WaPo takes deep dive into DCPS residency fraud

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Here's how ridiculous some of this fraud investigation is:

40 year DC resident here. Have commuted to other cities, but always lived in DC as an adult. Enrolled kid in Ellington last year with DC license and registration. Get a call 4 months later saying it's my license but wife's registration, even though same household. They could have caught that at the school when I registered but not problem. But OSSE auditors did not ask for matching, they asked for utility bills from certain months. No problem. Sent those. Get a call a month later saying the bills say "credit". They need something saying "paid". I tell them credit means paid, but apparently logic has no impact. Dig into emails and find a receipts that says "Paid". Fine, right? Call a month later says "paid" is one month after the bill. I say "That's how it works. You pay AFTER you get the bill." Again, logic does not work. Am asked to go online and print out a ledger of consecutive months. Did that. Get a call days later saying this is all likely a result of my phone number and wife's and the fact that we have cellphones with out of town area codes, and not landlines with "202". Except it's the 21st century, and we have not had landlines since 2006, and the whole notion of "mobile" means your number goes with you and area codes are an obsolete concept.
After the 8th call asking for more, start asking other parents and find out dozens are going through the same thing. Some because the fonts were different on a bill one month than it was on another month, even though DC Water and Pepco both had design and website changes in 2017.

This is all true. I really don't mind being a bit inconvenienced to catch some scofflaws, but when it gets beyond 2-3 calls, we're not talking fraud, we're talking OSSE incompetence.

It is actually Ellington Registrar incompetence. The requirement for evidence of residency is license and registration in the same name that matches the name of the forms you are providing. Ellington should have stopped you last year when you enrolled and said - I am sorry these do not match. I have gone through this at other schools and needed to fix it. After Ellington did a poor job not following the standards, it went to OSSE to clean up.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Here's how ridiculous some of this fraud investigation is:

40 year DC resident here. Have commuted to other cities, but always lived in DC as an adult. Enrolled kid in Ellington last year with DC license and registration. Get a call 4 months later saying it's my license but wife's registration, even though same household. They could have caught that at the school when I registered but not problem. But OSSE auditors did not ask for matching, they asked for utility bills from certain months. No problem. Sent those. Get a call a month later saying the bills say "credit". They need something saying "paid". I tell them credit means paid, but apparently logic has no impact. Dig into emails and find a receipts that says "Paid". Fine, right? Call a month later says "paid" is one month after the bill. I say "That's how it works. You pay AFTER you get the bill." Again, logic does not work. Am asked to go online and print out a ledger of consecutive months. Did that. Get a call days later saying this is all likely a result of my phone number and wife's and the fact that we have cellphones with out of town area codes, and not landlines with "202". Except it's the 21st century, and we have not had landlines since 2006, and the whole notion of "mobile" means your number goes with you and area codes are an obsolete concept.
After the 8th call asking for more, start asking other parents and find out dozens are going through the same thing. Some because the fonts were different on a bill one month than it was on another month, even though DC Water and Pepco both had design and website changes in 2017.

This is all true. I really don't mind being a bit inconvenienced to catch some scofflaws, but when it gets beyond 2-3 calls, we're not talking fraud, we're talking OSSE incompetence.

Just consent to a home visit, or have them check your tax records. You can short circuit this stuff.

NP: Not that easy! When we had similar back and forth, I asked if they could just come for a home visit. They (the 1 investigator?) would rather just sit at a desk and have more rounds of documents scanned and emailed over.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Here's how ridiculous some of this fraud investigation is:

