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...

We reviewed the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), Office of Community Planning and Development’s (CPD) Neighborhood Stabilization Program (NSP).  We initiated the audit under the HUD Office of Inspector General’s (OIG) annual audit plan.  Our objective was to provide an overall assessment of NSP, including assessing the sufficiency of HUD’s controls and determining whether HUD had improved its controls...

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...

The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), Office of Inspector General audited the City of Minot, ND’s Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) Disaster Recovery program because the City was awarded more than $67 million in CDBG Disaster Recovery funds in April 2012 and an additional $35 million in May 2013.  Before our audit, the City had spent more than $26 million and $1.3 million, respectively.  In...

In accordance with the Chief Financial Officers Act of 1990, as amended, we are required to annually audit the consolidated financial statements of the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) and the stand alone financial statements of Federal Housing Administration (FHA) and the Government National Mortgage Administration (Ginnie Mae). Our objective was to express an opinion on the fairness of the financial statements...

The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), Office of Inspector General, audited Breakthrough Living Program based on an audit referral memorandum received from the Director of HUD’s Southwest Region, Office of Multifamily Housing Programs.  The referral cited several concerns, including the property’s unilateral withdrawal of funds from the reserve for replacement account.  Our audit objective was to...

We audited the State of Rhode Island’s Neighborhood Stabilization Program (NSP) based on a risk assessment that considered the amount of funding, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s (HUD) risk assessment, and HUD findings related to one of the State’s subrecipients.  Our overall audit objective was to determine whether the State properly administered the NSP and ensured that costs incurred were in accordance...

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....

We completed a review of the Buffalo Municipal Housing Authority’s legal and police service expenses in response to a hotline complaint.  The complainant alleged that Authority officials paid outside legal counsel for work that should have been done by its own legal staff and paid for police services below the baseline level of services that should have been provided under a cooperation agreement with the City of Buffalo. The...

We reviewed information system controls over the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s (HUD) computing environment.  This review was conducted as part of the Office of Inspector General’s audit of HUD’s financial statements for fiscal year 2014 under the Chief Financial Officer’s Act of 1990. The OIG has determined that the contents of this report would not be appropriate for public disclosure and has therefore...

We conducted a review of the Philadelphia Housing Authority’s compliance with Federal lobbying disclosure requirements and restrictions.  We found that the Authority engaged in the prohibited practice of using Federal funds for lobbying and a former executive director certified to the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) that it did not do so.  In addition, the former executive director falsely certified to...

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 completed a review of the Rhode Island Housing’s HOME Investment Partnerships Program based on an Office of Inspector General risk assessment of New England HOME recipients that considered the amount of funding provided and prior audit and monitoring findings.  Our audit objectives were to determine whether Rhode Island Housing officials awarded HOME funds to grantees in a reasonable and supported manner and whether HOME funds...

We audited the County of Beaver, Beaver Falls, PA’s administration of the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s (HUD) HOME Investment Partnerships Program funds.  We audited the County because we received a complaint alleging misuse of Federal funds resulting from a potential conflict of interest involving a County employee.  Our audit objective was to determine whether the County administered its HOME program...

We audited New Image Emergency Shelter’s Housing Opportunities for Persons With AIDS (HOPWA) program based on a referral from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, Office of Inspector General’s (HUD OIG) Office of Investigation and a citizen complaint, alleging that New Image lacked adequate documentation to support program expenditures and employee salaries. Our objective was to determine whether New Image...

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...

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 were not living 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...

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...

We reviewed the City of Albuquerque, Department of Family and Community Services’ Continuum of Care program.  We initiated the review based on a complaint alleging misconduct in the City’s program.  Specifically, the complainant alleged the City’s Continuum of Care failed to comply with conflict of interest and procurement requirements, did not maintain accurate Homeless Management Information System reports, and expended...

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....