We audited the Jackson Housing Commission’s Section 8 program as part of the activities in our fiscal year 2014 annual audit plan.  We selected the Commission based on our analysis of the risk factors relating to public housing agencies in Region 5’s jurisdiction.  Our objective was to determine whether the Commission administered its program in accordance with HUD’s and its own program requirements.

The Commission generally administered its program in accordance with HUD’s and its own requirements with two exceptions.  Specifically, it did not always (1) properly select households from its Section 8 program waiting list and (2) conduct interim reexaminations for zero-income households in accordance with its administrative plan.  As a result, housing assistance may have been (1) unjustly denied or delayed for eligible households or (2) overpaid to households that inappropriately reported no income.

We recommend that HUD require the Commission to (1) establish and implement adequate procedures and controls, including but not limited to providing training to its staff to ensure that it manages its Section 8 program waiting list and zero-income households in accordance with its administrative plan and (2) implement adequate procedures and controls to ensure that repayment agreements are created to recover overpaid housing assistance when unreported income is discovered during the examination process in accordance with its administrative plan.