Finding 2024-002 - Low Rent Public Housing Tenant Files – Eligibility - Rent Calculations
Noncompliance & Significant Deficiency Low Rent Public Housing - ALN 14.850
Corrective Action Plan: Our property management staff will ensure that inspections for occupied units are conducted and documented annually. Inspections will also be conducted and documented when a potential deficiency is reported.
This requirement has been communicated to the property management staff via email, emphasizing the mandate for annual inspections. Additionally, the inspection results notification letter for residents has been updated to comply with the requirement to notify them of deficiencies found in the unit within a reasonable time frame. The property management team has also been instructed to collaborate with their designated maintenance team members to ensure that any deficiencies identified during inspections are addressed within the required time based on the severity of the deficiency.
To ensure units remain clean and well-maintained, preventing failed inspections, the Housing Authority of Savannah will promptly address resident-caused issues beyond normal wear and tear. Moving forward, all annual inspections will be conducted and documented as required.
Regarding the missing 50058, the Housing Authority of Savannah attributes this error to the conversion of our property management system from TenMast to Yardi Voyager beginning in July 2023. During the conversion, some data fields and elements did not convert correctly, causing anomalies in some household data.
Yardi Voyager now provides the capability to conduct internal audits on completed or incomplete 50058s and to generate reports for residents missing 50058s in the system. These reports are now generated monthly to ensure property managers are aware of residents' 50058 completion status in Voyager. Future issues with missing 50058s are not anticipated due to the system upgrades.
The EIV report issue occurred because a new hire did not have access to the EIV system. To address this, we have updated our EIV policies for public housing staff. As well, property management staff have been instructed to contact our in-house EIV Coordinator for assistance if they are unable to log into the system or if their account password is locked. Additionally, since all property staff has access to the EIV system, we have advised that if their personal login information is not established, another staff member will use their account to generate the necessary EIV report. This will ensure that resident EIV reports are accessible when needed.
Person Responsible: Phillip Taylor
Anticipated Completion Date: These corrective measures have been implemented and will continue on an ongoing basis. We are also in the process of creating procedures related to conducting unit inspections and clarifying processes for initial, annual, and interim reexaminations. Most of these enhancements will involve utilizing our newly upgraded property management software, Yardi Voyager and Rent Cafe, which will provide us with improvements in monitoring and auditing staff work products. The anticipated completion for the ACOP revision and systems policies and procedures is March 31, 2025, or sooner.