Finding Text
FINDING REFERENCE NUMBER:2023-001 FEDERAL PROGRAM:(ALN 14.871) SECTOIN 8 HOUSING CHOICE VOUCHERS PROGRAM
U.S. DEPARTMENT OF HOUSING AND URBAN DEVELOPMENT AWARD NUMBER RQ007 COMPLIANCE REQUIREMENT ELIGIBILITY TYPE OF FINDING NONCOMPLIANCE AND SIGNIFICANT DEFICIENCY CRITERIA 24 CFR Section 982.551 (b) (1) establishes that the family must supply any information that the PHA or HUD determines is necessary in the administration of the program, including submission of required evidence of citizenship or eligible immigration status (as provided by 24 CFR part 5). “Information” includes any requested certification, release, or other documentation. In 24 CFR Section 982.553 (c) establishes the evidence of criminal activity. The PHA may terminate assistance for criminal activity by a household member as authorized in this section if the PHA determines, based on a preponderance of the evidence, that the household member has engaged in the activity, regardless of whether the household member has been arrested or convicted for such activity. In addition, the Municipal Administrative Plan establishes that the family is responsible for a breach of the HQS that is caused by any of the following: (a) the family fails to pay for any utilities that the owner is not required to pay for, but is necessary in the administration of the program, including submission of required evidence of citizenship or eligible which are to be paid by the tenant. And for the verification requirements for individual items, they must receive from a third party a letter from school to know that the children are attending school STATEMENT OF CONDITION During our audit procedures over eligibility, from our sample selected, we noted that in 4 instances, the participant didn't provide evidence of the utilities. According to the participants' contracts, the rent to the owner does not include utilities such as water and electricity, therefore the participants must provide evidence to the Municipality that they are paying the bills. In addition, one participant didn't provide the Negative Certificate of Penal Record to validate criminal record and the School Certification to validate that the children are attending school. QUESTIONED COSTS Not Applicable PERSPECTIVE INFORMATION This deficiency is a systemic problem, they have a monitor position that was created to review
the HCV program for compliance with HUD requirements and make the Caguas PHA aware of
any program problems, deficiency, fraud, abuse, and/or omissions, to maintain program integrity,
but at this time, no person has been hired for this position affecting the effectiveness of the
monitoring internal controls. The sample selected were 90 participant files. STATEMENT OF CAUSE The Municipality did not review the required information for the reexamination process prior to the approval of the contract. POSSIBLE ASSERTED EFFECT The Municipality can be providing assistance to a participant that is not complying with the program requirements, such as not paying utilities, which according to the Administrative Plan is a violation of the contract IDENTIFICATION OF REPEAT FINDING This is not a repeated Finding RECOMMENDATIONS We recommend management verify the required information for the participants in order to assure compliance with this requirement.