SPHA’s Fraud Recovery Program Has Banner Year

ST. PETERSBURG, FLORIDA – The St. Petersburg Housing Authority’s (SPHA) Fraud Recovery Prevention and Recovery Program recovered $87,351.51 in fraud in 2010, the second highest fraud collection year since the program’s inception. SPHA formed its Fraud Prevention and Recovery program in 2001, with the goal of reducing the incidents of fraudulent activity in the Housing Choice Voucher (HCV) / Section 8 program and saving taxpayer dollars.

SPHA Chief of Programs Melinda Perry said, “Fraud is a crime, which diverts scarce resources away from the neediest of our clients. SPHA’s staff, with the full support of our Board of Commissioners and management, is committed to eliminating fraud in any form and recovering resources lost by fraudulent activity by residents, clients, landlords and suppliers. We are proud to be on the leading edge of the fight against fraud.”

For the year ending December 31, 2010, SPHA has collected $87,351.51 toward balances owed on repayment agreements with landlords and tenants in the HCV / Section 8 program and has repayment agreements in place with 45 current voucher-holders, totaling $72,151 in outstanding fraud recovery debt to be collected. Since the program’s inception in 2001, SPHA has recovered a total of $648,859.61 from landlords and tenants.

Through SPHA’s “Operation Zero-In” initiative, staff investigates HCV / Section 8 participants who report zero income or who report family contributions as their only income. This initiative has expanded efforts to determine unreported income and has been successful in saving even more taxpayer dollars. HUD’s Enterprise Income Verification (EIV) system has been a great tool for SPHA staff in these investigative efforts. The EIV system allows the housing authority to gain access to the Department of Labor’s information on employment income, and the use of this system has uncovered many assisted families failing to report their incomes correctly.

In addition, the Fraud Prevention and Recovery team members train Section 8 staff, development managers and other SPHA staff on how to identify fraudulent activities, investigate any potential cases of fraud, and work closely with the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s Office of Inspector General (OIG), local, state and federal law enforcement agencies for prosecution of offenders. This partnership has resulted in numerous arrests of the worst offenders and saves the taxpayers thousands of dollars, annually.

One half of the funds recovered by SPHA’s Fraud Prevention and Recovery team is reinvested in fraud recovery efforts, and the other half is returned to HUD.

About St. Petersburg Housing Authority (SPHA):

The St. Petersburg Housing Authority (SPHA) is a public body corporate that has a 70+ year history of developing and administering affordable housing programs within its jurisdictional area, which includes St. Petersburg and a 10-mile radius outside of the city. Consistently scored as a “High Performer” on U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) assessments, SPHA provides housing assistance to more than 3,400 families. The housing authority has received national awards and recognition for its innovative programs, including the Economies of Scale program, the Jordan Park HOPE VI redevelopment program, the Section 3 program, and the Fraud Recovery program. More information about SPHA’s programs and services can be found at www.stpeteha.org.