We completed an audit of the City of Eagle Pass Housing Authority’s (Authority) American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (Recovery Act) grant activities. The Authority was selected based on the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s (HUD), Office of the Inspector General’s (OIG)  annual plan to conduct oversight of the Recovery Act funds provided to public housing agencies and our regional risk evaluation....

The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, Office of Inspector General reviewed the allegations contained in a hotline complaint against CARE Housing, Inc., Fort Collins, CO, to determine whether CARE accurately represented itself as an eligible community housing development organization (CHDO) and whether it used its grant funds for the Provincetowne project in accordance with applicable rules and regulations.  We...

We audited Essex County, NJ’s HOME Investment Partnerships Program based on a risk assessment that considered grantee funding, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s (HUD) risk analysis, and prior audit coverage.  The objective of the audit was to determine whether County officials established and implemented adequate controls to ensure that the HOME program was administered in compliance with program requirements...

The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s (HUD), Office of Inspector General audited The Temtor, a residential and commercial development in St. Louis MO.  We selected The Temtor for audit because the project quickly defaulted on its mortgage and requested a partial payment of claim.  The project reached final endorsement on January 30, 2012, and failed to make timely mortgage payments beginning March 1, 2012....

We audited the State of Maryland’s Department of Housing and Community Development’s administration of its Emergency Mortgage Assistance program.  We audited the State’s program because the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) awarded the State $61.6 million in Emergency Homeowner’s Loan program funds to administer its Emergency Mortgage Assistance program.  Our objective was to determine whether the State...

The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), Office of Inspector General audited Home Forward’s Moving to Work Housing Choice Voucher program.  We selected Home Forward, formerly known as the Housing Authority of Portland, because it disbursed the highest average Section 8 funds in Oregon from 2010 to 2012 and third highest in the Region, including Alaska, Idaho, Oregon, and Washington.  We focused on its...

We audited the Inkster Housing Commission’s public housing and Section 8 programs as part of the activities in our fiscal year 2013 annual audit plan.  We selected the Commission based on a citizen’s complaint to our office and our analysis of risk factors relating to public housing agencies in Region 5’s jurisdiction.  Our objective was to determine whether the Commission administered its programs in accordance with HUD’s...

We audited the City of Worcester’s administration of its Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) program.  We selected the City for review based on a request from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), Boston, MA, Office of Community Planning and Development.  The objectives of the audit were to determine whether the City established adequate controls to ensure that the CDBG activities were eligible and...

We audited the Puerto Rico Housing Finance Authority’s HOME Investment Partnerships Program as part of our strategic plan based on the large amount of HOME funds approved.  The objectives of the audit were to determine whether the Authority reported accurate and supported information in the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s (HUD) Integrated Disbursement and Information System and disbursed HOME funds within HUD-...

We conducted a review of Brownsville Apartments based on a referral from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s (HUD) Departmental Enforcement Center and the Pittsburgh Office of Multifamily Housing due to concerns that project funds were used inappropriately for purposes other than the operation of the project.  This concern was due largely to the owner’s lengthy history of being uncooperative with HUD.  Our...

We audited the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s (HUD) monitoring of grantee compliance with the Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) timeliness spending requirement.  The objectives of the audit were to determine whether HUD’s guidance for ensuring compliance with the CDBG entitlement spending requirement had been implemented effectively by the field offices; specifically, whether HUD needs to implement...

We reviewed the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s (HUD) Housing Choice Voucher program as part of an Office of Inspector General plan to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of HUD programs.  The objective of the audit was to determine whether HUD’s guidance for optimizing and stabilizing housing choice voucher utilization had been implemented effectively by the field offices and public housing agencies. HUD...

We completed the 17th audit report in our ongoing review of the Lower Manhattan Development Corporation’s (LMDC) administration of the $2.783 billion in Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) Disaster Recovery Assistance funds awarded to the State of New York in the aftermath of the September 11, 2011, terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center in New York City.  During the audit period, April 1, 2011 through March 31, 2012,...

We audited the Charleston-Kanawha Housing Authority’s Housing Choice Voucher program because (1) it received more than $13.7 million in program funding in fiscal year 2012, (2) it is the largest assisted housing agency in the State of West Virginia, and (3) we had never audited its Housing Choice Voucher program.  The audit objectives were to determine whether the Authority ensured that its Housing Choice Voucher program units...

We audited the Stark Metropolitan Housing Authority’s public housing program as part of the activities in our fiscal year 2012 annual audit plan.  We selected the Authority based upon our previous audit of the Authority and an anonymous complaint received by the Office of Inspector General’s hotline.  Our objective was to determine whether the Authority followed the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s (HUD)...

We audited the Blair County Housing Authority’s Housing Choice Voucher program due to a citizen’s complaint alleging that the Authority (1) did not properly calculate housing assistance payments, (2) did not allow tenants to receive disability allowances, and (3) used outdated utility allowance schedules. Our audit objective was to determine whether the Authority accurately calculated housing assistance payments, disability allowances...

The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s (HUD), Office of Inspector General reviewed HUD’s oversight of Section 3 of the Housing and Urban Development Act of 1968 due to concerns over its ensuring economic opportunities for low- and very low-income persons.  Our audit objective was to determine whether HUD enforced the requirements of the Section 3 program for Recovery Act Public Housing Capital Fund recipients. We...

In accordance with our regional plan to review public housing programs and because of weaknesses identified by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), we reviewed the Housing Authority of the City of Idabel, OK.  Our objectives were to determine whether the Authority’s investment in and operation of non-public-housing units complied with HUD requirements and whether those activities adversely impacted the...

We audited the Housing Authority of the City of New Brunswick’s American Recovery and Reinvestment Act Capital Fund Program based upon a risk analysis of authorities administered through the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) Newark, NJ field office, which considered the funding received and HUD’s assigned risk score. The objectives of the audit were to determine whether Authority officials (1) obligated and...

We audited the Harris County Housing Authority, Houston, TX, at the request of the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s (HUD) Fort Worth Office Director of Public and Indian Housing.  The request followed a series of news articles alleging mismanagement and extravagant spending at the Authority, the removal or replacement of various former managers and board of commissioners members, and concerns expressed by the...