Finding Text
2022 ? 005 Federal Agency: U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development Federal Program Name: Housing Voucher Cluster Assistance Listing Number: 14.871/14.879 Federal Award Identification Number and Year: MO002VO - 2022 Award Period: January 1, 2022 ? December 31, 2022 Compliance Requirement: Special Tests and Provisions ? Housing Quality Standards (HQS) Enforcement Type of Finding: ? Material Weakness in Internal Control over Compliance ? Material Noncompliance Criteria or specific requirement: For units under HAP contract that fail to meet HQS, the Authority must require the owner to correct any life threatening HQS deficiencies within 24 hours after the inspections and all other HQS deficiencies within 30 calendar days or within a specified Authority-approved extension. If the owner does not correct the cited HQS deficiencies within the specified correction period, the Authority must stop (abate) HAPs beginning no later than the first of the month following the specified correction period or must terminate the HAP contract. The owner is not responsible for a breach of HQS as a result of the family?s failure to pay for utilities for which the family is responsible under the lease or for tenant damage. For family-caused defects, if the family does not correct the cited HQS deficiencies within the specified correction period, the Authority must take prompt and vigorous action to enforce the family obligations (24 CFR sections 982.158(d) and 982.404). Condition: The Authority did not require HQS deficiencies to be corrected within the required timeframe. The Authority did not abate units that failed to correct HQS deficiencies within the required timeframe. Questioned costs: Known questioned costs of $20,539 were calculated based on the HAP payment for the units that should have been abated, multiplied by the number of months where HAP was incorrectly paid. Unable to determine likely questioned costs. Context: Exceptions were noted in 9 out of 40 failed inspections: ? The Authority did not require the owner to correct HQS deficiencies within the required timeframe for 2 out of 40 failed inspections. ? The Authority did not properly abate HAP for 7 out of 40 failed inspections. The sample was statistically valid. Cause: The Authority did not reinspect or abate units timely. Effect: The Authority is not in compliance with HQS enforcement requirements. Repeat Finding: No. Recommendation: We recommend the Authority implements controls to ensure that the Authority requires HQS deficiencies to be corrected within the timeframe set forth by 2 CFR section 982.404(a). We recommend the Authority implements controls to ensure abatement is timely for units that do not correct the cited HQS deficiencies within the required timeframe. Views of responsible officials: There is no disagreement with the audit finding.