We audited Mortgage Lending Direct, Inc. (MLD), a nonsupervised lender (see footnote -1)located in Florham Park, NJ, in support of the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), Office of the Inspector General’s (OIG) goal of improving the integrity of the single-family insurance program. We selected MLD for audit because its 8.88 percent default rate for Federal Housing Administration (FHA)-insured single-family loans with...

We audited the Federal Housing Administration (FHA)-insured loan process at MetLife Bank’s (lender) branch in Scottsdale, AZ, to determine whether the lender underwrote FHA-insured loans and implemented a quality control plan in accordance with U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) requirements. We selected the lender because it had an FHA default rate of 7.41 percent for loans underwritten in Arizona between April 1, 2009, and...

In accordance with our audit plan we audited the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s (HUD) Philadelphia, PA, Homeownership Center’s quality assurance procedures for monitoring originations of Federal Housing Administration (FHA) single-family mortgage loans. Our audit objective was to determine whether the Homeownership Center properly monitored single-family loan originations in its jurisdiction by implementing quality assurance...

We audited the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s (HUD) field review appraisal process. This audit was conducted as part of the HUD Office of Inspector General’s (OIG) fiscal year 2011 annual audit plan and was designed to follow up on selected findings in OIG’s Audit Report 2008-LA-0003 on the appraiser review process. Our objective was to determine whether HUD (1) ensured that field review appraisers complied with the appraisal...

In accordance with the Government Corporation Control Act as amended (31 U.S.C. 9105), the Office of Inspector General engaged the independent certified public accounting firm of Clifton Gunderson LLP (CG) to audit the fiscal years 2011 and 2010 financial statements of the Federal Housing Administration (FHA). The contract required that the audit be performed according to Generally Accepted Government Auditing Standards (GAGAS). CG is...

We audited TXL Mortgage Corporation, a nonsupervised direct endorsement lender located in Houston, TX. We selected TXL due to one of its loan correspondents’ high default rate. Our audit objectives were to determine whether TXL acted in a prudent manner and complied with U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) regulations, procedures, and instructions in the origination and sponsoring of Federal Housing Administration (FHA)-...

The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) – Office of Inspector General (OIG) reviewed 46 Federal Housing Administration (FHA) loans that Pierce Commercial Bank underwrote as an FHA direct endorsement lender. Pierce was a supervised FHA direct endorsement lender located in Tacoma, WA. This case was referred to us by OIG’s Office of Investigation. Our review objective was to determine whether Pierce underwrote 46 loans in...

The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, Office of Inspector General audited Countrywide Bank, FSB (Countrywide),* a Federal Housing Administration (FHA) supervised 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 Countrywide based on its average default-to-claim rate of 6.76 percent for the FHA-...

The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), Office of Inspector General audited the 68 Federal Housing Administration (FHA) claims submitted by CitiMortgage, Inc., of O’Fallon, MO. Our audit objective was to determine whether Citi properly determined that borrowers were eligible to participate in the Preforeclosure Sale Program. We found that Citi improperly submitted claims totaling nearly $5 million for 63 of the 68...

We conducted a review to determine whether IndyMac Bank followed Federal Housing Administration (FHA) policies and procedures when it originated FHA-insured loans. We focused on loans secured by California properties and that were in claim or default status as of February 12, 2009. Within this group, we identified a set of questionable loans originated by IndyMac that had been generated by Beechwood Incorporated. Beechwood is a company...

We reviewed alleged violations of U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) Federal Housing Administration (FHA) loan origination requirements by the subject. We concluded that the subject falsely certified to the truthfulness and accuracy of documents and information in mortgage loan applications on FHA-insured loans. The Department of Justice filed a complaint under the Financial Institutions Reform, Recovery, and Enforcement...

We reviewed alleged violations of U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) Federal Housing Administration (FHA) loan origination requirements by the subject. We concluded that the subject made false statements on a mortgage loan application for one property, and falsely acted as the seller of a second property on behalf of another person. The Department of Justice filed a complaint under the Financial Institutions Reform,...

The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development – Office of Inspector General audited the Federal Housing Administration because we noted during previous audit work that FHA might not have a system in place to track lenders who voluntarily left the FHA program with outstanding indemnification agreements. Our objective was to determine whether FHA prevented corporate officers from participating in FHA programs after those officers left...

We audited AmericaHomeKey, Inc., a Federal Housing Administration (FHA) direct endorsement lender in Dallas, TX. We selected AmericaHomeKey for audit because during our review of Gold Financial Services (2011-FW-1002), an AmericaHomeKey branch office, we identified three loans originated by one of its underwriters that contained underwriting and valuation deficiencies. Our objective was to determine whether AmericaHomeKey originated...

We audited the Federal Housing Administration (FHA)-insured loan process at Universal American Mortgage Company (lender) to determine whether the lender complied with U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) regulations, procedures, and instructions in the origination and quality control review of FHA-insured loans. The review was part of our efforts to improve the integrity of the single-family insurance programs. We selected...

We completed an audit of All American Home Mortgage Corp., a nonsupervised lender located in Brooklyn, NY. Our audit objectives were to determine whether All American officials (1) approved Federal Housing Administration (FHA)-insured loans in accordance with the requirements of the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD)-FHA, and (2) implemented a quality control plan in accordance with HUD-FHA requirements. All American...

HUD OIG conducted an evaluation of Home Equity Conversion Mortgage (HECM) Loan Payments Made After Death of Borrower. A HUD OIG query of the HUD Single Family Data Warehouse (SFDW) disclosed that servicers of home equity conversion mortgages  were making payments to borrowers after the borrowers’ date of death.  Therefore, the Inspections and Evaluations Division conducted a review to validate the HECM data and to determine whether...

We completed an audit of Ameritrust Mortgage Bankers, Inc., a nonsupervised lender* located in Lake Success. Our audit objectives were to determine whether Ameritrust officials (1) approved FHA-insured loans in accordance with the requirements of the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD)-FHA, and (2) implemented a quality control plan in accordance with HUD-FHA requirements. Ameritrust officials did not always approve FHA-...

We reviewed alleged violations of U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) real estate-owned (REO) owner-occupancy program requirements by the subject (name withheld for privacy reasons). We concluded that the subject failed to comply with the HUD REO program requirement that an individual who purchases a REO home during its initial offering period must be the owner-occupant of the purchased home for one full year. In April 2011...

The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s (HUD) Office of Inspector General audited Mountain States Mortgage Center to determine whether it underwrote insured loans in compliance with HUD requirements and whether its quality control plan met HUD requirements. Mountain States underwrote 41 loans that did not comply with FHA requirements. Of the 41 FHA-insured loans reviewed, one of the loans had a significant underwriting...