Finding Text
Waiting List Federal Agency: U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development Federal Program Name: Housing Voucher Cluster Assistance Listing Number: 14.871 and 14.879 Federal Award Identification Number and Year: FL007, 2024 Award Period: July 1, 2023 to June 30, 2024 Type of Finding: • Material Weakness in Internal Control over Compliance • Material Noncompliance (Modified Opinion) Criteria or specific requirement: The Authority must have written policies in its HCVP administrative plan for selecting applicants from the waiting list and the Authority documentations must show that the Authority follows these policies when selecting applicants for admission from the waiting list. Except as provided in 24 CFR section 982.203 Special admission (nonwaiting list), all families admitted to the program must be selected from the waiting list. “Selection” from the waiting list generally occurs when the Authority notifies a family whose name reaches the top of the waiting list to come in to verify eligibility for admission (24 CFR sections 5.410, 982.54(d), and 982.201 through 982.207). Condition: During the testing of the Housing Choice Voucher Program tenant files, certain selection from the Waiting List deficiencies were noted as summarized below: • Waiting List New Tenants: 7 instances where the internal control over eligibility was not documented • Waiting List Top of List: No documentation was provided to evidence the control was executed. Unable to verify operating effectiveness. Questioned costs: N/A Context: Out of 60 top of list files tested, 60 contained the errors noted above. Out of 24 New Tenant Files, 7 contained the errors noted above. Cause: The Authority does not have adequate internal controls designed to ensure that requirements were being met. Effect: The Authority does not have proper controls over the waitlist pull and new admissions process. Repeat Finding: No Recommendation: We recommend that the Authority designate an individual to maintain the waiting list and track all correspondence with potential tenants. Views of responsible officials: There is no disagreement with the audit finding.