JOSEPH M. FERGUSON INSPECTOR GENERAL
CITY OF CHICAGO OFFICE OF INSPECTOR GENERAL 740 NORTH SEDGWICK STREET, SUITE 200 CHICAGO, ILLINOIS 60654 TELEPHONE: (773)478-7799 FAX: (773) 478-3949
JULY 7, 2021
TO THE EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR AND BOARD OF THE CHICAGO LOW-INCOME HOUSING TRUST FUND, MAYOR, CITY COUNCIL, CITY CLERK, CITY TREASURER, AND COMMUNITY MEMBERS OF THE CITY OF CHICAGO:
The City of Chicago Office of Inspector General (OIG) has completed a follow-up to its December 2019 audit of the Chicago Low-Income Housing Trust Fund's management of housing quality inspections for units participating in the Rental Subsidy Program (RSP). Based on the Trust Fund's responses, OIG concludes that the Trust Fund has fully implemented 3 of 14 corrective actions related to the audit findings, substantially implemented 2, partially implemented 7, and not implemented 2.
The purpose of the 2019 audit was to determine if the Trust Fund met its mission of providing "secure^ safe, and sound" housing by ensuring that RSP properties,
received their required annual Housing Quality Standards (HQS) inspections;
had evidence of a lead safe housing certificate in their contracts;
came into compliance after the discovery of housing deficiencies, including serious health and safety risks; and
addressed unresolved Chicago Building Code violations.
Our audit found that in 2017, the Trust Fund did not ensure that all properties participating in the RSP met its standards for safe, sound, and secure housing. The Trust Fund subsidized properties with Chicago Building Code violations and other serious housing quality deficiencies, had a payment system that inadequately protected against potential fraud and errors, and paid properties with incomplete contract documentation. In addition, errors in the Trust Fund's internal management tool caused it to publish inaccurate and incomplete quarterly reports from 2014 through 2018, and prevented accurate accountings of the amount of funding it had allotted to R...
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