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REPORTAR FRAUDE, DESPERDICIO O ABUSO
Mayo 01, 2014
  • Public and Indian Housing
2014-NY-1003
2014-NY-1003.pdf

We completed a review of the New York City Housing Authority’s administration of its Section 8 Housing Choice Voucher program to ensure that its units met the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s (HUD) housing quality standards.  We selected the Authority based on indicators from HUD monitoring reports, such as the Authority’s overall Section 8 Management Assessment Program performance rating modified to standard for fiscal years 2009 and 2010.  The objective of the audit was to determine whether the Authority ensured that its Housing Choice Voucher program units met HUD’s housing quality standards.

Our review determined that the Authority did not always ensure that its Housing Choice Voucher program units met HUD’s housing quality standards.  Of the 119 units inspected, 99 did not meet HUD’s housing quality standards.  Further, 24 of the 99 units were in material noncompliance with HUD standards.  The Authority disbursed $85,546 in housing assistance payments and received $7,030 in administrative fees for these 24 units.  Authority officials did not adequately conduct unit inspections and implement procedures and controls to adequately ensure that program units met housing quality standards.  As a result, tenants were subjected to inadequately maintained units, which created unsafe living conditions.  We estimate that over the next year if the Authority does not implement our recommendations, HUD will potentially pay more than $148 million in housing assistance for units that materially fail to meet HUD’s housing quality standards. 

We recommend that the Director of HUD’s New York Office of Public Housing instruct Authority officials to (1) immediately certify that the violations cited for the remaining 41 units have been corrected, (2) reimburse its program $92,576 from non-Federal funds, (3) implement procedures and controls to ensure that program units meet housing quality standards, (4) seek HUD approval to incorporate HUD and local city codes into the Authority’s Housing Choice Voucher program inspection checklists and administrative plan, and (5) increase the quality of unit inspections conducted daily by the Authority’s inspectors to help ensure the identification of 24-hour violations.