40 year DC resident here. Have commuted to other cities, but always lived in DC as an adult. Enrolled kid in Ellington last year with DC license and registration. Get a call 4 months later saying it's my license but wife's registration, even though same household. They could have caught that at the school when I registered but not problem. But OSSE auditors did not ask for matching, they asked for utility bills from certain months. No problem. Sent those. Get a call a month later saying the bills say "credit". They need something saying "paid". I tell them credit means paid, but apparently logic has no impact. Dig into emails and find a receipts that says "Paid". Fine, right? Call a month later says "paid" is one month after the bill. I say "That's how it works. You pay AFTER you get the bill." Again, logic does not work. Am asked to go online and print out a ledger of consecutive months. Did that. Get a call days later saying this is all likely a result of my phone number and wife's and the fact that we have cellphones with out of town area codes, and not landlines with "202". Except it's the 21st century, and we have not had landlines since 2006, and the whole notion of "mobile" means your number goes with you and area codes are an obsolete concept.
After the 8th call asking for more, start asking other parents and find out dozens are going through the same thing. Some because the fonts were different on a bill one month than it was on another month, even though DC Water and Pepco both had design and website changes in 2017.

This is all true. I really don't mind being a bit inconvenienced to catch some scofflaws, but when it gets beyond 2-3 calls, we're not talking fraud, we're talking OSSE incompetence.

It is actually Ellington Registrar incompetence. The requirement for evidence of residency is license and registration in the same name that matches the name of the forms you are providing. Ellington should have stopped you last year when you enrolled and said - I am sorry these do not match. I have gone through this at other schools and needed to fix it. After Ellington did a poor job not following the standards, it went to OSSE to clean up.

Incompetence, or something more? If I knew I was letting a lot of shady stuff slide, and I knew my work was going to be audited, I would make a hash of the good records. It makes any kind of audit that much more difficult if everything is a mess.

[Anonymous]

All the more important for OSSE to coordinate with the District's Office of Taxes and Revenues. OSSE doesn't even need your full tax returns; they just need confirmation that you pay taxes to the District.

This is f#cking absurd and Kafka'esque. Hell, OTR could create a special certification for District taxpayers that enables them to prove that they pay District taxes at a residence in the District. It could come with a tamper- and forgery-proof seal and certification. The DMV manages to mail me one as my automobile title, I'm not seeing why OTR can't do the same annually for District taxpayers.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Here's how ridiculous some of this fraud investigation is:

40 year DC resident here. Have commuted to other cities, but always lived in DC as an adult. Enrolled kid in Ellington last year with DC license and registration. Get a call 4 months later saying it's my license but wife's registration, even though same household. They could have caught that at the school when I registered but not problem. But OSSE auditors did not ask for matching, they asked for utility bills from certain months. No problem. Sent those. Get a call a month later saying the bills say "credit". They need something saying "paid". I tell them credit means paid, but apparently logic has no impact. Dig into emails and find a receipts that says "Paid". Fine, right? Call a month later says "paid" is one month after the bill. I say "That's how it works. You pay AFTER you get the bill." Again, logic does not work. Am asked to go online and print out a ledger of consecutive months. Did that. Get a call days later saying this is all likely a result of my phone number and wife's and the fact that we have cellphones with out of town area codes, and not landlines with "202". Except it's the 21st century, and we have not had landlines since 2006, and the whole notion of "mobile" means your number goes with you and area codes are an obsolete concept.
After the 8th call asking for more, start asking other parents and find out dozens are going through the same thing. Some because the fonts were different on a bill one month than it was on another month, even though DC Water and Pepco both had design and website changes in 2017.

This is all true. I really don't mind being a bit inconvenienced to catch some scofflaws, but when it gets beyond 2-3 calls, we're not talking fraud, we're talking OSSE incompetence.

It is actually Ellington Registrar incompetence. The requirement for evidence of residency is license and registration in the same name that matches the name of the forms you are providing. Ellington should have stopped you last year when you enrolled and said - I am sorry these do not match. I have gone through this at other schools and needed to fix it. After Ellington did a
poor job not following the standards, it went to OSSE to clean up.

