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...

We audited the City of Santa Ana’s Neighborhood Stabilization Program 2 (NSP2).  We initiated the audit as part of the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), Office of Inspector General’s (OIG) fiscal year 2012-2013 annual audit plan.  Our objective was to determine whether the City administered its program funds in accordance with applicable HUD rules and requirements.  Specifically, our focus was to...

We audited the City of Toledo’s Community Development Block Grant-funded Code Violation Abatement Program as part of the activities in our fiscal year 2013 annual audit plan.  We selected the City’s Program based upon recent media attention regarding the City’s programs, a request by the Honorable Marcy Kaptur, and a referral from the Office of Inspector General’s Office of Investigation.  Our objectives were to determine...

 We audited the selection and award of the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s (HUD) fiscal year 2010  HOPE VI revitalization grants, based on a hotline complaint alleging that HUD’s Office of Public and Indian Housing (PIH) (1) selected and awarded fiscal year 2011 HOPE VI funds to grantees that applied for fiscal year 2010 grants but did not publish a notice of funding availability (NOFA) for its fiscal year...

We audited the Federal Housing Administration (FHA)-insured loan process at All Western Mortgage’s Las Vegas, NV, home office as part of our efforts to improve the integrity of the single-family insurance programs. We selected All Western Mortgage because it is one of the top 10 originators in Nevada and the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s (HUD) Quality Assurance Division had not performed a review since 2005....

The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), Office of Inspector General audited the Utah Housing Corporation to determine whether the Corporation properly determined that borrowers were eligible to participate in FHA’s Preforeclosure Sale Program. We selected the Corporation because it had more preforeclosure sales than regular foreclosures, placing it at the top of our risk assessment for Region VIII. The...

We audited certain portions of the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s (HUD) multifamily housing and healthcare insured mortgage programs as part of our fiscal year 2012 annual audit plan.  The objective of the review was to determine the adequacy of the Office of Housing’s procedures and controls for selecting, conducting, and following up on postendorsement underwriting reviews of insured multifamily and...

We completed a review of Nassau County, NY Office of Community Development’s administration of its HOME Investment Partnerships Program. We selected this auditee based on a risk assessment conducted by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s (HUD) New York City Office of Community Planning and Development. The objectives of the audit were to determine whether the County committed and obligated HOME funds in a...