Finding Text
2022 - 001 ? HCVP Eligibility Federal Agency: U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development Federal Program Title: Housing Voucher Cluster Assistance Listing Number: 14.871 / 14.879 Federal Award Identification Number and Year: OK002 (various funding increments active during period 1/1/22-12/31/22) Award Period: January 1, 2022 through December 31, 2022 Type of Finding: ? Significant Deficiency in Internal Control over Compliance. ? Other Matters. Criteria: As a condition of admission or continued occupancy, the PHA must require the tenant and other family members to provide necessary information, documentation, and releases for the PHA to verify income eligibility (24 CFR sections 5.230, 5.601 et seq., 5.609, 960.253, 960.255 and 960.259). 24 CFR section 960.259 states that for both family income examinations and reexaminations, the PHA must obtain and document in the family file third-party verification of: (1) reported family annual income; (2) the value of assets; (3) expenses related to deductions from annual income; and (4) other factors that affect the determination of adjusted income or income-based rent. 24 CFR sections 5.601 et seq., and 24 CFR sections 960.253, 960.255, and 960.259 state that the Authority must determine income eligibility and calculate the tenant?s rent payment using the documentation from third-party verification in accordance with 24 CFR part 5, subpart F. 24 CFR sections 5.230, 5.609, and 960.259 state that as a condition of admission or continued occupancy, the Authority must require the tenant and other family members to provide necessary information, documentation, and releases for the PHA to verify income eligibility. Condition: During our testing, we noted the Authority did not have adequate internal controls designed to ensure that eligibility requirements were being met. Questioned costs: None Context: Testing of 40 HCVP tenant files for eligibility standards revealed the following: 1. 2 file where the Authority was missing correct income calculations and/or verifications. Cause: The Authority does not have controls in place to ensure it is meeting eligibility requirements set by HUD. Effect: The Authority is not in compliance with program requirements over eligibility. Repeat Finding: The finding is a repeat of a finding in the immediate prior year. Prior year finding number was 2021-003. Recommendation: We recommend that management increase the number of recertification?s reviewed on a monthly basis until they can ensure a majority of the files meet HUD's eligibility requirements. We also recommend that management identify the specialists responsible for the erroneous files and investigate whether findings represent a systemic problem or are limited to a few specialists. Additional training for housing specialists would also improve accuracy. View of Responsible Officials: There is no disagreement with the audit finding.