Report 2009-037 Recommendation 3 Responses

Report 2009-037: Department of Housing and Community Development: Housing Bond Funds Generally Have Been Awarded Promptly and in Compliance With Law, but Monitoring Continues to Need Improvement (Release Date: November 2009)

Recommendation #3 To: Housing and Community Development, Department of

HCD should continue its efforts to monitor recipients of housing bond funds by following its procedures on restrictions of bond fund advances that exceed 25 percent of the total award under the CalHome Program.

1-Year Agency Response

HCD explained that CalHome Program’s ability to grant an advance in excess of 25 percent under special circumstances is important to mitigate risks to participants (occupants) who might otherwise lose an opportunity to own and occupy a home. Therefore, HCD developed procedures for granting advances in excess of 25 percent to recipients of its CalHome Program that requires the following: substantiation from the recipient, addition of the request to the tracking report, and review and approval by the manager. The request is then documented, processed, and filed in the recipient’s file. HCD believes this procedure ensures that the appropriate controls are in place. Further, HCD asserted that the two instances of noncompliance identified by the bureau were traced back to two staff members who no longer work for HCD. To ensure that subsequent infractions of the procedure do not occur, HCD indicated it has reissued the procedure to all CalHome Program staff members. Further, according to HCD, status reports from recipients of its CalHome Program are due 30 days after the end of every quarter. HCD provided us with a copy of its report-tracking log that it currently uses to record the dates it receives and reviews quarterly status reports from CalHome recipients. If the reports are late, HCD stated that its staff will call or email the contractor and note on the log who called, who the contact was, date called, and the result. It also indicated that the log will be reviewed periodically by the manager and follow-ups performed as necessary. (2011-406, p. 196)

California State Auditor's Assessment of 1-Year Status: Fully Implemented

All Recommendations in 2009-037

Agency responses received after June 2013 are posted verbatim.