We recommend that the Director of the Office of Block Grant Assistance require the Texas General Land Office to implement appropriate cost controls, including limits for reconstruction and rehabilitation costs, to ensure that it uses limited government resources in a more economical and efficient manner. Those costs should not exceed the costs that would be incurred by a prudent person under similar circumstances.

We recommend that the Director of the Office of Block Grant Assistance require the Texas General Land Office to evaluate whether its programs would benefit from a longer affordability period and take appropriate actions to ensure that low- and moderate-income communities have access to affordable homes for an adequate period.

We recommend that the Director of the Office of Block Grant Assistance require the Texas General Land Office to ensure that the tax burden implications are a part of the determination of whether to spend significantly more than the damaged home’s appraised value to replace the home. This measure would include ensuring that participants are fully informed of the substantial and material property tax consequences that they could incur based on the increased values of their reconstructed homes (appendix B).

Require lenders to obtain the borrowers’ consent to verify the existence of delinquent Federal taxes with the IRS during loan origination and deny any applicant with delinquent Federal tax debt and no payment plan or a noncompliant payment plan or an applicant refusing to provide consent from receiving FHA insurance to put at least $6.1 billion to better use by avoiding potential future costs to the FHA insurance fund.

Status

The Office of Single Family Housing will need additional tax information to complete the planned action. In July 2024, Single Family Housing proposed closing the recommendation with no action because the primary action discussed would require Congressional authorization, and another option discussed would place an undue burden on borrowers and lenders and was not practical. OIG disagreed with the request. Single Family maintains that without an automated solution from the Internal Revenue Service (IRS), it is not practical for individual borrowers and/or lenders to manually check tax status with the IRS. However, OIG’s position is that action is required since delinquent tax debtors are ineligible for FHA loans under existing FHA and Office of Management and Budget (OMB) guidelines.

Analysis

To fully address this recommendation, HUD will need to provide evidence that it established a method of borrower consent to verify the existence of delinquent federal taxes.

Implementation of this rule should result in HUD putting $6.1 billion to better use.

Revise HUD handbooks for forward and reverse mortgages to reflect that tax liens and judgments are no longer reported on credit reports.

Revise HUD handbooks for forward and reverse mortgages for uniformity in the treatment of delinquent tax debt and the existence of payment plans as only the forward mortgage handbook requires 3 months of payments.

Reimburse its program from non-Federal funds for the $62,377 used to pay for the excess executive compensation.

Develop and implement written policies, procedures, and other financial controls to ensure that Sections 8 and 9 funds are not used to pay for compensation over the salary limit.

Reimburse the U.S. Treasury from non-Federal funds for the $5,000 in ineligible costs paid to its contractor.

Develop and implement written policies and procedures for the payment review process to comply with applicable regulations in 2 CFR Part 200.

Train its staff on its newly developed policies and procedures noted in recommendations 1B and 1D.

Reimburse its program $32,687 from non-Federal funds ($17,045 in overpayments of housing assistance and utility allowances4 $15,642 in administrative fees) due to inappropriate calculations.

Reimburse the appropriate households $1,276 ($1,211 in housing assistance underpayments $65 in utility allowances) from program funds for the underpayment of housing assistance due to calculation errors and discrepancies in the housing assistance payments register.

Support or reimburse the appropriate households $7,869 from non-Federal funds for the unsupported underpayment of housing assistance due to missing documentation for housing assistance payment calculations.

Support or reimburse its program $12,893 from non-Federal funds for the unsupported overpayment of housing assistance due to missing documentation for housing assistance payment calculations.

Pursue collection from the applicable landlords or reimburse its program $4,460 from non-Federal funds for the overpayment of housing assistance due to discrepancies in the housing assistance payments register.

Reimburse the appropriate landlords $450 in housing assistance from program funds for the underpayment of housing assistance due to discrepancies in the housing assistance payments register.

Implement adequate procedures and controls, including but not limited to monitoring and oversight of the program staff, to ensure that (1) utility allowance calculations are adequately supported, (2) income is adequately verified and supported, (3) housing assistance is correctly calculated, and (4) housing assistance payments are appropriately processed in accordance with HUD’s and its own requirements.

Reimburse the project $17,761 from nonproject funds for the project operating funds disbursed for ineligible expenses.

Support or reimburse the project $17,653 from nonproject funds for the project operating funds disbursed without sufficient supporting documentation.