After a complaint alleging that the Fresno Housing Authority steered contracts, did not seek competition for all of its required procurements, and did not maintain adequate supporting documentation, the Department of Housing and Urban Development HUD audited the authority. The purpose was to determine whether the authority used its operating and capital funds in accordance with HUD requirements when procuring goods and services.
Although HUD did not find evidence that the authority steered its Public Housing Operating Fund and Capital Fund contracts, it found that other aspects of the complaint had merit. Notably, the authority did not maintain adequate documentation to support its procurement of security services, financial audit services, window retrofits and heating and air conditioning upgrades.
Further, it did not conduct all of its procurement transactions in a manner providing full and open competition. For example, the authority did not seek competition for legal services nor did it seek competition for a change order, which was outside the scope of a renovation project. HUD further found that these conditions were a result of the authority misrepresenting HUD procurement regulations.
In addition to these findings, HUD found that the authority’s informal procurement practices did not ensure that it maintained required documentation. Thus, the authority was at risk of not being able to support that the capital and operating funds it spent on HUD contracts were fair and reasonable and of the best value to the program.
As a result of its findings, HUD recommend that the acting director of HUD’s San Francisco Office of Public Housing require the authority to develop written procedures to ensure that adequate documentation is maintained to support the significant history of each procurement as well as develop written procedures to ensure that adequate competition is obtained for all of its required procurements.
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