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Open Recommendations by Oversight Area
Oversight Area	Priority Recommendations	Open Recommendations
Housing Assistance	75	100
Community Development	3	75
Disaster Recovery	3	82
Financial Risk and Accountability	6	130
Technology and Cybersecurity	4	88
Health and Safety	1	53
HUD's Operations	4	100
Total	96	628

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We audited the Red Bank Housing Authority based on the results of our audit of Asbury Park Housing Authority because both public housing agencies had agreements with the Long Branch Housing Authority to provide services. The objective of this audit was to determine whether the Authority…

Oversight Area: Rental Assistance

We recommend that the Director of HUD’s Newark Office of Public Housing require the Authority to provide documentation to show that the $252,000 paid to the Long Branch Housing Authority was for eligible, reasonable, necessary, and allocable costs or reimburse its Operating and Capital Fund programs from non-Federal funds for any amount that it cannot support or that is not considered reasonable.

We recommend that the Director of HUD’s Newark Office of Public Housing require the Authority to update its policies and procedures to ensure that any additional payments made under interagency agreements are adequately supported before payment is made and that the services are provided in accordance with applicable requirements. These requirements include but are not limited to HUD, Federal, and Authority requirements related to procurement, allocation of costs, and review and approval of payments.

We recommend that the Director of HUD’s Newark Office of Public Housing require the Authority to provide documentation to show that the $161,600 paid for legal, fee accounting, and auditing services was for prices that were reasonable and that the costs were properly allocated among the Authority’s programs or reimburse its Operating and Capital Fund programs from non-Federal funds for any amount that it cannot support or is not considered reasonable

We recommend that the Director of HUD’s Newark Office of Public Housing require the Authority to provide documentation to show that $172,538 paid for goods and services was reasonable or reimburse its Operating and Capital Fund programs from non-Federal funds for any amount that it cannot support or that is not considered reasonable.

We recommend that the Director of HUD’s Newark Office of Public Housing require the Authority to provide documentation to show that $36,508 disbursed1 was for authorized and approved costs or reimburse its Operating and Capital Fund programs from non-Federal funds for any amount that it cannot support.

We recommend that the Director of HUD’s Newark Office of Public Housing provide technical assistance to the Authority to help ensure that 1) future interagency agreements, including the renewal of its agreement with Long Branch clearly outline the expectations and documentation required to show that work was performed, (2) its board provides adequate oversight of work performed under interagency agreements, and 3) it complies with HUD, Federal, and Authority procurement requirements when purchasing goods and services.

The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s (HUD) Office of Inspector General audited the Benkelman Housing Authority based on a request from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, Office of Inspector General (HUD OIG), Office of Investigation. Additionally, HUD conducted…

Oversight Area: Rental Assistance

Provide adequate documentation to support that the $71,034 spent for improperly procured goods and services was spent at the most competitive prices. For any amounts not supported, it should reimburse its program from non-Federal funds.

Provide adequate documentation to support $15,280 spent for maintenance activities. For any amounts not supported, it should reimburse its program from non-Federal funds.

Develop and implement detailed operating procedures, including checklists, which fully implement its procurement policy and HUD requirements.

Ensure that its executive director obtains appropriate procurement training.

Work with the Authority to develop a formalized process, such as a checklist, to use when conducting initial certifications and annual recertifications, which would help to ensure that it follows HUD requirements for its public housing program.

Require the Authority’s executive director to obtain appropriate training regarding public housing occupancy requirements.

Require the Authority to conduct a 100 percent review of its tenant files to ensure that tenants’ rents are accurate and the proper income, asset, and medical expenses are complete and documented in the tenant files.

Monitor the Authority after the recommended training and tenant file reviews are complete to ensure that the executive director understands and properly implements public housing occupancy requirements.

Require the Authority to address actual or potential conflict-of-interest relationships in its Admissions and Continued Occupancy Policy.

Work with the Authority to develop a plan to ensure that a third party reviews the initial tenant certifications and annual recertifications with an actual or potential conflict of interest.

Ensure that the Authority’s board of commissioners and staff receive HUD-approved training on conflicts of interest.

Monitor the Authority to ensure that initial tenant certifications and annual recertifications with an actual or potential conflict of interest are appropriately handled.

Require the Authority to develop and implement detailed policies and procedures to address collections, tracking, and use of its laundry machine revenue.

