Report 2023-112 All Recommendation Responses

Report 2023-112: Mobilehome Residency Law Protection Program: The California Department of Housing and Community Development Must Improve Its Oversight of the Program (Release Date: December 2023)

Recommendation for Legislative Action

To ensure that HCD is able to effectively monitor the LSPs with which it contracts, the Legislature should amend state law to require LSPs to permit HCD, in its role as the contract manager overseeing the performance of the LSP contracts, access to confidential information—currently protected by the attorney-client communication and attorney-work product privileges—regarding the status of each case and the services provided to complainants. HCD should be prohibited from disclosing this confidential information to anyone outside of HCD. The Legislature should also specify that the LSPs providing access to HCD does not constitute a waiver of any attorney-related privileges.

Recommendation for Legislative Action

To ensure that HCD has enough funding to effectively manage the program without accumulating excessive funds, the Legislature should amend state law to:

-Suspend the program's $10 per lot fee until the program's sunset date of January 1, 2027.
-Provide HCD authority to reinstate the $10 per lot fee for the duration of the program in the event HCD and the Department of Finance agree that the program fund can cover only six months of expenditures.
-Require HCD—in its annual report due on or before December 31, 2025—to report on the program's financial sustainability and justify any further revisions to the program fee.

Recommendation #3 To: Housing and Community Development, Department of

To ensure that LSPs are providing complainants with timely and effective services, HCD should, by March 2024, begin regular surveys of complainants whom it has referred to LSPs to determine whether the LSPs are in regular communication with the complainants and whether complainants have any concerns about the LSPs' services.

60-Day Agency Response

Program is developing a customer satisfaction survey for complainants that were referred to LSPs for service. The survey will be available in physical and electronic formats. Program will send the survey to complainants as part of the closing process for complaints that were referred to LSPs. Program will also conduct a monthly review of open complaints that have been referred to LSPs and will send the survey to complainants whose complaints have been inactive in CASAS for more than 30 days. Program estimates the CSA recommendation will be implemented by March 2024.

California State Auditor's Assessment of 60-Day Status: Pending

We look forward to reviewing HCD's progress toward implementing our recommendation.

Recommendation #4 To: Housing and Community Development, Department of

To ensure that LSPs are providing complainants with timely and effective services, HCD should, by March 2024, amend the LSP contracts and require the LSPs to provide complainants copies of invoices specific to their complaints.

60-Day Agency Response

HCD will accept the risk of not implementing this recommendation because current contracts expire in 2024 and HCD has taken action to extend current contracts by one-year to provide continuity of services while soliciting new legal service contracts through 2027. Current contracts allow amendments of up to one-year extensions; this recommended amendment expanding the scope of work of the contracts would require a completely new solicitation or use of the NCB process resulting in a lapse of service to complainants. HCD will consider adding the provision requiring LSPs to provide complainants copies of invoices specific to their complaints into the solicitation package of future contracts but implementing this recommendation as written would create additional risks without providing enhanced improvements

California State Auditor's Assessment of 60-Day Status: Will Not Implement

Although HCD indicated that it will not implement this recommendation, as we identified in our report we believe that HCD can seek to amend its existing contracts. In fact, we noted in our report that the HCD contracts with the LSPs specifically allow for amendments so long as the amendments comply with the State Contracting Manual (SCM). The SCM permits amendments to contracts as long as the amendment complies with specific criteria, such as occurring before the expiration of the original contract and, in some cases, receiving approval from the Department of General Services, among other requirements.

Recommendation #5 To: Housing and Community Development, Department of

To ensure that LSPs are providing complainants with timely and effective services, HCD should, by March 2024, monitor the updates that LSPs provide to detect any inappropriate denial of services and immediately respond to correct those denials.

60-Day Agency Response

Program is currently monitoring the updates that LSPs provide to detect any denial of services and to immediately respond to correct those denials and has implemented monitoring processes and tools accordingly. Program is in the process of developing standard operating procedures for monitoring updates and a control process to ensure the process is followed. Program estimates the CSA recommendation will be implemented by March 2024.

California State Auditor's Assessment of 60-Day Status: Pending

We look forward to reviewing the department's progress toward implementing our recommendation.

Recommendation #6 To: Housing and Community Development, Department of

HCD should adopt more effective data management practices by developing, at a minimum, the following CASAS upgrades as soon as is feasible:
-A list of outcomes that HCD staff would select from when changing a complaint's status to closed. That list should include the option to note that closure pertains to an inquiry rather than a complaint.
-The ability to automatically generate a report with the outcome information needed for HCD's annual report to the Legislature.

60-Day Agency Response

Program has submitted a request to IT for a CASAS enhancement that will implement a dropdown list of outcome categories, which will include options pertaining to inquiries as well as complaints, that HCD staff and management will utilize when changing a complaint's status to closed. This enhancement will allow program to automatically generate outcome data for HCD's annual report to the Legislature and other internal reports. The enhancement is scheduled to be released May 10, 2024. Program estimates the CSA recommendation will be implemented by March 2024.

California State Auditor's Assessment of 60-Day Status: Pending

We look forward to reviewing HCD's progress toward implementing our recommendation.

All Recommendations in 2023-112

Agency responses received are posted verbatim.