Audit: Easton Housing Authority needs to update procedures for voucher program

An audit from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development found that Easton’s Housing Authority did not properly administer its waiting list of tenants for the federal Housing Choice Voucher Program, formerly known as Section 8.

The authority also failed to perform quarterly recertifications for families reporting zero income, resulting in an ineligible housing assistance payment of $2,463.

“This occurred because the authority was unaware of some waiting list requirements, lacked written procedures to collect and maintain documentation to show it properly selected applicants from the waiting list and lacked procedures for performing quarterly recertifications for families reporting zero income,” the audit says.

Easton’s Housing Authority contracts with an outside agency to perform annual audits of its program, which in addition to the federal housing vouchers includes administering 378 units of public housing, said the authority’s Executive Director Gene Pambianchi.

Those annual audits never uncovered any problems, he said, noting that the HUD audit was the first of its kind of the Easton agency.

The audit, performed by HUD’s Office of the Inspector General, examined records from Oct. 1, 2017, to Sept. 30, 2018, and specifically looked at the administration of the Housing Choice Voucher Program.

The voucher program provides assistance to very lowincome families in the form of a voucher administered locally by a public housing agency.

A housing subsidy is paid to the landlord directly by the public agency, and the family pays the difference between the rent and amount of the subsidy, according to the voucher website.

The audit was prompted by a complaint alleging the authority made improper payments to program participants and that a consultant to the authority inappropriately placed herself on the program waiting list.

Both complaints were determined to be unfounded, the audit says.

As part of a nine-month review, HUD auditors randomly selected the records of 10 families that applied for vouchers through the Easton Housing Authority to determine whether they were eligible to participate in the program and whether the authority properly selected them from the waiting list.

“The sample was sufficient to show the authority ensured families were eligible for the program, but it did not maintain appropriate documentation to show that it properly selected families from the waiting list,” the audit says.

The authority used a preference point system for applicants who were veterans and residents of Easton, however, this selection system was not clearly defined in the authority’s administrative plan as required by HUD, the audit says.

Regulations also state applicants who are working in Easton must be given the same preference as residents of the city.

The authority’s waiting list from October 2018 showed that 131 applicants were not asked whether they worked in Easton.

The authority was unaware that it was required to include the rankings, according to the audit.

The authority also did not perform quarterly recertifications for families reporting zero income, even though the authority’s administrative plan required it to perform recertifications every three months, the audit says.

It found one family underreported income by $13,906 over 12 months. As a result, the authority overpaid $2,463 in housing assistance for that family.

Pambianchi said the authority intends to implement administrative updates recommended by the audit, which include developing an administrative plan to clearly define rankings in the authority’s preference system; creating procedures to ensure the authority properly administers its waiting list; and developing procedures to recertify families reporting zero income.

Authority staff members are also sorting through the 131 applicant files named in the audit to determine whether residency preference should be granted to any of those applicants based on working in the city.

The authority is also terminating program assistance for the family that purposely underreported income.

The authority reimbursed the Housing Choice Voucher program and is pursuing collection of the $2,463 from the family.