Require the Authority to determine how much laundry machine revenue was not deposited into its accounts and used for eligible purposes and reimburse its program from non-Federal funds.

Monitor the Authority to ensure compliance with its new laundry machine revenue policies.

We audited the Housing Authority of City of Los Angeles’ legal services due to a hotline complaint alleging that the Authority did not properly procure its legal services and alleging questionable legal expenses that violated U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) requirements. Our…

Oversight Area: Rental Assistance

Provide documentation to show that $793,101 paid to the City for legal services was cost beneficial. Based on the documentation, it should reimburse its Housing Choice Voucher Program from non-Federal funds for any amount that exceeded the cost savings.

Follow the terms of the agreement, HUD requirements, and its own policies and procedures to ensure that any intergovernmental agreements for goods and services are in compliance.

We audited the Housing Authority of the City of Easton, PA’s Housing Choice Voucher Program because (1) we received a complaint alleging that the Authority made improper payments to program participants and a consultant to the Authority inappropriately placed herself on the program waiting list and…

Oversight Area: Rental Assistance

Update its administrative plan to ensure compliance with applicable regulations. Minimally, the administrative plan should clearly define the weights and rankings of the preference system and ensure that the residency preference complies with regulations.

Reevaluate the cases of the 131 applicants to whom it did not award residency points and award points as appropriate.

Update its waiting list as needed after completing corrective action for recommendation 1B.

Develop and implement policies and procedures to ensure that it administers its waiting list according to the requirements in its administrative plan, including maintaining documentation to show that it properly selected applicants from the waiting list.

Develop and implement procedures for performing quarterly interim recertifications for families reporting zero income.

Develop and implement controls to ensure that it follows the procedures it develops and implements to resolve recommendation 1E.

Provide documentation to show that the family that received the benefit of the $2,463 overpayment in housing assistance reimbursed the program or repay its program from non-Federal funds for any amount not reimbursed by the family.

Provide technical assistance to the Authority to ensure that it properly manages its waiting list, properly uses its preference point system, and selects applicants in accordance with applicable requirements.

We audited the Charlottesville Redevelopment and Housing Authority’s use of public housing operating and capital funds because (1) we received a hotline complaint alleging that the Authority mismanaged its procurement activities and improperly awarded an internet services contract for more than…

Oversight Area: Rental Assistance

Provide documentation to show that it purchased products and services totaling $728,516 at fair and reasonable prices or reimburse either its Operating or Capital Fund from non-Federal funds for any amounts that it cannot support.

Provide documentation to show that it had contracts for dumpster rentals and pest control services, and if it cannot provide the contracts, re-procure these services.

Obtain written agreements with the originating public bodies for its ongoing awards that were procured through intergovernmental agreements, including dumpster rentals, maintenance supplies, and consulting services, and if it cannot provide the agreements, re-procure these services.

Develop and implement controls to ensure that it complies with all applicable procurement requirements.

Provide technical assistance to the Authority to ensure that it understands Federal procurement requirements, including the proper use of intergovernmental agreements.

We audited PK Management, LLC, based on (1) media coverage of problems associated with Essex Village, an apartment complex in Virginia that it managed, and (2) issues identified in our prior audit of PK Management in Birmingham, AL. Our audit objective was to determine whether PK Management…

Oversight Area: Rental Assistance

Provide documentation to support housing assistance payments the projects received totaling $497,762 or reimburse HUD from nonproject funds for any amount that it cannot support.

Implement controls to ensure that it maintains adequate documentation in the tenant files to show that tenants were eligible for assistance and that the housing assistance payments were supported.

We audited the New York City Department of Housing Preservation and Development’s (HPD) Housing Choice Voucher Program. We selected HPD for review based on its size and because we had not conducted an audit of its Housing Choice Voucher Program. The objective of the audit was to determine whether…

Oversight Area: Rental Assistance

We recommend that the Director of HUD’s New York Office of Public and Indian Housing require HPD to certify, along with the owners of the 52 units cited in the finding, that the applicable housing quality standards violations have been corrected.

We recommend that the Director of HUD’s New York Office of Public and Indian Housing require HPD to reimburse its program $28,303 from non-Federal funds ($26,044 for housing assistance payments and $2,259 in associated administrative fees) for the six units that materially failed to meet HUD’s housing quality standards.

