The Digital Accountability and Transparency Act of 2014 (DATA Act), and implementing guidance provided in the Office of Management and Budget Memorandum M-15-12, is a mandate that Federal agencies must follow to report their financial, budgetary and programmatic information to the USASpending.gov web site.  We have reviewed the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s (HUD) compliance efforts as of July 15, 2016.  To...

We audited the Georgia Housing and Finance Authority’s implementation of the Federal Housing Administration’s Home Affordable Modification Program (FHA-HAMP).  We selected the Authority because (1) our data analysis showed that the Authority had the highest ratio of FHA-HAMP actions to delinquent loans within the jurisdiction of our regional office, (2) the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) office located in Atlanta,...

We audited the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s (HUD) oversight of Federal Housing Administration (FHA)-insured loans in Flint, MI.  We conducted the audit based on recent news reports that identified high levels of lead contamination and because HUD had insured loans on properties in Flint that closed after the City of Flint began using the Flint River as its water source in April 2014, including 144 loans with unpaid...

We reviewed Selene Finance, LP’s servicing of its Federal Housing Administration-insured loans and its implementation of the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s (HUD) Loss Mitigation program.  Our audit objective was to determine whether Selene processed delinquent loans in accordance with HUD’s requirements, especially Loss Mitigation program requirements. Except for communicating with borrowers, Selene generally complied...

We audited the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s (HUD) oversight of the Government National Mortgage Association’s (Ginnie Mae) contract for financial industry and media marketing services with public relations and communications firm Burson-Marsteller.  We initiated the audit after we became aware of potential issues regarding the amount of funds used for services, which may not have been reasonable or necessary. ...

The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), Office of Inspector General, audited James B. Nutter & Company, a Federal Housing Administration (FHA) lender located in Kansas City, MO.  We selected James B. Nutter based on data analysis showing that the servicer might be completing foreclosures faster than the industry standard, which would suggest that it might not be fully using HUD’s loss mitigation tools.  Our...

This report presents the results of our audit of the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s (HUD) fiscal year 2015 compliance with the Improper Payments Elimination and Recovery Act of 2010 (IPERA). For the third consecutive fiscal year,  we determined that HUD did not comply with IPERA.  Out of the six requirements, In fiscal year 2015, HUD complied with four (compliance determinations a, c, d, and f) and did not comply...

Due to deficiencies found in prior reviews of two Intergovernmental Personnel Act (IPA or Act) assignments, we audited the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s (HUD) implementation and oversight of the IPA mobility program. The audit objectives were to determine whether (1) HUD’s use of IPA agreements met the purpose and intent of the IPA mobility program, (2) HUD’s policies and procedures related to IPA agreements were adequate...

Contractors comprise around half of HUD’s workforce. We reviewed progress HUD had made in addressing previously identified background investigation issues. Personnel Security Division (PSD) had reduced the backlog of suitability adjudication cases, but on average it took about four times longer than the Office of Personnel Management standard of 90 days to complete a case—resulting in several hundred contractor employees working at HUD without...

The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development – Office of Inspector General audited HUD’s Federal Housing Administrations rules and requirements pertaining to nonprofits purchasing real estate-owned (REO) homes during the exclusive listing period.  We initiated this review based on information found during an audit of a nonprofit that purchased homes during the exclusive listing period in memorandum 2015-DE-1801.  Our objective...

Historically, HUD program managers have not wanted to enforce program requirements. That reluctance increases the risk that program funds will not provide maximum benefits to recipients and allows serious noncompliances to go unchecked. When it was created, the Departmental Enforcement Center had independent enforcement authority, but it lost that authority when it moved from the Deputy Secretary’s office to the Office of General Counsel (OGC...

We assessed the HUD Office of the Chief Procurement Officer’s acquisition improvement initiatives. HUD has faced many acquisition challenges over the years and we found HUD had made progress in addressing those challenges. We observed that HUD had not developed a sound, cohesive strategy to address improvement initiatives, offices did not communicate or coordinate effectively, and offices did not agree on the best way to address acquisitions...

We conducted an attestation review of the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), Office of Special Needs Assistance Continuum of Care Program, regarding drug control accounting and associated management assertions for fiscal year 2015.  The objective of our attestation review was to evaluate HUD’s financial reporting and assertions for drug control funds to determine if its reporting was in compliance with regulations and...

We reviewed the general and application controls over the Federal Housing Administration’s (FHA) Single Family Insurance System (SFIS) and Single Family Insurance Claims subsystem (Claims) as part of the internal control assessments required for the fiscal year 2015 financial statement audit under the Chief Financial Officer’s Act of 1990.  Our objective was to evaluate the general and application controls over SFIS and Claims for...

We completed a review of Provident Bank’s servicing of Federal Housing Administration (FHA)-insured mortgages and its implementation of the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s (HUD) Loss Mitigation program. We selected Provident Bank based on an Office of Inspector General risk assessment of single-family lenders. The objective of the audit was to determine whether Provident Bank properly serviced FHA-insured mortgages and...

In accordance with the Chief Financial Officers Act of 1990, as amended, we are required to annually audit the consolidated financial statements of the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) and the stand alone financial statements of the Federal Housing Administration and the Government National Mortgage Administration (Ginnie Mae). Our objective was to express an opinion on the fairness of the financial...

The Federal Information Security Modernization Act of 2014 (FISMA) directs the Office of Inspector General (OIG) to conduct an annual evaluation of the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) information security program.  FISMA, Department of Homeland Security (DHS), Office of Management and Budget (OMB) and National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) establish information technology (IT) security guidance and...

We are required to audit the consolidated financial statements of the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) annually in accordance with the Chief Financial Officers Act of 1990 as amended.  This report supplements our independent auditor’s report on the results of our audit of HUD’s principal financial statements for the fiscal years ending September 30, 2015 and 2014.  Provided are assessments of HUD’s internal...

We reviewed information system controls over the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s (HUD) computing environment.  This review was conducted as part of the Office of Inspector General’s audit of HUD’s financial statements for fiscal year 2015 under the Chief Financial Officer’s Act of 1990. The OIG has determined that the contents of this report would not be appropriate for public disclosure and has therefore limited its...

We audited loanDepot, LLC, based on a referral from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s (HUD) Quality Assurance Division detailing a separate lender that originated Federal Housing Administration (FHA)-insured loans containing ineligible downpayment assistance gifts.  The focus on loans with Golden State Finance Authority (Golden State) gifts was a result of a separate audit (2015-LA-1009) on loanDepot’s use of...