Support or reimburse the project $17,653 from nonproject funds for the project operating funds disbursed without sufficient supporting documentation.

Reclassify and properly record $45,000 in owner advances misclassified as loans.

Strengthen controls to ensure that project advances are reimbursed only when the project is in a surplus-cash position.

Implement adequate controls to ensure the review of the management agent fee to ensure that it is properly calculated in accordance with the HUD management agent certification and approved prior to payment from project operating funds.

Implement adequate controls to ensure that project funds are used only for eligible and supported operating expenses.

Obtain a formal agreement and approval from HUD to specify who is authorized to use the project’s community and recreation rooms and what activities are authorized or prohibited. In addition, this agreement must ensure that sufficient legal and liability protections are in place, establish consequences for noncompliance, and determine who is to pay for the utilities and maintenance of the rooms.

Amend the management agent agreement compensation schedule to remove bookkeeping fees as a fee separate from the 8.9 percent management agent fee.

Reimburse the appropriate households $144 from nonproject funds for the underpayment of housing assistance due to incorrect calculations.

Revise its occupancy standards to include policies and procedures to prevent underutilization of the project’s units.

Review and update the project’s waiting lists to include the missing dates and required notations.

Develop and implement adequate procedures and controls to ensure that the project complies with HUD’s requirements and its own policies regarding the management of its waiting lists.

Determine whether the households residing in the project’s assisted units received housing in accordance with the program’s requirements and if not, consider a referral to HUD’s Office of Fair Housing and Equal Opportunity.

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.