Freedom Mortgage Corporation Settled Allegations of Failing To Comply With HUD’s Federal Housing Administration Loan Requirements
The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), Office of Inspector General (OIG), assisted the U.S. Department of Justice, Washington, DC, and the U.S. Attorney’s Office, District of New Jersey, in the civil investigation of Freedom Mortgage Corporation. Freedom has its principal place of business in Mount Laurel, NJ, and became an FHA-approved direct endorsement lender in 1993. As a direct endorsement lender, Freedom…
September 19, 2016
Memorandum
#2016-CF-1806
Final Civil Action: The City of Malakoff Housing Authority’s Prior Executive Director Improperly Hired and Contracted With Family Members
We reviewed the Malakoff Housing Authority, Malakoff, TX. The review was part of a joint initiative between the HUD Office of Inspector General’s Office of Audit and Office of Investigation. We completed the review and referred the former executive director’s improper use of Authority funds by hiring and contracting with family members to HUD’s Office of Program Enforcement for action under the Program Civil Fraud Remedies Act of 1986…
September 13, 2016
Memorandum
#2016-FW-1803
Final Civil Action: City First Mortgage Services, LLC, and Van Wagoner Investment Company Settled Allegations of Making False Certifications
Based on a request from the Assistant U.S. Attorney’s Office in Salt Lake City, UT, we provided information about single-family lenders with high default rates. We then reviewed the available case binders for 38 loans for which the Federal Housing Administration (FHA) had paid claims that were underwritten by City First Mortgage Services, LLC. We completed the review and referred alleged violations to the U.S. Department of Housing and…
September 12, 2016
Memorandum
#2016-SE-1801
Final Audit Memorandum on "Final Civil Action Borrower Settled Alleged Violations of Home Equity Conversion Mortgage Program
We audited the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s (HUD) oversight of its Home Equity Conversion Mortgage (HECM) program and found that 33 borrowers had more than 1 loan under the program. Having multiple loans violated program requirements because HUD requires borrowers to reside in the mortgaged residence as their principal residence and borrowers may not have more than one principal residence at a time. We referred…
September 09, 2016
Memorandum
#2016-PH-1804
Final Civil Action: Borrower Settled Alleged Violations of Home Equity Conversion Mortgage Program
We audited the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s (HUD) oversight of its Home Equity Conversion Mortgage (HECM) program and found that contrary to program residency requirements, 37 borrowers did not live in the property associated with the loan and were renting the property to participants in HUD’s Section 8 Housing Choice Voucher program. Renting the properties to Section 8 program participants violated program…
September 09, 2016
Memorandum
#2016-PH-1803
Final Civil Action: Borrower Settled Alleged Violations of Home Equity Conversion Mortgage Program
We audited the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s (HUD) oversight of its Home Equity Conversion Mortgage (HECM) program and found that 33 borrowers had more than 1 loan under the program. Having multiple loans violated program requirements because HUD requires borrowers to reside in the mortgaged residence as their principal residence and borrowers may not have more than one principal residence at a time. We referred…
September 09, 2016
Memorandum
#2016-PH-1802
Final Civil Action: RANlife, Inc., Settled Allegations That It Violated the False Claims Act When Originating, Underwriting, and Endorsing Certain Loans With Federal Housing Administration Insurance
The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s (HUD) Office of Inspector General (OIG) investigated alleged violations of Federal Housing Administration (FHA) regulations by RANlife, Inc. We reviewed the single-family FHA loan files processed by RANlife to determine whether it complied with HUD’s rules and regulations in originating, underwriting, and endorsing the loans for FHA insurance.
