We conducted a review of the Chicago 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. We...

The U. S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), Office of Inspector General (OIG), conducted a limited review of the Oakland Housing Authority’s Moving to Work Housing Choice Voucher program’s use of exception payment standards exceeding the Authority’s 110 percent limit on fair market rents.  The review was initiated as a result of a congressional request alleging fraud, waste, and abuse by public housing agencies...

Because of concerns identified by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s (HUD) Office of Public Housing, we performed a review of the Housing Authority of the City of Lockney.  HUD alleged that the Authority’s previous executive director had a conflict-of-interest and received ineligible payments.  Our objectives were to determine whether the Authority operated its public housing in accordance with HUD...

In accordance with our annual audit plan to review public housing programs and based upon our regional risk analysis, we reviewed the Covington Housing Authority’s Section 8 Housing Choice Voucher program.  Our objective was to determine whether the Authority administered its program in accordance with U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) regulations and its administrative plan.  The Authority generally...

Based on a referral from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s (HUD) Seattle Office of Labor Relations, the Office of Inspector General (OIG) performed a review of certain payrolls of the owner of Civic Construction, LLC, of Portland, OR.   The payrolls were subject to the Davis-Bacon Act. We completed the review and referred alleged violations to HUD’s Office of Program Enforcement for action under the...

We audited the Chicago Housing Authority’s Moving to Work Housing Choice Voucher program as part of the activities in our fiscal year 2014 annual audit plan.  We selected the Authority based on a request from Congressman Aaron Schock and recent media attention regarding the Authority’s exception payment standards.  Our objective was to determine whether the Authority complied with its Moving to Work agreement, the U.S....

The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), Office of Inspector General audited HUD’s monitoring of the community service and self-sufficiency requirement (CSSR)  to determine the extent to which HUD subsidized public housing units occupied by noncompliant tenants and housing for tenants whose CSSR status was misreported. We found that HUD subsidized housing for 106,000 units occupied by noncompliant tenants, out...

We audited the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s (HUD) oversight of public housing agencies’ lobbying activities based on information we obtained while resolving recommendations from an audit of the Philadelphia Housing Authority which showed that the Authority engaged in lobbying activities that it failed to disclose.  Our audit objective was to determine whether HUD oversight was adequate to ensure that public...

Based on a hotline complaint and additional work by our Financial Audit Division and Office of Legal Counsel, we reviewed whether a conflict of interest existed within the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) Office of Public and Indian Housing (PIH). Specifically, former PIH Assistant Secretary Sandra B. Henriquez appointed Debra Gross, a former lobbyist and the deputy director of the Council of Large Public Housing...

Preliminary Research Closeout Memorandum In 2011, HUD established a high priority goal to reduce vacancies through improved management of the public housing inventory. Since then, HUD has substantially reduced vacancies, saving taxpayer dollars and enhancing the availability of habitable rental units. Subsidized vacancies, measured in unit months, have decreased from approximately 550,000 in 2011 to approximately 379,000 currently....

We completed a review of the Freeport Housing Authority’s administration of its low-rent housing and homeownership programs.  We selected the Authority due to a request from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s (HUD) New York Office of Public and Indian Housing officials.  The objective of the audit was to determine whether the Authority administered its low-rent housing and homeownership programs in...

In accordance with our regional plan to review public housing programs and because of a complaint filed with the Office of the Inspector General (OIG) and issues identified by new management, we performed a review of the Rotan Housing Authority (Authority).  The complainant and Authority management alleged that the Authority maintained its records in a disorderly fashion, lacked supporting documentation for rental income, had...

In accordance with our annual audit plan to review public housing programs and because of an anonymous complaint and issues identified by the San Antonio Office of Public Housing, we reviewed the Housing Authority of the City of Taylor, Taylor, TX.  Our objectives were to determine whether the Authority operated its public housing and related grant programs in accordance with the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s...

We audited the Memphis, TN, Housing Authority’s Housing Choice Voucher program as part of the activities in our fiscal year 2014 audit plan.  We selected the Authority because it had a large program, receiving about $40 million in yearly funding, and was part of the OIG’s annual audit plan.  Our objective was to determine whether the Authority’s inspection process adequately ensured that its units were in material compliance...

We audited the public housing program of the Housing Authority of the City of Spartanburg, SC, because of a citizen’s complaint.  Our objective was to determine whether the Authority’s performance in the areas of financial operations, procurement, and inventory practices met HUD requirements. The Authority used HUD program funds for ineligible or unsupported expenses, and failed to maintain an accurate accounting and financial...

We audited the Housing Authority of the City of Stamford, doing business as Charter Oak Communities.  We received an anonymous complaint against the Authority related to an alleged improper procurement.  The complainant alleged that Authority officials awarded a contract to an employee’s spouse without following procurement and conflict-of-interest requirements.  In addition, a previous audit (Audit report number 2012-...

The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development – Office of Inspector General audited the Helena, MT Housing Authority in response to a hotline complaint alleging a former employee of the housing authority improperly released housing choice voucher holders’ personally identifiable information.  The objective of our review was to determine whether the allegation had merit. A former Authority employee did improperly release...

The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development – Office of Inspector General audited the Wellston, MO Housing Authority’s administration of the Community Service and Self-Sufficiency Requirement (CSSR) due to its unusually low reported rate of compliance with the requirement.  Also, this audit will complement our upcoming nationwide internal audit of the requirement.  Our audit objective was to determine whether the...

We audited the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s (HUD) Detroit Office of Public Housing as part of a nationwide audit of HUD’s oversight of environmental reviews.  We selected the Detroit Office based on our risk assessment.  Our audit objectives were to determine whether the Detroit Office’s oversight of public housing environmental reviews within its jurisdiction ensured that (1) the responsible entities...

In accordance with our regional plan to review public housing programs, we reviewed the Beaumont Housing Authority, Beaumont, TX.  Our objective was to determine whether the Authority’s controls over tenant and unit eligibility were sufficient to ensure that it administered its low-rent public housing and Housing Choice Voucher programs in accordance with U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) regulations and...