NECAC continues as a partner in the federal effort to crack down on fraud in the Section 8 Housing Choice Voucher program.

While rare, fraud does happen. Most often, tenants hide assets or income or misrepresent who lives in the home. The Department of Housing and Urban Development’s Office of Inspector General and NECAC are committed to eliminating fraud, waste and abuse in the program, which provides partial rent payments to income-qualifying people. Landlords who participate in the program also are subject to fraud elimination guidelines.

“With the current affordable housing shortage, our waiting lists are long,” said NECAC Rental Assistance Programs Director Michelle Worthington. “Cheating the system will not be tolerated. People who fraud the Section 8 program are taking assistance away from waiting list applicants who are willing to participate in the program honestly.”

The law requires Section 8 clients to report all household income and changes in household composition. Failure to do so can result in termination from the program, repayment of overpaid subsidies and, in some cases, federal criminal charges.

Public housing authorities such as NECAC are required to use HUD’s Enterprise Income Verification as a third-party source to double-check employment and income data during annual examinations. The system puts together a verity of information. Housing authorities also get quarterly wage reports through computer matching agreements with state collection agencies. People who sign up for Section 8 authorize HUD and NECAC to pull this data.

NECAC urges people to report suspected housing fraud to the email housing@necac.org, All reports are investigated by the agency and are kept confidential.