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The Violations Were Caused by
Inadequate Procedures and
Controls
The housing quality standards violations existed because the Authority failed to
exercise proper supervision and oversight of its program unit inspections. It also
lacked adequate procedures and controls to ensure that its program units met
HUD鈥檚 housing quality standards. The current senior assisted housing inspector
stated that she could not inspect the units as thoroughly as the Office of Inspector
General鈥檚 (OIG) appraiser because she did not have the time or resources.
Authority officials terminated the employment of the former senior assisted
housing inspector shortly after we informed them that 8 of 10 units we initially
inspected failed to meet minimum housing quality standards. Officials attributed
the Authority鈥檚 failure on the housing quality standards portion of the Section 8
management assessment program certification for two consecutive years to the
former senior assisted housing inspector. Additionally, they stated that the former
senior assisted housing inspector sometimes passed units with significant
discrepancies, methods for assigning inspections were flawed, units were not
inspected in a timely manner, and inspections were often incomplete. An
Authority official also acknowledged that a lack of close supervision on the part
of the former senior assisted housing inspector probably contributed to the high
housing quality standards failure rate.
Also, the Authority lacked an adequate system for tracking and documenting its
housing quality standards inspections. HUD requirements state that housing
quality standards inspections are to be conducted annually. According to
Authority officials, their automated system could not produce reports identifying
the date of the last inspection, the results of the inspection, and the date of the
next inspection. Therefore, HUD has no assurance unit inspections were
conducted annually.
Conclusion
The Authority鈥檚 tenants were subjected to health- and safety-related violations, and
the Authority did not properly use its program funds when it failed to ensure that
units complied with HUD鈥檚 housing quality standards. The Authority disbursed
$101,646 in housing assisting payments to landlords for the 28 units that
materially failed to meet HUD鈥檚 housing quality standards and received $9,204 in
program administrative fees.
If the Authority implements adequate procedures and controls over its unit
inspections to ensure compliance with HUD鈥檚 housing quality standards, we
estimate that more than $4 million in future housing assistance payments will be
spent for units that are decent, safe, and sanitary. We determined this amount by
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