The OIG has determined that the contents of this recommendation would not be appropriate for public disclosure and has therefore limited its distribution to selected officials.

The OIG has determined that the contents of this recommendation would not be appropriate for public disclosure and has therefore limited its distribution to selected officials.

Reevaluate and adequately document justification for the establishment of the percentages and other key assumptions used to determine the accrual amount for each program in CPD’s accrued grant liabilities estimate.

Implement the requirements of HUD’s current Debt Collection Handbook, to include (1) assigning a program office manager, (2) developing and implementing debt collection standard operating procedures, (3) designating program action officials, and (4) ensuring that program action officials are trained and perform debt collection duties in a timely manner in accordance with the Debt Collection Handbook; HUD Handbook 2000.06, REV-4, Audits Management System; and other pertinent guidance and policies to ensure the accurate reporting of receivables in the general ledger.

Review all executed repayment agreements in HUD’s Tenant Rental Assistance Certification System (TRACS) to determine which repayment agreements have not been fully repaid and represent an amount owed to HUD and work with OCFO to record these receivables.

Include a field in TRACS to identify which repayment agreements represent an amount owed to HUD and implement controls to ensure the accuracy of the listing in TRACS.

Develop and implement controls to track and enforce repayments owed to HUD to ensure that owners are not delinquent on their repayment agreements.

Ensure that OCFO has the data it needs to record a reasonable PIH prepayment estimate related to supplemental pandemic funding in fiscal year 2021 and beyond if additional funding is provided.

Prepare a white paper regarding the accounting treatment for each type of funding disbursed under the HCVP, to include a comparison of the qualities the funding embodies against the qualities that are necessary for it to be considered a prepayment versus an expense according to generally accepted accounting principles. The Chief Financial Officer should work with PIH to gather the information necessary to complete this analysis and have PIH review it to ensure the accuracy of the program information used.

Develop and implement a policy that requires OCFO to review all new program notices, new regulations, and new types of funding and evaluate each against the accounting standards and current accounting treatment (as documented in white papers or other forms) to determine whether OCFO’s treatment complies with generally accepted accounting principles and if not, propose changes. The policy should include formal designation of roles and responsibilities as well as internal controls to ensure proper review and approval of conclusions.

Once additional data are available, and at least quarterly, reduce the CARES Act PIH prepayment by the amount actually spent by PHAs or an estimated amount with a low level of estimation uncertainty.

As part of the validation process for CPD’s accrued grant liabilities, review CPD’s accrued grant liabilities estimation methodology to ensure that it is based on verifiable grantee supporting documentation and all assumptions and variables used for the grant accrual estimate were properly established, supported, and documented.

Research the survey responses that resulted in a positive cash on hand balance to determine whether a cash advance exists. If so, the Chief Financial Officer should coordinate with CPD to (1) determine whether the grantees have proper documentation and approvals allowing for cash advances and (2) develop and implement procedures to estimate and account for cash advances for financial reporting purposes.

Investigate other methods for validating CPD’s accrued grant liabilities estimate, including the use of other sampling units, which could provide additional relevant information that can be used to produce more reasonable results and reduce estimation uncertainty to a low level.

Work with the Director of the Office of Multifamily Asset Management and Portfolio Oversight to ensure that all debt owed to HUD is identified, accurately reported in HUD’s financial records, and properly monitored to ensure compliance with applicable laws and regulations.

Adequately notify homeowners that, due to COVID-19, all FHA refund applications and supporting documents should be sent electronically to avoid delay in processing. This process should include (1) developing and expediting implementation of correspondence sent to homeowners with the application, (2) a notice of operational changes on HUD’s FHA refunds websites, (3) ensuring that HUD’s Does HUD Owe You a Refund website is updated to the most recent FHA Homeowners Fact Sheet, (4) an updated voice message from the call center including an accurate email, and (5) developing an updated script for call center agents for the initial contact with the homeowner, follow up, and contact with homeowners who already submitted their application by mail.

Conduct a privacy impact assessment for accepting homeowner FHA refund applications and supporting documentation that contain PII electronically to identify potential risks and develop and implement plans to mitigate those risks.

Develop and implement written policies and procedures for SFIOD to quickly respond to emergency situations when staff cannot return to the office. Procedures should include steps to quickly notify homeowners of any changes made to the FHA refund process.

The OIG has determined that the contents of this recommendation would not be appropriate for public disclosure and has therefore limited its distribution to selected officials.

Implement a software asset management capability for software and operating systems to ensure that software executes only from the authorized software inventory and all unauthorized software is blocked from executing on HUD's network.

Status

In April 2024, the Office of the Chief Information Officer reported that it was in the process of implementing a software management tool that would allow it to control which software is authorized to access the network. This is the first step to create rules for allowing only authorized software to be used through HUD's endpoint security software. Final implementation of this new tool is expected by Quarter 2 of FY 2025.

Analysis

To fully address this recommendation, HUD must provide evidence that it has an automated whitelist and implement as per the NIST Special Publication 800-167 or accept the risk and document mitigating measures via a Risk Based Decision memorandum.

Implementation of this recommendation will result in HUD having the capability to ensure only authorized software is used on HUD’s network based on its software asset listing.