Yeah, but that only explains the first mistake. Could it have ended there? Absolutely. The rest is equally ridiculous.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Here's how ridiculous some of this fraud investigation is:

40 year DC resident here. Have commuted to other cities, but always lived in DC as an adult. Enrolled kid in Ellington last year with DC license and registration. Get a call 4 months later saying it's my license but wife's registration, even though same household. They could have caught that at the school when I registered but not problem. But OSSE auditors did not ask for matching, they asked for utility bills from certain months. No problem. Sent those. Get a call a month later saying the bills say "credit". They need something saying "paid". I tell them credit means paid, but apparently logic has no impact. Dig into emails and find a receipts that says "Paid". Fine, right? Call a month later says "paid" is one month after the bill. I say "That's how it works. You pay AFTER you get the bill." Again, logic does not work. Am asked to go online and print out a ledger of consecutive months. Did that. Get a call days later saying this is all likely a result of my phone number and wife's and the fact that we have cellphones with out of town area codes, and not landlines with "202". Except it's the 21st century, and we have not had landlines since 2006, and the whole notion of "mobile" means your number goes with you and area codes are an obsolete concept.
After the 8th call asking for more, start asking other parents and find out dozens are going through the same thing. Some because the fonts were different on a bill one month than it was on another month, even though DC Water and Pepco both had design and website changes in 2017.

This is all true. I really don't mind being a bit inconvenienced to catch some scofflaws, but when it gets beyond 2-3 calls, we're not talking fraud, we're talking OSSE incompetence.

It is actually Ellington Registrar incompetence. The requirement for evidence of residency is license and registration in the same name that matches the name of the forms you are providing. Ellington should have stopped you last year when you enrolled and said - I am sorry these do not match. I have gone through this at other schools and needed to fix it. After Ellington did a
poor job not following the standards, it went to OSSE to clean up.

Yeah, but that only explains the first mistake. Could it have ended there? Absolutely. The rest is equally ridiculous.

But after it hit the paper - OSSE is now in the spotlight. When you have different fonts on bills month to month - it does no pass the "if someone audited it, would it pass" test. The OP should have followed the guidance from DCPS, the Ellington Registrar should have caught the error. I am sure both thought - no big deal - well - it became a big deal.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Here's how ridiculous some of this fraud investigation is:

40 year DC resident here. Have commuted to other cities, but always lived in DC as an adult. Enrolled kid in Ellington last year with DC license and registration. Get a call 4 months later saying it's my license but wife's registration, even though same household. They could have caught that at the school when I registered but not problem. But OSSE auditors did not ask for matching, they asked for utility bills from certain months. No problem. Sent those. Get a call a month later saying the bills say "credit". They need something saying "paid". I tell them credit means paid, but apparently logic has no impact. Dig into emails and find a receipts that says "Paid". Fine, right? Call a month later says "paid" is one month after the bill. I say "That's how it works. You pay AFTER you get the bill." Again, logic does not work. Am asked to go online and print out a ledger of consecutive months. Did that. Get a call days later saying this is all likely a result of my phone number and wife's and the fact that we have cellphones with out of town area codes, and not landlines with "202". Except it's the 21st century, and we have not had landlines since 2006, and the whole notion of "mobile" means your number goes with you and area codes are an obsolete concept.
After the 8th call asking for more, start asking other parents and find out dozens are going through the same thing. Some because the fonts were different on a bill one month than it was on another month, even though DC Water and Pepco both had design and website changes in 2017.

This is all true. I really don't mind being a bit inconvenienced to catch some scofflaws, but when it gets beyond 2-3 calls, we're not talking fraud, we're talking OSSE incompetence.

It is actually Ellington Registrar incompetence. The requirement for evidence of residency is license and registration in the same name that matches the name of the forms you are providing. Ellington should have stopped you last year when you enrolled and said - I am sorry these do not match. I have gone through this at other schools and needed to fix it. After Ellington did a
poor job not following the standards, it went to OSSE to clean up.

Yeah, but that only explains the first mistake. Could it have ended there? Absolutely. The rest is equally ridiculous.

