Louisville Metro, Louisville, KY, Did Not Always Administer the TBRA Activity in Its HOME and CoC Programs in Accordance With Program Requirements

We audited the Louisville-Jefferson County Metropolitan Government’s tenant-based rental assistance (TBRA) activity in its HOME Investment Partnerships and Continuum of Care (CoC) programs, based on a hotline complaint alleging inappropriate administration of TBRA. In addition, we selected Louisville Metro for review in accordance with the Office of Inspector General’s annual audit plan. Our audit objective was to determine whether Louisville Metro administered the TBRA activity in its HOME and CoC programs in accordance with the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s (HUD) and its own requirements for participants’ recertifications and calculations of housing assistance payments. Louisville Metro did not (1) complete the annual recertifications in a timely manner with a signed housing assistance payments contract before providing housing assistance for 12 and 41 participants and (2) correctly calculate housing assistance payments for 13 and 16 households of the 34 and 68 HOME and CoC participants reviewed, respectively. This condition occurred because Louisville Metro did not enforce its policy and its staff had not been trained on calculating housing assistance payments. As a result, it (1) overpaid more than $123,000 in housing assistance for its HOME and CoC programs; (2) underpaid more than $720 in housing assistance for HOME and CoC participants; and (3) lacked documentation to support nearly $7,350 in CoC program funds used for housing assistance payments. In addition, Louisville Metro and HUD lacked assurance that the TBRA activity in the HOME and CoC programs was administered in accordance with HUD’s and Louisville Metro’s requirements. We recommend that the Acting Director for the Louisville, KY, Office of Community Planning and Development require Louisville Metro to (1) reimburse its programs more than $123,000 and its program participants more than $720, (2) support nearly $7,350 or reimburse its CoC program from non-Federal funds, (3) enforce its policy or implement other methods to ensure that annual recertifications are completed in a timely manner before issuing housing assistance, and (4) correct its certification process to ensure that nearly $385,700 in housing assistance payments is provided appropriately over the next year.