We audited the City of Atlanta’s (City) HOME Investment Partnerships Program (HOME) because it has received more than $17 million in HOME funding since 2005. Our objective was to determine whether the City accurately entered commitments into the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s (HUD) Integrated Disbursement and Information System (information system) for HOME-funded activities.

The City did not comply with HUD requirements for committing HOME funds within the 24-month statutory deadline. The audit identified more than $6.8 million in incorrect commitment entries that the City made to HUD’s information system. The incorrect entries masked a shortfall of more than $3.9 million that is subject to recapture by HUD. The recaptures, which resulted from a failure of City staff to implement adequate controls, will deprive City residents of services that the HOME program was intended to provide. The incorrect commitments also undermined the integrity of the information system and of reports HUD generated from the system to monitor the City’s compliance with the 24-month statutory commitment requirement.

We recommend that the Director of HUD’s Atlanta Office of Community Planning and Development recapture more than $3.9 million in funds not committed by the 24-month statutory deadline. We also recommend that the Director require the City to implement controls to ensure that future HOME funds are committed by the required deadline, monitor commitments entered into the information system, and take appropriate action to promptly correct detected violations.