Finding Text
Finding 2022-002: HOME Investment Partnerships Program ? Eligibility Requirements U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, Passed through the City of Pittsburgh - Assistance Listing Number 14.239; Grant #MC-42-0501 Condition: During 2022, the URA did not have internal controls in place to ensure all Tenant Income Certification forms were reviewed for existing HOME projects. The URA?s current process is supposed to be that external property managers prepare the forms and the URA obtains the forms from the external property managers to review the forms to ensure the HOME projects are in compliance with the eligibility requirements. We reviewed a sample of Tenant Income Certification forms and noted that for one existing HOME project the Tenant Income Certification forms were not obtained by the URA during 2022 and for one HOME project the forms were obtained and in compliance but not signed. In conjunction with the audit, the URA obtained the forms from the one HOME project from the external property managers and we noted that the forms reviewed were in compliance with the eligibility requirements. Criteria: Under compliance requirements set forth for the program, the URA is required to ensure the tenants are eligible to be in the HOME-assisted units. Rental projects with five or more units have rent limitations including: twenty percent of the HOME-assisted units must be occupied by very low-income families and meet one of the following rent requirements: (1) the rent does not exceed 30 percent of the annual income of a family whose income equals 50 percent of the median income for the area, as determined by HUD, with adjustments for larger or smaller families; or (2) the rent does not exceed 30 percent of the families adjusted income (24 CFR sections 92.216 and 92.252). Cause: The URA did not follow the internal control process of: obtaining and reviewing the Tenant Income Certification forms from all of the property managers to monitor the eligibility of projects in the HOME program and ensuring the forms were signed. Effect: As the URA did not obtain and review the Tenant Income Certification forms for all of the existing HOME projects, the URA risks not being in compliance with the eligibility requirements for the HOME program. Questioned Costs: Unknown Identification as a Repeat Finding: This is a repeat of finding 2021-003 from the prior year audit. Recommendation: The URA should obtain Tenant Income Certifications annually, in a timely manner, for all required projects and review these certifications to ensure the projects meet applicable eligibility requirements and the URA should ensure all Tenant Income Certifications are signed. Views of responsible officials and Planned Corrective Action: Management agrees with this finding; see separate Corrective Action Plan.