We audited the Grand Rapids Housing Commission’s Rental Assistance Demonstration program (RAD) based on the activities included in our 2017 annual audit plan and our analysis of the housing agencies participating in RAD in Region 5’s jurisdiction (States of Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Minnesota, Ohio, and Wisconsin). Our audit objective was to determine whether the Commission correctly calculated housing assistance payments for the units converted under the program.
The Commission did not always correctly calculate and pay housing assistance for the units converted under the program. It also did not always maintain documentation to support its calculations of households’ housing assistance payments and program eligibility. As a result, the Commission overpaid nearly $16,000 and underpaid more than $3,000 in housing assistance and utility allowance reimbursements. In addition, it had unsupported housing assistance payments.
We recommend that the Director of the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s Detroit Office of Public Housing require the Commission to (1) reimburse its program nearly $9,000 from non-Federal funds due to inappropriate calculations, (2) reimburse the appropriate households or projects more than $3,000 for underpayment of housing assistance and utility allowances, (3) support or reimburse the appropriate households for unsupported housing assistance payments, (4) pursue collection from applicable households or projects or reimburse its program nearly $7,000 from non-Federal funds for the overpayment of housing assistance, and (5) implement adequate quality control procedures to ensure that it correctly pays housing assistance.