Finding 478180 (2023-001)

Finding No. 2023-001 Section 8 Housing Choice Vouchers (CFDA 14.871) Type: Federal Award Compliance - Eligibility: Enterprise Income Verification; Significant Deficiency CONDITION: The Authority’s Housing Choice Voucher program failed to obtain approval and document the use of Enterprise Income Verification system (EIV) in checking the Participant/Applicants termination from program participation and debt owed to public housing agencies. CRITERIA: Participants and Applicants in the Housing Choice Voucher program are required approve the use of the EIV system to check for prior terminations from HUD housing programs or debts owed to public housing agencies in accordance with HUD regulations. Approval of and reviewing the existence of prior termination from a HUD housing program or debts owed to a public housing agency are required under PIH Notice 2017-12. QUESTIONED COSTS: The amount of questioned costs could not be determined. CONTEXT: Forty participant files were chosen using a statically valid sample. Of the forty participant files examined, No files contained the HUD Form 52675 “DEBTS OWED TO PUBLIC HOUSING AGENCIES AND TERMINATIONS”. EFFECT: The Authority could be accepting participants who are not properly certified in accordance with HUD regulations. CAUSE: The overall cause was a lack of management oversight. Authority staff were unaware of HUD Form 52675. RECOMMENDATION: The Housing Authority should improve staff training procedures and monitoring procedures over the Housing Choice Voucher program and implement additional tracking for tenant income verification and annual recertification. MANAGEMENT’S RESPONSE TO FINDINGS: See Corrective Action Plan 2023-001