Talbert House, Inc.Non-Profit

Continuum of Care, Assistance Listing Number 14.267 Criteria: Special Tests and Provisions Reasonable Rental Rates. 24 CFR 578.49(b)(1) of the Continuum of Care Program requires rents paid for with grant funds to be reasonable and to not exceed fair market rents. The Agency should have internal controls in place to ensure compliance. Condition: We noted an instance (out of a sample of 19) of a client’s original lease ending and no documentation being retained to indicate the future status of the lease in accordance with the Agency’s policies and controls. Cause and Effect: The Agency may pay rent for a lease that is not housing a client or is in excess of fair market rents for a similar unit. The Agency did not adhere to its internal controls of obtaining a lease addendum or new lease at the conclusion of a previous lease. Recommendation: The Agency should provide education and training for all staff members involved in the program. In addition, management needs to perform a review of all client files to ensure proper documentation is retained for all clients and ongoing leases. Views of Responsible Officials and Planned Corrective Actions: Recommendation will be implemented including education and training of staff members responsible for lease documents. Agency will also complete a review of all client files to ensure properly inclusion of appropriate documentation. See corrective action plan on page 32.

2021-001 Covid-19 - Coronavirus Relief Fund, Assistance Listing Number 21.019 Criteria: Internal controls over allowable costs. Internal controls should ensure participants were not paid in excess of maximum allowable amounts per the grant. Condition: In accordance with the amended grant agreement, effective November 5, 2020 no more than $5,000 per household for rent and/or utility payments (combined) will be provided. The Agency used landlord statements to determine rent amounts and input the data in a database at exit to show how much was paid per household. This information was not properly utilized to ensure households were not paid in excess of the allowable $5,000. Cause: Internal controls over the program were not properly designed to prevent and/or detect when participants are paid in excess of the maximum amount allowed per the grant. Effect: There were 16 participants in the program paid in excess of the $5,000 allowed per person per grant stipulations. The total amounts paid in excess of the amounts allowed was $13,807. Recommendation: The Agency should implement internal controls over compliance that operate properly to ensure participants of the program are not paid more than allowed. Management Response: See corrective action plan on page 30.

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