We performed an audit of the Boca Raton Housing Authority mainly to assess the validity of nine allegations made against the Authority.  The primary audit objective was to determine whether the Authority administered its Section 8 Housing Choice Voucher program tenant files in accordance with the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s regulations, specifically to verify the validity of the complaint.

Four of the nine allegations in the complaint were valid.  Specifically, the Authority (1) did not correctly calculate repayment amounts, (2) did not follow due process when removing tenants from the Section 8 program, (3) paid an excess subsidy to a landlord for a deceased tenant, and (4) applied the decreased payment standard amounts prematurely.  The deficiencies occurred because the Authority did not have adequate procedures and enforcement actions in place to ensure compliance with the Section 8 program requirements.  The deficiencies resulted in $8,689 of underpayments by tenants with repayment agreements, $360 of excess funds paid to a landlord for a deceased tenant, and $11,869 of excess amounts paid by tenants when the payment standards were prematurely applied.

We recommend that the Director of the Miami Office of Public Housing require the Authority to pursue actions against tenants who underpaid $8,689 in repayments, and determine the accuracy of the amounts owed by the tenants who entered into repayment agreements with the Authority and take corrective actions for those tenants determined to have incorrectly calculated repayment amounts.  We also recommend that the Authority repay the Section 8 fund $11,869 used to reimburse the tenants for prematurely applying the decreased payment standard amounts and to enforce procedures to ensure that due process is followed before removing tenants from the program.