U.S. regulators have faulted Connecticut for “under-leasing” a federal housing-subsidy program, while accusing the program”™s Waterbury-based contractor of shoddy record keeping.
In an audit published last month, the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) said the Connecticut Department of Social Services (DSS) failed to distribute vouchers for rental assistance totaling $15 million.
HUD also stated that Waterbury-based J. D”™Amelia & Associates L.L.C. did not maintain adequate paper trails on nearly $1 million in program funds, representing fraudulent claims by renters the company held in a bank account, and recommended that the state go after the money and put it to use.
Under HUD”™s Section 8 Housing Voucher Program, DSS received $126 million in housing-assistance funding between July 2005 and this past February, along with $11 million in administrative fees. HUD requires that 95 percent of the funding be used for its stated purpose; Connecticut used only 82 percent of its available funding last year.
Under a similar Rental Assistance Program (RAP) in Connecticut, families who make less than 50 percent of the median income in any county are able to obtain subsidies to cover house and apartment lease payments, in many cases the difference between their rent and 30 percent of their gross income.
J. D”™Amelia Associates (JDA) manages both Section 8 and RAP in Connecticut, paying funds directly to landlords. According to HUD, the oversight occurred after a state accountant left for another job, creating a breakdown in communication between DSS and JDA.
“As a result, approximately 770 families went unhoused in 2007,” said John Dvorak, a HUD regional inspector.
JDA is now responsible for monitoring program capacity. JDA subcontracts operation of the program to eight public-housing authorities and community agencies, including the Danbury Housing Authority and the Stratford Housing Authority in Fairfield County.
HUD said DSS did not quibble with its findings in an August meeting, and in an August letter a DSS official promised to recover the funds from JDA by October. JDA owner John D”™Amelia did not return a call for comment.
“This department has implemented an aggressive policy with regards to tenant fraud and collection on repayment agreements,” stated Mary Cattanach, program supervisor for the housing services unit of DSS.
Cattanach indicated the program”™s problems stemmed in part from changes to HUD”™s funding formula, coupled with significant delays in receiving annual allocations. She said the state is back in line with the regulatory 95 percent lease mandate, with the agency fulfilling the quota via its waiting list. Of 48,000 applications for housing assistance last year, 5,000 were placed on an RAP waiting list, and 7,000 on the Section 8 program waiting list.
