The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development – Office of Inspector General audited the Nevada, MO Housing Authority because available reports indicated that 95.4 percent of the Authority’s public housing tenants were exempt from the community service and self-sufficiency requirement (requirement), which was higher than the State’s average of 88.5 percent.  Also, this audit will complement our upcoming nationwide internal audit of the requirement.  Our audit objective was to determine whether the Authority properly classified tenants as exempt from the requirement.

The Authority did not properly classify tenants as exempt from the requirement.  It did not properly exempt 33 of the 35 households reviewed and did not provide any of the households a copy of the requirement policy at initial application.  Also, it did not accurately complete the tenant recertification form for 20 of the 35 households. 

We recommend that the Director of HUD’s Kansas City Office of Public Housing require the Authority to develop and implement a more comprehensive community service and self-sufficiency requirement to ensure that it complies with HUD’s requirements.  This measure will ensure that $33,547 in public housing operating subsidies will be put to better use.  Also, HUD should ensure that the Authority’s staff receives training to help prevent future recording errors.