency in Internal Control over Compliance, Other Matters Criteria or Specific Requirement: (1) According to the Authority's internal procedures, case managers are to complete a checklist to keep in tenant file any time a new computation is created, be that for an annual, interim, or special reexamination. This must be signed and dated by the completing caseworker. (2) According to the compliance supplement for the Housing Voucher Cluster, "The PHA must do the following: (1) As a condition of admission or continued occupancy, require the tenant and other family members to provide necessary information, documentation, and releases for the PHA to verify income eligibility (24 CFR sections 5.230, 5.609, and 982.516). The head of the household signs (a) one or more release forms to allow the PHA to obtain information from third parties; (b) a federally prescribed general release form for employment information; and (c) a privacy notice. Under some circumstances, other members of the family are required to sign these forms (24 CFR sections 5.212 and 5.230). Condition: The Authority did not have adequate internal controls designed to ensure documentation was maintained in the tenant file and properly supported the Housing Assistance Payment in accordance with federal regulation and Authority policy. Context: During our testing, we identified the following eligibility issues in two separate files: • One of forty sampled tenant files did not have a previous or subsequent annual recertification available to review and determine the recertification was done annually. • One of forty sample tenant files did not have supporting documentation for the medical allowance. Questioned costs: None Cause: The Authority did not have adequate internal controls designed to ensure it is meeting eligibility requirements set by HUD. Effect: The Authority is not in compliance with program requirements over eligibility. Repeat Finding: Yes. 2024-003 Recommendation: We recommend the Authority implement processes to ensure that all proper documentation is being maintained during the process for every tenant. Views of Responsible Officials: There is no disagreement with the audit finding that Authority has implemented additional training to the Housing Program Administrators as well as increased auditing of tenant files for FY 2026.