We go through the first stage of this every year - my husband and I have different last names (I didn't change mine) and the car I tend to drive the most is registered in his name and the car I he tends to drive the most is registered in his name. We know this, so for re-enrolling every year we have to remember to switch cars when we bring the rest of the documentation. We got a new to us car last fall and I think it's going to solve our problem (in DH's name, and he drives it). So I leave the re-enrolling to him. But the point is our registrar caught it when we started at the school, pointed out the issue, and we make sure we get it right every year.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Here's how ridiculous some of this fraud investigation is:

40 year DC resident here. Have commuted to other cities, but always lived in DC as an adult. Enrolled kid in Ellington last year with DC license and registration. Get a call 4 months later saying it's my license but wife's registration, even though same household. They could have caught that at the school when I registered but not problem. But OSSE auditors did not ask for matching, they asked for utility bills from certain months. No problem. Sent those. Get a call a month later saying the bills say "credit". They need something saying "paid". I tell them credit means paid, but apparently logic has no impact. Dig into emails and find a receipts that says "Paid". Fine, right? Call a month later says "paid" is one month after the bill. I say "That's how it works. You pay AFTER you get the bill." Again, logic does not work. Am asked to go online and print out a ledger of consecutive months. Did that. Get a call days later saying this is all likely a result of my phone number and wife's and the fact that we have cellphones with out of town area codes, and not landlines with "202". Except it's the 21st century, and we have not had landlines since 2006, and the whole notion of "mobile" means your number goes with you and area codes are an obsolete concept.
After the 8th call asking for more, start asking other parents and find out dozens are going through the same thing. Some because the fonts were different on a bill one month than it was on another month, even though DC Water and Pepco both had design and website changes in 2017.

This is all true. I really don't mind being a bit inconvenienced to catch some scofflaws, but when it gets beyond 2-3 calls, we're not talking fraud, we're talking OSSE incompetence.

OK. Agreed. Sounds completely nuts and I'm not trying to defend them AT ALL. However, you says you've been a DC resident for 40 years. So WHY is our cell number not a 202 number? That I don't get.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Here's how ridiculous some of this fraud investigation is:

40 year DC resident here. Have commuted to other cities, but always lived in DC as an adult. Enrolled kid in Ellington last year with DC license and registration. Get a call 4 months later saying it's my license but wife's registration, even though same household. They could have caught that at the school when I registered but not problem. But OSSE auditors did not ask for matching, they asked for utility bills from certain months. No problem. Sent those. Get a call a month later saying the bills say "credit". They need something saying "paid". I tell them credit means paid, but apparently logic has no impact. Dig into emails and find a receipts that says "Paid". Fine, right? Call a month later says "paid" is one month after the bill. I say "That's how it works. You pay AFTER you get the bill." Again, logic does not work. Am asked to go online and print out a ledger of consecutive months. Did that. Get a call days later saying this is all likely a result of my phone number and wife's and the fact that we have cellphones with out of town area codes, and not landlines with "202". Except it's the 21st century, and we have not had landlines since 2006, and the whole notion of "mobile" means your number goes with you and area codes are an obsolete concept.
After the 8th call asking for more, start asking other parents and find out dozens are going through the same thing. Some because the fonts were different on a bill one month than it was on another month, even though DC Water and Pepco both had design and website changes in 2017.

This is all true. I really don't mind being a bit inconvenienced to catch some scofflaws, but when it gets beyond 2-3 calls, we're not talking fraud, we're talking OSSE incompetence.

OK. Agreed. Sounds completely nuts and I'm not trying to defend them AT ALL. However, you says you've been a DC resident for 40 years. So WHY is our cell number not a 202 number? That I don't get.