On November, 23, 2015, RANlife…
September 12, 2016
Memorandum
#2016-DE-1802
Cunningham and Company Settled Alleged Violations of Failing To Comply With Federal Housing Administration Loan Requirements
The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), Office of Inspector General (OIG), investigated Cunningham and Company to determine whether it violated HUD requirements when underwriting loans insured by the Federal Housing Administration (FHA). Cunningham is an FHA mortgage lender, formerly located in Greensboro, NC. Based on OIG’s review, HUD contends that Cunningham may be liable under the Program Fraud Civil Remedies…
September 08, 2016
Memorandum
#2016-CF-1803
Pilgrim Village Settled Allegations of Making Unauthorized Distributions and Improper Disbursements of Multifamily Project Funds
The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), Office of Inspector General (OIG), assisted the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Western District of New York in the civil investigation of Pilgrim Village Associates, L.P.; North-Ellicott Management, Inc.; and Trammell Property Management (Pilgrim Village). Pilgrim Village Associates, L.P., was the owner of Pilgrim Village Apartments, a 90-unit multifamily housing development…
September 08, 2016
Memorandum
#2016-CF-1802
Franklin American Mortgage Company Settled Allegations of Failing To Comply With HUD’s Federal Housing Administration Loan Requirements
The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), Office of Inspector General (OIG), assisted the U.S. Department of Justice, Washington, DC, and the U.S. Attorney’s Office, District of Colorado, in the civil investigation of Franklin American Mortgage Company. Franklin American has its principal place of business in Franklin, TN. Franklin American became an FHA-approved direct endorsement lender in 1995. As a direct…
September 08, 2016
Memorandum
#2016-CF-1801
Final Civil Action: The City of Brackettville Housing Authority's Prior Executive Director Improperly Used Authority Funds for Personal Expenses
We reviewed the City of Brackettville Housing Authority, Brackettville, TX. The review was part of a joint initiative between the HUD Office of Inspector General’s (OIG) Office of Audit and Office of Investigation. We completed the review and referred the former executive director’s improper use of Authority funds for personal expenses to HUD’s Office of Program Enforcement for action under the Program Civil Fraud Remedies Act of 1986…
September 06, 2016
Memorandum
#2016-FW-1802
Independent Attestation Review: U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, DATA Act Readiness Review
The Digital Accountability and Transparency Act of 2014 (DATA Act), and implementing guidance provided in the Office of Management and Budget Memorandum M-15-12, is a mandate that Federal agencies must follow to report their financial, budgetary and programmatic information to the USASpending.gov web site. We have reviewed the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s (HUD) compliance efforts as of July 15, 2016. To…
August 26, 2016
Memorandum
#2016-FO-0802
The District of Columbia Housing Authority, Washington, DC, Did Not Always Make Payments for Outside Legal Services in Compliance With Applicable Requirements
We conducted a review of the District of Columbia Housing Authority’s payments for outside legal services in conjunction with an ongoing internal audit of the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s (HUD) oversight of public housing agencies’ expenditures for outside legal services. Our review objective was to determine whether the Authority made payments for outside legal services in compliance with applicable requirements…
April 04, 2016
Memorandum
#2016-PH-1801
FHA Approved Nonprofits Purchasing Real Estate-Owned Homes
The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development – Office of Inspector General audited HUD’s Federal Housing Administrations rules and requirements pertaining to nonprofits purchasing real estate-owned (REO) homes during the exclusive listing period. We initiated this review based on information found during an audit of a nonprofit that purchased homes during the exclusive listing period in memorandum 2015-DE-1801. Our objective…
March 23, 2016
Memorandum
#2016-KC-0801
The Owner of a HUD-Insured Multifamily Property Settled Proposed Debarment From Participating in All Procurement and Nonprocurement Transactions With the Executive Branch of the Federal Government for a 5-Year Period
The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s (HUD) Office of Inspector General (OIG) performed a review of The Retreat at Church Ranch bank records based on our audit conducted of the project. Our review disclosed that the owner allegedly made payments for personal expenses from the project’s bank account. We requested that HUD pursue proceedings against the owner.
On July 22, 2015, HUD notified the owner of his proposed…
March 23, 2016
Memorandum
#2016-DE-1801
The City of Jersey City’s Administration of Its Lead Paint Activities Did Not Comply With Federal and New Jersey State Requirements
We are conducting an audit of the City of Jersey City’s Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) program based upon an Office of Inspector General (OIG) hotline complaint containing several allegations, one of which was that the City’s Division of Community Development’s lead risk assessor was not qualified or producing monitoring reports for rehabilitation work funded under the City’s Homeowner Rehabilitation Program. The objective…
February 10, 2016
Memorandum
#2016-NY-1801
Independent Attestation Review: U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, Office of Special Needs Assistance Continuum of Care, Regarding Drug Control Accounting for Fiscal Year 2015
We conducted an attestation review of the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), Office of Special Needs Assistance Continuum of Care Program, regarding drug control accounting and associated management assertions for fiscal year 2015. The objective of our attestation review was to evaluate HUD’s financial reporting and assertions for drug control funds to determine if its reporting was in compliance with regulations…
January 31, 2016
Memorandum
#2016-FO-0801
Saltillo Assisted Living, Saltillo, MS, Did Not Maintain Liability and Property Insurance
We are conducting an audit survey of Saltillo Assisted Living (project) based on a referral from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s (HUD) Departmental Enforcement Center and the activities included in our 2015 annual audit plan. Our survey objective is to determine whether the owners and management agents of Saltillo Assisted Living complied with the executed regulatory agreement and HUD’s requirements. Our…
December 15, 2015
Memorandum
#2016-AT-1801
Review of Information System Controls Over the Government National Mortgage Association
We have completed a review of the internal controls over the integrity, confidentiality, and availability of the Government National Mortgage Association (Ginnie Mae) data. We focused our review primarily on performing an in-depth business process analysis of Ginnie Mae’s two Master Subservicer supporting contractors. This review was conducted as part of the Office of Inspector General’s audit of HUD’s financial statements for fiscal…
November 29, 2015
Memorandum
#2016-DP-0801
The Housing Authority of the City of Pearsall, TX, Improperly Procured and Paid Its Interim Executive Director
In accordance with the Office of Inspector General’s (OIG) goal to ensure the integrity and soundness of the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s (HUD) Public and Indian Housing programs and to follow up on weaknesses identified in another review, we reviewed the Housing Authority of the City of Pearsall, TX, to determine whether it followed Federal procurement and the State of Texas’ requirements when contracting for its…
October 02, 2015
Memorandum
#2016-FW-1801