The Comptroller of Puerto Rico issued a qualified opinion on the fiscal operations of the Department of Housing. A qualified opinion is issued when the noncompliances individually or together are significant, but not pervasive.
The one-finding Report reveals that 11 proponents not awarded the adjudication of an auction on September 9, 2019, of the R3 Assistance Program to address the damages to the homes affected by hurricanes Irma and María, have had to wait more than three months for the holding of administrative hearings. In addition, the 11 proponents have waited more than two and a half years for the Review Board to issue the final resolution. The Regulation of the Review Board provides that administrative hearings must be held no later than 10 days from the receipt of the reconsideration requests and that the decision must be issued within 20 consecutive days after the administrative hearing.
The auditors of the Office of the Comptroller found no evidence of the actions taken by the attorneys of the Review Board to issue the final resolution. The secretary did not supervise the operations of the Board and its president did not ensure that the terms established in the reconsideration requests were complied with.
This situation affects the integrity and reliability of the reconsideration process and deprives the affected party of being able to file a request for review before the court.
The Report recommends to the secretary of Housing that he ensure that the Review Board complies with its regulations, among others.
This second report of the Department of Housing covers the period from January 1, 2018 to December 31, 2022
Audit Report OC-24-14 can be obtained on our Internet page: www.ocpr.gov.pr.
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