We audited loans originated by Bankers Mortgage Group, Woodland Hills, CA, in response to a referral from the Office of Inspector General’s (OIG) Office of Investigation alleging that Bankers Mortgage Group originated loans with false documentation. Our objective was to determine whether the lender originated FHA-insured loans using sufficient, reliable, and valid documentation. Bankers Mortgage Group did not originate loans using sufficient...

We audited the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) real estate-owned (REO) Management and Marketing (M&M) III program at Innotion Enterprises, Inc., to determine whether Innotion performed property preservation and protection services according to contract requirements. The review was part of our efforts to improve the integrity of the single-family insurance programs. We selected Innotion’s Las Vegas, NV, branch based...

We audited the Buffalo Municipal Housing Authority’s Public Housing Capital Fund Stimulus (Formula) program funded under the Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 based on an Office of Inspector General risk analysis and the amount of funding the Authority received. The objectives of the audit were to determine whether Authority officials (1) procured contracts in accordance with U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD)...

The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, Office of Inspector General audited the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s (HUD) oversight of Federal Housing Administration (FHA)-insured loans. We initiated the audit as part of the activities in our 2011 annual audit plan and strategic plan. Our audit objective was to determine whether HUD had adequate oversight of lenders’ compliance with FHA’s underwriting requirements...

The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, Office of Inspector General audited the Hammond Housing Authority’s American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 Public Housing Capital Fund Stimulus formula and competitive grants. The audit was part of the activities in our fiscal year 2012 annual audit plan. We selected the Authority based upon our analysis of risk factors related to the housing agencies in Region V’s jurisdiction. Our...

We audited Weststar Mortgage Corporation, a Federal Housing Administration (FHA) nonsupervised direct endorsement lender located in Albuquerque, NM. We selected Weststar for review based on a risk assessment of lenders in New Mexico. Our objective was to determine whether Weststar complied with U. S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) and FHA loan origination requirements for loans on which the borrowers defaulted and FHA paid...

We performed an audit of the National Foundation for Credit Counseling based on a citizen’s complaint alleging that it misused Federal funds. Our objective was to determine whether the Foundation complied with U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) requirements when administering its housing counseling program. The complaint alleging that the Foundation misused Federal funds could not be substantiated. The Foundation generally...

The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), Office of Inspector General (OIG), assisted the U.S. Attorney’s Office, Southern District of New York, in conducting a review of MortgageIT, Inc. MortgageIT is a residential mortgage banking company headquartered in New York City, NY. Originally founded in 1988, MortgageIT was acquired by Deutsche Bank in 2007, and was a HUD-approved Title II nonsupervised mortgage company. Its home...

To meet the Office of Inspector General’s (OIG) objective to review funds provided under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 and at HUD's suggestion, we reviewed the Housing Authority of the City of Mineral Wells Public Housing Capital Fund Stimulus (formula) Recovery Act funded activities. Specifically, our objectives were to determine whether the Authority followed the Recovery Act rules and regulations when obligating and...

The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), Office of Inspector General (OIG), assisted the U.S. Attorney’s Office, Southern District of New York, in conducting a review of Flagstar Bank, FSB. The objective of the review was to determine whether Flagstar conducted its operations in the underwriting of Federal Housing Administration (FHA) loans in accordance with HUD-FHA regulations. Flagstar Bank, FSB, is a supervised direct...

We audited the Gonzales Housing Authority’s American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 Public Housing Capital Fund formula grant because it met the Office of Inspector General’s (OIG) most recent audit plan objective to contribute to the oversight objectives of the Recovery Act and the San Antonio Office of Public Housing recommended it for audit. Our objectives were to determine whether the Authority (1) properly obligated and spent its...

The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), Office of Inspector General (OIG), conducted a review of loans underwritten by Countrywide Home Loans Inc., and its divisions Countrywide Bank FSB and Countrywide Mortgage Ventures, LLC. The objective of the review was to determine whether Countrywide underwrote Federal Housing Administration (FHA) loans in accordance with HUD-FHA regulations. Countrywide is a subsidiary of Bank of...

HUD OIG audited Universal American Mortgage, Co. LLC, located in Miami, FL, in accordance with our annual audit plan. Universal was selected for review because its default rate of 3.8 percent was higher than the Miami area default rate of 1.9 percent. Our objectives were to determine whether the lender followed U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) requirements when originating and underwriting loans and implementing its...

The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), Office of Inspector General (OIG), conducted a review to determine whether Indymac Bank followed Federal Housing Administration (FHA) policies and procedures when it originated FHA-insured loans. We identified a set of questionable loans originated by Indymac that had been generated by Beechwood Incorporated, a company that conducted various real estate services. Based on our review...

The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), Office of Inspector General (OIG), conducted a review to determine whether Indymac Bank followed Federal Housing Administration (FHA) policies and procedures when it originated FHA-insured loans. We identified a set of questionable loans originated by Indymac that had been generated by Beechwood Incorporated, a company that conducted various real estate services. Based on our review...

The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), Office of Inspector General (OIG), conducted a review to determine whether Indymac Bank followed Federal Housing Administration (FHA) policies and procedures when it originated FHA-insured loans. We identified a set of questionable loans originated by Indymac that had been generated by Beechwood Incorporated, a company that conducted various real estate services. Based on our review...

The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, Office of Inspector General audited Nations Lending Corporation, a Federal Housing Administration (FHA)-approved nonsupervised direct endorsement lender approved to originate, underwrite, and submit mortgages for insurance under the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s (HUD) direct endorsement program. We selected Nations for audit based on our risk assessment of single-family...

HUD OIG audited Nationwide Mortgage & Associates, Inc., a Federal Housing Administration (FHA)-approved non-supervised direct endorsement lender located in Fort Lauderdale, FL. We selected this lender because its default rate of 4 percent was higher than the Miami U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) area average default rate of 2 percent. The audit objectives were to determine whether the lender followed HUD requirements...

We audited SWBC Mortgage Corporation, a Federal Housing Administration (FHA) direct endorsement lender in San Antonio, TX. We selected the lender for audit because as of September 30, 2011, it had 25 seriously delinquent loans. Our objective was to determine whether the lender originated single-family home loans in accordance with U. S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) and FHA requirements for loans with amortization dates...

We completed a corrective action verification regarding the recommendations made to the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s (HUD) Office of Single Family Program Development pertaining to our review of HUD’s monitoring of the Housing Counseling Assistance Program, Audit Report 2006-NY-0001, issued June 8, 2006. The purpose of the corrective action verification was to determine whether the audit recommendations had been...