We recommend that the Director of HUD’s New York Office of Public and Indian Housing require HPD to improve controls over its inspection process to ensure that program units meet housing quality standards and that the results of inspections are used to enhance the effectiveness of its housing quality standards inspections, thereby ensuring that an estimated $760,363 in future program funds is spent for units that meet HUD’s housing quality standards. These controls include but are not limited to controls to ensure that (1) inspectors apply their training to thoroughly inspect units and consistently categorize failure items, (2) inspectors use a form that includes the key aspects of housing quality standards performance and acceptability criteria, and (3) results data are accurate and comply with applicable requirements.

We recommend that the Director of HUD’s New York Office of Public and Indian Housing require HPD to improve controls over the housing quality standards quality control inspections to ensure that quality control inspections meet HUD’s minimum sample size and that the sample is drawn from recently completed housing quality standards inspections.

We recommend that the Director of HUD’s New York Office of Public and Indian Housing require HPD to improve controls over its abatement process to ensure that it consistently (1) starts abatement when required, (2) verifies and documents the correction of violations, (3) resumes housing assistance payments after the end of the abatement period, and (4) maintains sufficient documentation to support the abatement and reinstatement for each unit.

We audited the Housing Authority of the City of Annapolis, MD’s Housing Choice Voucher Program because we received a complaint alleging that the Authority (1) ignored discrepancies between income information for applicants and program participants and (2) did not properly administer its program. …

Oversight Area: Rental Assistance

We recommend that the Director of HUD’s Baltimore Office of Public Housing direct the Authority to update its administrative plan to clearly define the weights or rankings of its waiting list preference system.

We recommend that the Director of HUD’s Baltimore Office of Public Housing direct the Authority to develop and implement controls to ensure that it administers its waiting list according to the requirements in its administrative plan, including maintaining documentation to show that it properly selected applicants from the waiting list.

We recommend that the Director of HUD’s Baltimore Office of Public Housing direct the Authority to develop and implement procedures to ensure that it maintains documentation to show that it admitted eligible families into the program.

We recommend that the Director of HUD’s Baltimore Office of Public Housing direct the Authority to update its administrative plan to establish the timeframe during which an applicant must not have engaged in criminal activity before it will admit the applicant into the program.

We reviewed the Bogalusa Housing Authority’s public housing programs based on the activities included in our annual audit plan and because the Authority has not been audited in more than 15 years. The objective of our review was to determine whether the Authority administered its public housing…

Oversight Area: Rental Assistance

We recommend that the Director of HUD’s New Orleans Office of Public Housing require the Authority to support $238,197 or repay its Operating Fund from non-Federal funds for payments made to contractors without written contracts, sufficient independent cost estimates, or cost analyses.

We recommend that the Director of HUD’s New Orleans Office of Public Housing require the Authority to support $13,270 or repay its Operating Fund from non-Federal funds for the disbursements that did not have adequate supporting documentation.

We recommend that the Director of HUD’s New Orleans Office of Public Housing require the Authority to strengthen its controls over purchases to ensure compliance with HUD, Federal, and Authority procurement requirements. This includes but is not limited to controls to ensure that it (1) maintains records sufficient to detail the significant history of procurements, (2) complies with requirements for each type of procurement, (3) obtains independent cost estimates and cost analyses when required, and (4) prevents and detects conflict-of-interest situations.

We recommend that the Director of HUD’s New Orleans Office of Public Housing require the Authority to revise disbursement and credit card policies and procedures to (1) reflect current staffing and procedures and (2) implement additional controls and procedures to ensure that adequate segregation of duties occurs and adequate supporting documentation and approvals are maintained in the files to support disbursements.

We recommend that the Director of HUD’s New Orleans Office of Public Housing require the Authority to obtain training for staff involved in the procurement, funding, and disbursement processes to ensure compliance with HUD, Federal, and Authority requirements.

We recommend that the Director of HUD’s New Orleans Office of Public Housing require the Authority to implement additional controls and procedures to ensure that RAD disbursements are properly tracked and accounted for.

We recommend that the Director of HUD’s New Orleans Office of Public Housing require the Authority to evaluate the apparent conflict-of-interest situations in this report and pursue administrative sanctions or corrective action if warranted.

We recommend that the Director of HUD’s New Orleans Office of Public Housing require the Authority to reimburse its Section 8 Housing Choice Voucher Program $24,728, from non-Federal funds, for the ineligible housing assistance payments.

