Locating missing beneficiaries

Overview

Where the original beneficiaries were not living on the property during the occupancy survey, the Housing Authority has an obligation to take reasonable steps to contact the beneficiary, inform them that the property transfer process is underway and establish if they still have a claim to the property.

There are two exceptions to the housing authority not having to attempt to contact beneficiaries:

1. Where all beneficiaries are deceased - as per data from Home Affairs

2. Where the original occupant was never a qualifying beneficiary

There are a number of scenarios where beneficiaries who are no longer in occupation need to be contacted. For instance, where the property is occupied by a renter or caretaker, the beneficiary needs to be located to sign the sale agreement. Likewise, where the occupancy survey shows that the property was purchased informally, the original beneficiary should be contacted to verify that the sale took place and is uncontested. A third scenario is where beneficiaries are separated or divorced (property is not dealt with in the divorce settlement) and one beneficiary is no longer living in the property.

There are various possible sources of data on the whereabouts and contact details of living beneficiaries.

Occupancy survey

The first source of data is the occupancy survey. During that interview with occupants, fieldworkers ask for the name and contact details of previous owners (for informal sales) or current owners (for renters / caretakers). In some instances, the current occupants will be able to provide:

• The contact details of the original beneficiaries if they are alive (e.g. cell phone number, email address, physical address), or

• The evidence or documents of the original beneficiaries if they are deceased (e.g. death certificate, Master’s Letter, Divorce Order)

Where this is not the case, a trace can first be done to acquire the contact information of the original beneficiaries.

Credit bureau trace

Where the occupant is unable or unwilling to provide contact details it is sometimes possible to obtain latest contact details from credit bureaus. Housing authorities can contract with credit bureaus who will provide this data for a fee.

Trace through other third parties

The City of Cape Town has piloted an approach through banks, who will reach out to beneficiary-clients to request them to contact the housing authority with regard to their subsidy.

Maturity Roadmap: suggestion for improvement

Given the high coincidence between housing subsidy beneficiaries and SASSA beneficiaries, a potential source of data on the location and contact details of beneficiaries is the SASSA database. This database is likely to contain the most accurate contact details given the relatively frequent interactions between SASSA and grant beneficiaries.

To access SASSA data it would be useful to establish an information sharing MOU which would outline why and how the data is to be accessed, and how it will be secured.

Where contact details become available, a dedicated team within the municipality (OR an outsourced call centre) must make contact with each beneficiary, provide context and verify details provided by occupants. Calls must be recorded and saved on the Beneficiary Administration Database.

Advertise for missing beneficiaries to come forward

Where it efforts to trace beneficiaries have been unsuccessful, the housing authority should advertise for beneficiaries to come forward.

Standard notification processes typically require the authority to publish a notification / advert in a local newspaper for at least three full weeks (not over the December holiday period please), giving the original beneficiary or other claimants time to come forward.

This is unlikely to be sufficient, as newspapers are not widely read and beneficiaries may have moved away from the local area.

Housing authorities should therefore consider a range of media, including social media platforms, local and national radio, newspapers and community noticeboards, depending on the characteristics of the neighbourhood and beneficiaries. If these notifications do not reach beneficiaries directly, the hope is friends or relatives will see the advert and pass the information on.

As noted, adverts should be flighted for three weeks, and sufficient time set aside for beneficiaries to come forward.

Housing authorities must maintain evidence of adverts so that they can demonstrate that reasonable attempts were made to contact missing beneficiaries.

Tracing process outcome

If the tracing process is successful, the housing authority makes contact with the beneficiary/ies, and then categorises the property according to the categories outlined so that transfer can proceed as per the process for that category.

Where the process is not successful and no beneficiaries have come forward, the housing authority must proceed with transfer on the basis of available evidence.