Rural Housing Service: Efforts to Identify and Reduce Improper Rental Assistance Payments Could Be Enhanced

United States. Government Accountability Office.

United States. Government Accountability Office.

关键词: Government accountability -- United States.;    housing;    worker and family assistance;    rural housing service;    letter report;   

RP-ID  :  GAO-12-624
RP-ID  :  591248

美国|英语

来源: UNT Digital Library

【 摘 要 】

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "The Rural Housing Service (RHS) has identified improper rental assistance payments caused by certain sources of errors, but its reported error rate (total amount improperly paid divided by program outlays) may understate the magnitude of the problem. RHS has identified improper payments resulting from inaccurate calculations of tenant subsidies and incomplete supporting documents. From fiscal years 2007 through 2010, RHS reduced its reported error rate from 3.95 percent (representing $35 million in errors) to 1.48 percent (representing $15 million in errors). However, these figures may be understated because RHS has not estimated improper payments due to unreported tenant income, and it lacks the authority to match tenant data to federal income data for this purpose. These data include the Department of Health and Human Services’ (HHS) New Hires database and the Social Security Administration’s (SSA) data on benefits payments. RHS has proposed legislation to gain access to the HHS data but not the SSA data. Additionally, RHS has not recently estimated payment processing errors and has not strictly adhered to procedures for classifying payments as improper. Further, in 2008, RHS began excluding improper payments of less than $100 from its estimated error rates. However, it did not submit this change to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB), which is responsible for approving agency methodologies for estimation. As a result, RHS lacks assurance that its approach is appropriate."