We recommend that the Director of HUD’s New Orleans Office of Public Housing require the Authority to reimburse its Section 8 Housing Choice Voucher Program $1,223, from non-Federal funds, for the overpayment of housing assistance due to inaccurate calculation.

We recommend that the Director of HUD’s New Orleans Office of Public Housing require the Authority to support that the participant is income eligible, considering all adult household members, or repay its Section 8 Housing Choice Voucher Program $2,535 from non-Federal funds.

We recommend that the Director of HUD’s New Orleans Office of Public Housing require the Authority to reimburse the appropriate households $709, from non-Federal funds, for the underpayment of housing assistance due to inaccurate calculations.

We recommend that the Director of HUD’s New Orleans Office of Public Housing require the Authority to correct the deficiencies in the participants’ files as appropriate.

We recommend that the Director of HUD’s New Orleans Office of Public Housing require the Authority to review and implement procedures and controls to ensure that all Federal requirements and the Authority’s Section 8 administrative plan are followed for (1) supporting household eligibility, (2) performing initial housing quality standards inspections, (3) rent reasonableness assessments, (4) execution of housing assistance payments contracts, and (5) income verifications and calculations.

We recommend that the Director of HUD’s New Orleans Office of Public Housing require the Authority to develop and implement procedures for (1) conducting annual reviews of the Authority’s payment standard amounts and utility allowances and maintaining adequate supporting documentation, and (2) completing and documenting the criminal history background checks for all adult household members.

We recommend that the Director of HUD’s New Orleans Office of Public Housing require the Authority to obtain training for its staff to ensure compliance with HUD’s Housing Choice Voucher requirements.

We audited Vineville Christian Towers’ (project) Rental Assistance Demonstration Program (RAD) conversion in accordance with our annual audit plan. Our audit objective was to determine whether the project’s RAD conversion to the Section 8 Project-Based Voucher Program was completed in accordance…

Oversight Area: Rental Assistance

Cancel the Section 8 Project-Based Voucher Program housing assistance payments contract for 90 units improperly converted under RAD. The owner should work with HUD and the Authority to protect the tenancy of the affected tenants at the time of contract cancellation.

Reimburse HUD’s Section 8 program administered by the Authority $485,475 in housing assistance payments from nonproject funds for the improper issuance of tenant protection assistance and an improper RAD conversion to the Project-Based Voucher Program for the 90 units.

Develop and implement procedures to ensure that when tenant protection assistance is requested as a result of a housing conversion action, the forms HUD-50059 and or tenant profiles is generated only based on a completed action and that the forms or profiles are provided to HUD instead of the Authority.

Provide adequate training to staff associated with administering tenant protection and project-based assistance to help ensure compliance with program requirements.

Take appropriate enforcement actions against the responsible parties and pursue civil action against the owner for improperly certifying to the eligibility of the project residents.

Pursue administrative actions, as appropriate, against the responsible parties for the improper certification included in form HUD-50059 and the Section 8 project-based voucher housing assistance payments contract.

Open Recommendations by Oversight Area

Oversight Area

Status

Priority

The Red Bank Housing Authority, Red Bank, NJ, Did Not Always Administer Its Operating and Capital Funds in Accordance With Requirements

The Benkelman Housing Authority, Benkelman, NE, Did Not Follow HUD Rules and Regulations for Public Housing Programs Related to Procurement and Maintenance, Tenant Certifications, Laundry Machine Income, and Expenditures

The Housing Authority of the City of Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA, Did Not Always Manage Its Legal Services in Compliance With HUD Requirements

The Housing Authority of the City of Easton, PA, Did Not Always Properly Administer Its Housing Choice Voucher Program

The Charlottesville Redevelopment and Housing Authority, Charlottesville, VA, Did Not Always Comply With Applicable Procurement Requirements

PK Management, LLC, Richmond Heights, OH, Did Not Always Maintain Documentation Required to Support Housing Assistance Payments

New York City Department of Housing Preservation and Development, New York, NY, Did Not Always Ensure That Units Met Housing Quality Standards but Generally Abated Payments When Required

The Housing Authority of the City of Annapolis, MD, Did Not Always Properly Administer Its Housing Choice Voucher Program

The Bogalusa Housing Authority, Bogalusa, LA, Did Not Always Administer Its Public Housing Programs in Accordance With Requirements

The Christian Church Homes, Oakland, CA, Did Not Ensure That the Rental Assistance Demonstration Program Conversion Was Accurate and Supported for Vineville Christian Towers

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