The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), Office of Inspector General (OIG) is auditing the use of Community Development Block Grant Disaster Recovery (CDBG-DR) funds as non-Federal match for the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s (FEMA)Public Assistance Program.  Our objectives are to determine whether four CDBG-DR grantees made improper payments and whether the Office of Community Planning and...

We audited the project activity status for 12 grantees that received funds under the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s (HUD) Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) National Disaster Resilience (NDR) grant to determine whether the grantees have accomplished or are on track to accomplish the goals of the activities outlined in their action plans. We found that NDR grantees should be able to accomplish their...

HUD OIG is auditing the State of Florida’s home rehabilitation and reconstruction program. The State has spent majority of its funds for home rehabilitation and reconstruction activities; however, it has not completed a similar percentage of expected homes. Our audit objective is to assess (1) the State’s overall program progress and outcomes including the status of the funding, the number of homes assisted, and the cost of assistance...

HUD OIG is auditing Puerto Rico's Community Energy and Water Resilience Installations Program (CEWRI). HUD awarded Puerto Rico over $20 billion dollars in CDBG-DR funding after the impact of Hurricanes Irma and Maria. Of the total award, $395 million was budgeted to the CEWRI program. Our objective is to determine to what extent did the CEWRI program address the energy and water system vulnerabilities of its low-and-moderate income...

We reviewed the Puerto Rico Department of Housing’s (PRDOH) Electrical Power System Enhancements and Improvements programs to provide (1) background and funding information, (2) an update on the status of the programs and their progress, and (3) other relevant program information for interested stakeholders including Congress and the public. The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) provided its grantee, PRDOH, $1...

HUD OIG is conducting an audit of the State of South Carolina to determine whether the State has strategically planned and implemented its buyout and rehabilitation programs to maximize the resiliency and mitigate the effect of disasters on impacted communities and whether the programs are assisting qualified beneficiaries. The review will include the $456 million provided under six grants awarded between 2016 and 2021. 

We audited the Puerto Rico Housing Finance Authority’s (PRHFA) Homebuyer Assistance Program (HBA), which provides eligible applicants with closing costs and downpayment assistance for the purchase of a primary residence.  The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) provided its grantee, the Puerto Rico Department of Housing (PRDOH), $495 million in Community Development Block Grant Disaster Recovery funds for HBA...

In January 2017, HUD awarded the City $141.2 million in Community Development Block Grant National Disaster Resilience grant funding for disaster resilience. HUD designed the grant to give states flexibility in planning program activities and help state and local communities recover from past disasters, while also improving their infrastructure to withstand future extreme events through strategic community investments.  The City...

HUD OIG is auditing the use of Community Development Block Grant – Disaster Recovery (CDBG-DR) funds as nonfederal match for the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s Public Assistance Program.  We will review four grantees, which as of July 2023, had budgeted more than $904 million and had spent nearly $356 million on completed and underway match activities.  Our audit objectives are to determine whether four CDBG-DR...

From 2001 to 2022, the Community Development Block Grant - Disaster Recovery program provided almost $98 billion to states, cities, counties, and territories to help them recover from disasters.  Administering disaster recovery has been a recurring U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) top management challenge since 2018.  Therefore, we audited the disaster recovery program to determine whether the Office of...

HUD OIG is auditing a State of New York Hurricane Sandy CDBG-DR grant, which totaled $4.4 billion, and was appropriated by Congress in Public Law 113-2. Our audit objective is to determine whether the grantee conducted its Hurricane Sandy funded 2017 through 2023 disaster recovery procurements using full, fair, and open competition methods.

We audited the Puerto Rico Department of Housing’s (PRDOH) fraud risk management practices to assess the maturity of its antifraud efforts.  HUD heavily relies on its grantees to detect and prevent fraud, waste, and abuse and PRDOH is HUD’s second largest Community Development Block Grant Disaster Recovery and Mitigation (CDBG-DR and CDBG-MIT) grantee with over $20 billion in block grant funding.  Our objective was to assess...

We performed an audit examining HUD’s efforts to prevent duplication of benefits when using Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) Disaster Recovery and Mitigation funds.  Our objective was to determine how the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) assesses the adequacy of grantee procedures to prevent a duplication of benefits, both before and after grant execution. HUD certified grantees’ high-level processes...

We performed an audit related to the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s (HUD) Disaster Recovery Data Portal.  The Disaster Recovery Data Portal is a technological solution planned by HUD to facilitate the rapid and secure transmission of data from the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) to HUD’s Community Development Block Grant Disaster Recovery grantees.  We performed the work because HUD needs a...

We selected the State of California’s 2018 disaster owner-occupied rehabilitation and reconstruction program to audit after an internal risk assessment of disaster grantees showed the grant was newer and had not yet disbursed the majority of its funding.  The State received more than $1 billion for the 2018 disasters.  Our audit objective was to determine what the State is considering and to what extent resilience-based...

HUD OIG is auditing selected direct non-State disaster grantees designated as slow spenders. HUD awarded more than $209 million, approximately $89.1 million of which remained unspent, and the grants had either been open more than 10 years or were quickly approaching their deadlines. Our audit objectives are to assess whether selected direct non-State disaster grantees have viable plans to spend their remaining grant funds on eligible...

We audited the Virgin Islands Housing Finance Authority’s monitoring of its Community Development Block Grant Disaster Recovery (CDBG-DR)-funded activities.  We initiated the audit because of the large amount of CDBG-DR funds awarded to the U.S. Virgin Islands for the 2017 disasters and to aid in the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s (HUD) strategic objective to support effectiveness and accountability in long-...

We audited the Virgin Islands Housing Finance Authority’s Non-Federal Match Program for Community Development Block Grant Disaster Recovery (CDBG-DR) funds.  This Match Program was developed to assist non-Federal entities in paying for their share of projects that addressed unmet needs because of the 2017 Hurricanes Irma and Maria.  We initiated this audit due to the $415 million of CDBG-DR funds allocated by the Authority...

HUD OIG is auditing HUD's CDBG-DR National Disaster Resilience (NDR) program, which was designed to promote risk assessment, stakeholder engagement, and resilience planning to states and communities. Under this program, HUD awarded nearly $1 billion to 13 States and local governments for resilient infrastructure, housing, and economic revitalization activities related to major disasters that occurred between 2011 and 2013. Our...

We audited the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s (HUD), oversight of Community Development Block Grant Disaster Recovery (CDBG-DR) grantees’ use of program income.  We initiated this audit in accordance with our goal of ensuring and promoting accountability and effectiveness in disaster response and recovery.  Our audit objective was to determine whether HUD ensured that program income generated from disaster...