Because it's the 21st century. I commuted to Chicago for work for a few years. That's when/where I bought the cellphone. That's the number people know for business. Why change? It's a mobile phone. That's the point. Wife worked at AOL for years. Bought hers at Pentagon City. 703 number. Why does it matter? The system has to adapt to the times.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Here's how ridiculous some of this fraud investigation is:

40 year DC resident here. Have commuted to other cities, but always lived in DC as an adult. Enrolled kid in Ellington last year with DC license and registration. Get a call 4 months later saying it's my license but wife's registration, even though same household. They could have caught that at the school when I registered but not problem. But OSSE auditors did not ask for matching, they asked for utility bills from certain months. No problem. Sent those. Get a call a month later saying the bills say "credit". They need something saying "paid". I tell them credit means paid, but apparently logic has no impact. Dig into emails and find a receipts that says "Paid". Fine, right? Call a month later says "paid" is one month after the bill. I say "That's how it works. You pay AFTER you get the bill." Again, logic does not work. Am asked to go online and print out a ledger of consecutive months. Did that. Get a call days later saying this is all likely a result of my phone number and wife's and the fact that we have cellphones with out of town area codes, and not landlines with "202". Except it's the 21st century, and we have not had landlines since 2006, and the whole notion of "mobile" means your number goes with you and area codes are an obsolete concept.
After the 8th call asking for more, start asking other parents and find out dozens are going through the same thing. Some because the fonts were different on a bill one month than it was on another month, even though DC Water and Pepco both had design and website changes in 2017.

This is all true. I really don't mind being a bit inconvenienced to catch some scofflaws, but when it gets beyond 2-3 calls, we're not talking fraud, we're talking OSSE incompetence.

OK. Agreed. Sounds completely nuts and I'm not trying to defend them AT ALL. However, you says you've been a DC resident for 40 years. So WHY is our cell number not a 202 number? That I don't get.

Because it's the 21st century. I commuted to Chicago for work for a few years. That's when/where I bought the cellphone. That's the number people know for business. Why change? It's a mobile phone. That's the point. Wife worked at AOL for years. Bought hers at Pentagon City. 703 number. Why does it matter? The system has to adapt to the times.

Still doesn't add up. You pay local tax on your cellphone usage, the cell phone companies have to verify your residence (kind of like DCPS!). Even if you buy a phone in VA you have to have a 202 number.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Here's how ridiculous some of this fraud investigation is:

40 year DC resident here. Have commuted to other cities, but always lived in DC as an adult. Enrolled kid in Ellington last year with DC license and registration. Get a call 4 months later saying it's my license but wife's registration, even though same household. They could have caught that at the school when I registered but not problem. But OSSE auditors did not ask for matching, they asked for utility bills from certain months. No problem. Sent those. Get a call a month later saying the bills say "credit". They need something saying "paid". I tell them credit means paid, but apparently logic has no impact. Dig into emails and find a receipts that says "Paid". Fine, right? Call a month later says "paid" is one month after the bill. I say "That's how it works. You pay AFTER you get the bill." Again, logic does not work. Am asked to go online and print out a ledger of consecutive months. Did that. Get a call days later saying this is all likely a result of my phone number and wife's and the fact that we have cellphones with out of town area codes, and not landlines with "202". Except it's the 21st century, and we have not had landlines since 2006, and the whole notion of "mobile" means your number goes with you and area codes are an obsolete concept.
After the 8th call asking for more, start asking other parents and find out dozens are going through the same thing. Some because the fonts were different on a bill one month than it was on another month, even though DC Water and Pepco both had design and website changes in 2017.

This is all true. I really don't mind being a bit inconvenienced to catch some scofflaws, but when it gets beyond 2-3 calls, we're not talking fraud, we're talking OSSE incompetence.

OK. Agreed. Sounds completely nuts and I'm not trying to defend them AT ALL. However, you says you've been a DC resident for 40 years. So WHY is our cell number not a 202 number? That I don't get.

Because it's the 21st century. I commuted to Chicago for work for a few years. That's when/where I bought the cellphone. That's the number people know for business. Why change? It's a mobile phone. That's the point. Wife worked at AOL for years. Bought hers at Pentagon City. 703 number. Why does it matter? The system has to adapt to the times.

