Purpose

The objective of our examination was to determine whether Homeowners Association, Inc. (Homeowners) expended $20,000 granted under contract TM09M10 with the New York State Office of Children and Family Services (OCFS) in accordance with the terms and conditions of contract.

Background

Under this contract, Homeowners agreed to provide residents with information affecting their community, including foreclosure prevention, combating community deterioration, and revitalizing the community. The majority of the contract funds were budgeted for the purchase of equipment to enable Homeowners to i) operate an office; ii) provide educational and informational workshops, literature, seminars and newsletters; and iii) hold monthly public meetings.

Key Findings

We found Homeowners did not provide sufficient, appropriate evidence to demonstrate it used the items purchased with State monies for purposes consistent with the contract.

• Homeowners used some equipment for personal purposes. For example, Homeowners purchased a desktop computer to produce professional quality documents and two laptops to record meeting minutes. We did not find any Homeowners related documents on these devises, but we found evidence of personal use, including wedding invitations, homework assignments, iTunes, the personal resume of the Homeowners President’s husband, and other personal files. We also found personal emails and family pictures on an iPad Homeowners purchased with grant funds.
• We question whether Homeowners operated a functioning office.
• Homeowners returned $800 to the State.

Key Recommendations

1. Work with the New York State Office of the Attorney General to recover the remaining $19,200 from Homeowners.