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The 86th Civil Engineer Squadron housing office, in conjunction with the Air Force Audit Agency, recently completed an Overseas Housing Allowance audit consisting of approximately 5,000 contracts May 18 on Ramstein.
The audit’s purpose was to review lease contracts to determine if controls were in place to prevent rent escalation and to determine if OHA was administered correctly. The audit concluded that controls to prevent rent escalation were effective, but did highlight about 5,000 lease contracts that may have OHA irregularities.
The audit determined 428 contracts needed corrections or required additional attention. Of the 428 found to have irregularities, 142 have been notified and provided guidance from the housing and finance offices. The remaining members whose contracts were impacted will be notified by Monday.
The 86th Comptroller Squadron is the finance office working the implementation of the housing document changes as a result of the audit, and has currently suspended all debt collection actions for those affected until further notice.
This audit was centrally directed and conducted by the Air Force Audit Agency. Discrepancies were first reported during an audit status update in March of this year. The auditing agency only reviewed Air Force military leases and not civilians or contracts from other services.
The bulk of the contract irregularities apply to enlisted Airmen and their families who arrived in the KMC and have a lease signed prior to June 2012. During this period in 2012, the KMC housing office reviewed its OHA processes and determined a change was needed to ensure no double payments or further irregularities were caused. The recent audit from this year confirmed current processes have been established and are effective at preventing these issues from moving forward.
Service members and their families are the most important assets and looking out for their interests is very important during this period.
The financial management team is researching options to mitigate negative impacts on service members and their families and to ensure prevention of further overpayments or underpayments.
In the meantime and as a reminder, service members and their families who are affected are currently being notified and given guidance on how to respond. Also, if members have questions or concerns about allowances or payments being made, be patient with the housing office and finance personnel as they work diligently to address the issue.
