We audited the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s Office of Healthy Homes and Lead Hazard Control’s (OHHLHC) selection procedures used to award American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (Recovery Act) grants. Our objective was to determine whether OHHLHC awarded (1) Recovery Act funds in accordance with the selection criteria specified in the fiscal year 2008 notices of funding availability (notices) and the Recovery Act and (2) fiscal year 2008 funds in accordance with the selection criteria.

We determined that OHHLHC did not have adequate controls to ensure that only qualified applicants were selected to receive grant funds. As a result, OHHLHC improperly awarded $1.9 million in Recovery Act funds to the City of Greenville, NC (Greenville), and $874,821 to Healthy Homes Resources. In addition, OHHLHC awarded $3 million in fiscal year 2008 funds to the City of Cincinnati, OH (Cincinnati).

We recommend that the Director of OHHLHC rescind the $2.8 million in Recovery Act funds that was improperly awarded to Greenville and Healthy Homes Resources, ensure that the selection procedures are followed, and take appropriate actions against employees. We also recommend that the Director of OHHLHC rescind the $3 million in fiscal year 2008 funding that was awarded to Cincinnati, ensure that the application review panels follow threshold review requirements when determining eligibility, and take appropriate action against employees who circumvented the regulations.