The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), Office of Inspector General, audited James B. Nutter & Company, a Federal Housing Administration (FHA) lender located in Kansas City, MO.  We selected James B. Nutter based on data analysis showing that the servicer might be completing foreclosures faster than the industry standard, which would suggest that it might not be fully using HUD’s loss mitigation tools....

We audited the Orange County Housing Authority’s monitoring of its contractors’ performance of housing quality standards inspections of its mobility out units due to inadequacies identified in another review of the Authority’s Housing Choice Voucher program’s housing quality standards.  The Authority contracted out the administration and housing quality standards inspections for its mobility out housing units, Housing Choice...

This report presents the results of our audit of the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s (HUD) fiscal year 2015 compliance with the Improper Payments Elimination and Recovery Act of 2010 (IPERA). For the third consecutive fiscal year,  we determined that HUD did not comply with IPERA.  Out of the six requirements, In fiscal year 2015, HUD complied with four (compliance determinations a, c, d, and f) and did...

We audited the Housing Authority of the City of Durham’s Section 8 Housing Choice Voucher program’s housing quality standards based on our recent audit of the Authority’s program, during which potential issues with the Authority’s inspections were noted, and as part of our annual audit plan.  Our audit objective was to determine whether the Authority ensured that program units met the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban...

We audited the Richmond Housing Authority due to a complaint alleging that the Authority violated procurement requirements related to legal and accounting services and wrote off tenant debts improperly.  The objective of the audit was to determine whether the Authority procured goods and services and managed tenant rents for its public housing program in accordance with U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD)...

We audited the Westmoreland County Housing Authority’s Housing Choice Voucher program because the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) authorized it more than $8.7 million in program funding per year in fiscal years 2013 and 2014 and we had not audited its program.  This is the second of two audit reports on the Authority’s program.  Our objectives in this audit were to determine whether the Authority...

We audited the Orange County Housing Authority’s Housing Choice Voucher program’s housing quality standards primarily due to the Orange County district attorney’s investigation into allegations that Authority inspectors conducted personal business during the work day.  These allegations resulted in concerns that inspections may not have been thorough to ensure housing units met HUD standards.  Our objective was to determine...

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...

We completed a review of the City of Jersey City, NJ’s Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) program in response to a hotline complaint.  The objectives of the audit were to determine whether allegations included in the complaint had merit and whether City officials had established and implemented adequate controls to ensure that the City’s CDBG program was administered in compliance with CDBG program requirements. Our review...

Due to deficiencies found in prior reviews of two Intergovernmental Personnel Act (IPA or Act) assignments, we audited the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s (HUD) implementation and oversight of the IPA mobility program. The audit objectives were to determine whether (1) HUD’s use of IPA agreements met the purpose and intent of the IPA mobility program, (2) HUD’s policies and procedures related to IPA agreements were...

Contractors comprise around half of HUD’s workforce. We reviewed progress HUD had made in addressing previously identified background investigation issues. Personnel Security Division (PSD) had reduced the backlog of suitability adjudication cases, but on average it took about four times longer than the Office of Personnel Management standard of 90 days to complete a case—resulting in several hundred contractor employees working at...

We completed a review of the State of New York Governor’s Office of Storm Recovery’s administration of the Small Business Grants and Loans program funded with Community Development Block Grant Disaster Recovery (CDBG-DR) funds provided by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD).  The objectives of the audit were to determine whether State officials (1) approved and disbursed CDBG-DR funds for the Small Business...

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...

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...

We audited the City of New York, Office of Management and Budget’s administration of its Temporary Disaster Assistance Program (TDAP) funded with Community Development Block Grant Disaster Recovery (CDBG-DR) funds provided by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) to assist in the disaster recovery and rebuilding efforts resulting from Hurricane Sandy.  The disaster recovery funds were authorized by Congress...

We audited the Community Development Block Grant Disaster Recovery (CDBG-DR) assistance grant provided to the State of Rhode Island by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) to assist in disaster recovery and rebuilding efforts resulting from damages caused by Hurricane Sandy.  The audit objective was to determine whether State officials obligated and disbursed the grant funds in a timely manner in accordance...

The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), Office of Inspector General, audited the Poplar Bluff Housing Authority because information obtained from HUD’s Public and Indian Housing Information Center indicated that the Authority appeared to have flat rents set at a rate below 80 percent of the fair market rent in that area.  Our objective was to determine whether the Authority complied with HUD’s flat rent...

The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), Office of Inspector General audited Homewood Terrace Mutual Homes’ Section 8 housing assistance payments program due to concerns over poor financial reporting and potentially inappropriate involvement by one of its board members.  Our objective was to determine whether Homewood Terrace conducted timely reexaminations, correctly calculated and requested assistance...

We audited the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s (HUD) oversight of public housing agencies’ declarations of trust.  The audit was part of the activities in our fiscal year 2015 annual audit plan.  Our audit objective was to determine whether HUD had adequate oversight of public housing agencies’ compliance with its declaration of trust requirements. HUD did not always ensure that public housing agencies...

The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), Office of Inspector General, audited the State of Missouri’s Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) Disaster Recovery program because it was initially awarded more than $103 million in two CDBG Disaster Recovery grants for storms and flooding that occurred in 2008 and we had not previously audited the State’s activities regarding these funds.  Our audit objective was...