Support or reimburse its program $12,893 from non-Federal funds for the unsupported overpayment of housing assistance due to missing documentation for housing assistance payment calculations.

Pursue collection from the applicable landlords or reimburse its program $4,460 from non-Federal funds for the overpayment of housing assistance due to discrepancies in the housing assistance payments register.

Reimburse the appropriate landlords $450 in housing assistance from program funds for the underpayment of housing assistance due to discrepancies in the housing assistance payments register.

Implement adequate procedures and controls, including but not limited to monitoring and oversight of the program staff, to ensure that (1) utility allowance calculations are adequately supported, (2) income is adequately verified and supported, (3) housing assistance is correctly calculated, and (4) housing assistance payments are appropriately processed in accordance with HUD’s and its own requirements.

Reimburse the project $17,761 from nonproject funds for the project operating funds disbursed for ineligible expenses.

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.

Ensure that third-party verifications, such as tax returns provided by the applicant, are from the source by obtaining certified tax returns from the Internal Revenue Service.

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.