Silicon Valley nonprofits providing housing assistance mismanaged federal grants

Dozens of uncashed checks. Expenditures that were not allowed. Tardiness in submitting quarterly performance reports. These are some of the issues found in an audit of local nonprofits providing housing assistance during the pandemic.

In fiscal year 2021-22, the San Jose Housing Department received $89 million in federal and state dollars for nonprofits to distribute for rent relief and economic assistance. The housing department contracted with accounting firm Pun Group to track whether nonprofits complied with federal grant requirements. Pun Group reviewed 44 grant agreements from during this period and found 27 lacked internal controls for ensuring that grants were being used properly, according to a city report released earlier this month. The findings show a number of nonprofits failed to disclose checks written to ineligible program participants.