Still doesn't add up. You pay local tax on your cellphone usage, the cell phone companies have to verify your residence (kind of like DCPS!). Even if you buy a phone in VA you have to have a 202 number.

Wrong. I bought mine in Chicago too. Have had a 773 number for years.

We bought a phone for DD in Bethesda. Her number is 301.

Only our home number is 202. And that is useless so we are planning to drop it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Here's how ridiculous some of this fraud investigation is:

40 year DC resident here. Have commuted to other cities, but always lived in DC as an adult. Enrolled kid in Ellington last year with DC license and registration. Get a call 4 months later saying it's my license but wife's registration, even though same household. They could have caught that at the school when I registered but not problem. But OSSE auditors did not ask for matching, they asked for utility bills from certain months. No problem. Sent those. Get a call a month later saying the bills say "credit". They need something saying "paid". I tell them credit means paid, but apparently logic has no impact. Dig into emails and find a receipts that says "Paid". Fine, right? Call a month later says "paid" is one month after the bill. I say "That's how it works. You pay AFTER you get the bill." Again, logic does not work. Am asked to go online and print out a ledger of consecutive months. Did that. Get a call days later saying this is all likely a result of my phone number and wife's and the fact that we have cellphones with out of town area codes, and not landlines with "202". Except it's the 21st century, and we have not had landlines since 2006, and the whole notion of "mobile" means your number goes with you and area codes are an obsolete concept.
After the 8th call asking for more, start asking other parents and find out dozens are going through the same thing. Some because the fonts were different on a bill one month than it was on another month, even though DC Water and Pepco both had design and website changes in 2017.

This is all true. I really don't mind being a bit inconvenienced to catch some scofflaws, but when it gets beyond 2-3 calls, we're not talking fraud, we're talking OSSE incompetence.

It is actually Ellington Registrar incompetence. The requirement for evidence of residency is license and registration in the same name that matches the name of the forms you are providing. Ellington should have stopped you last year when you enrolled and said - I am sorry these do not match. I have gone through this at other schools and needed to fix it. After Ellington did a
poor job not following the standards, it went to OSSE to clean up.

Yeah, but that only explains the first mistake. Could it have ended there? Absolutely. The rest is equally ridiculous.

We go through the first stage of this every year - my husband and I have different last names (I didn't change mine) and the car I tend to drive the most is registered in his name and the car I he tends to drive the most is registered in his name. We know this, so for re-enrolling every year we have to remember to switch cars when we bring the rest of the documentation. We got a new to us car last fall and I think it's going to solve our problem (in DH's name, and he drives it). So I leave the re-enrolling to him. But the point is our registrar caught it when we started at the school, pointed out the issue, and we make sure we get it right every year.

You should put both of your names on the car registration. That's what we do and re-enrollment is a breeze.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Here's how ridiculous some of this fraud investigation is:

40 year DC resident here. Have commuted to other cities, but always lived in DC as an adult. Enrolled kid in Ellington last year with DC license and registration. Get a call 4 months later saying it's my license but wife's registration, even though same household. They could have caught that at the school when I registered but not problem. But OSSE auditors did not ask for matching, they asked for utility bills from certain months. No problem. Sent those. Get a call a month later saying the bills say "credit". They need something saying "paid". I tell them credit means paid, but apparently logic has no impact. Dig into emails and find a receipts that says "Paid". Fine, right? Call a month later says "paid" is one month after the bill. I say "That's how it works. You pay AFTER you get the bill." Again, logic does not work. Am asked to go online and print out a ledger of consecutive months. Did that. Get a call days later saying this is all likely a result of my phone number and wife's and the fact that we have cellphones with out of town area codes, and not landlines with "202". Except it's the 21st century, and we have not had landlines since 2006, and the whole notion of "mobile" means your number goes with you and area codes are an obsolete concept.
After the 8th call asking for more, start asking other parents and find out dozens are going through the same thing. Some because the fonts were different on a bill one month than it was on another month, even though DC Water and Pepco both had design and website changes in 2017.

