THE National Housing Authority’s (NHA) soft policy in imposing sanctions against shelter beneficiaries is causing the agency to further bleed billions yearly due to low collection ranging from 36 to 55 percent from 2015 to 2022.
To address the problem and shore up funding for more government housing projects, the Commission on Audit has urged the NHA to strictly implement the provisions of the conditional contract to sell/loan agreement (CCTS/LoA) authorizing it to declare the delinquent buyer as an illegal occupant and to initiate ejectment from the housing units for missing three monthly installments.
Auditors noted the same provisions empowered the NHA to immediately cause the cancellation of the contract without the need for a court order.
Figures provided in the 208-page Performance Audit Report posted on the COA website on November 22, 2023 showed a continuing upward trajectory of problem accounts of the state shelter agency.
In 2018, there were 133,814 problem accounts or 36.2 percent of the total for the year.
This climbed to 159,176 accounts or 40.79 percent in 2019; 171,570 accounts or 40.82 percent in 2020; 179,916 accounts or 40.93 percent in 2021; and 231,756 accounts or 47.81 percent in 2022.
The COA pointed out that non-payment by the housing occupants of their obligations despite having signed an agreement constitutes a breach of contract.
It directly impacts the operations of the NHA since the agency is dependent on such collections to improve and expand its programs and services.
Worse, auditors said the NHA’s failure to enforce collection has emboldened housing beneficiaries to simply opt to ignore paying their obligations.
“It also sends a message to all existing and prospective beneficiaries of the NHA Housing Program that it is okay not to pay since they will not be evicted from their housing units, which further results in the non-attainment of target collections,” the COA said.
The Commission acknowledged that most of NHA’s non-paying beneficiaries are low-income households subsisting on only P20,832 or less monthly.
In its recommendations however, the COA said the NHA should launch an information campaign to serve notice to delinquent occupants that they have to strictly comply with the provisions of their contracts on terms of payment.
It added that the NHA must implement the guidelines regarding the automatic cancellation of the contracts in case of failure to pay three monthly installments to reduce the number of problem accounts.