This is all true. I really don't mind being a bit inconvenienced to catch some scofflaws, but when it gets beyond 2-3 calls, we're not talking fraud, we're talking OSSE incompetence.

OK. Agreed. Sounds completely nuts and I'm not trying to defend them AT ALL. However, you says you've been a DC resident for 40 years. So WHY is our cell number not a 202 number? That I don't get.

Because it's the 21st century. I commuted to Chicago for work for a few years. That's when/where I bought the cellphone. That's the number people know for business. Why change? It's a mobile phone. That's the point. Wife worked at AOL for years. Bought hers at Pentagon City. 703 number. Why does it matter? The system has to adapt to the times.

Still doesn't add up. You pay local tax on your cellphone usage, the cell phone companies have to verify your residence (kind of like DCPS!). Even if you buy a phone in VA you have to have a 202 number.

Wrong. I bought mine in Chicago too. Have had a 773 number for years.

We bought a phone for DD in Bethesda. Her number is 301.

Only our home number is 202. And that is useless so we are planning to drop it.

Not disputing your situation, but we bought our phones in MD and all four of them have 202 numbers because we live in DC.

[Anonymous]

DCPS enrollment paperwork clearly states that the name of the person (parent/guardian) on the paperwork needs to also be the name on the utility bill.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Here's how ridiculous some of this fraud investigation is:

40 year DC resident here. Have commuted to other cities, but always lived in DC as an adult. Enrolled kid in Ellington last year with DC license and registration. Get a call 4 months later saying it's my license but wife's registration, even though same household. They could have caught that at the school when I registered but not problem. But OSSE auditors did not ask for matching, they asked for utility bills from certain months. No problem. Sent those. Get a call a month later saying the bills say "credit". They need something saying "paid". I tell them credit means paid, but apparently logic has no impact. Dig into emails and find a receipts that says "Paid". Fine, right? Call a month later says "paid" is one month after the bill. I say "That's how it works. You pay AFTER you get the bill." Again, logic does not work. Am asked to go online and print out a ledger of consecutive months. Did that. Get a call days later saying this is all likely a result of my phone number and wife's and the fact that we have cellphones with out of town area codes, and not landlines with "202". Except it's the 21st century, and we have not had landlines since 2006, and the whole notion of "mobile" means your number goes with you and area codes are an obsolete concept.
After the 8th call asking for more, start asking other parents and find out dozens are going through the same thing. Some because the fonts were different on a bill one month than it was on another month, even though DC Water and Pepco both had design and website changes in 2017.

This is all true. I really don't mind being a bit inconvenienced to catch some scofflaws, but when it gets beyond 2-3 calls, we're not talking fraud, we're talking OSSE incompetence.

OK. Agreed. Sounds completely nuts and I'm not trying to defend them AT ALL. However, you says you've been a DC resident for 40 years. So WHY is our cell number not a 202 number? That I don't get.

Because it's the 21st century. I commuted to Chicago for work for a few years. That's when/where I bought the cellphone. That's the number people know for business. Why change? It's a mobile phone. That's the point. Wife worked at AOL for years. Bought hers at Pentagon City. 703 number. Why does it matter? The system has to adapt to the times.

Still doesn't add up. You pay local tax on your cellphone usage, the cell phone companies have to verify your residence (kind of like DCPS!). Even if you buy a phone in VA you have to have a 202 number.

Not to derail this thread into a conversation about phones, but this is totally false. When I moved to dC 15 years ago I was dating a guy who lived in Arlington. One weekend we went and both got cell phones at pentagon city (we were cool like that), both with 703 numbers. I still have mine. At the time I didn’t care about the number, I was just excited to get a cell phone! My DH also used to live in Va and has a 703 number. Prior to my 703 number I had a NYC cell number for several years even though I was living in the Midwest. Cell phones do not now and never did have any legal connection to where you live. I understand why they might trigger a doublecheck on residency (I’m all for stricter checks) but it’s not a deal breaker.