We performed an audit of PrimeLending, A PlainsCaptial Company, located in Dallas, TX, a Federal Housing Administration (FHA) direct endorsement lender. We selected PrimeLending for audit because of its high default rate in the Houston, Dallas, and Fort Worth, TX, offices as compared to the average default rate for all FHA loans in those offices. Our objective was to determine whether PrimeLending complied with U. S. Department of Housing and...

We audited the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s (HUD) oversight of its Home Equity Conversion Mortgage (HECM) program based on our annual audit plan and our strategic goal to improve the integrity of HUD’s single-family programs. This is the first of two reports that we plan to issue on HUD’s oversight of the program. Our objective was to determine whether HUD’s controls effectively ensured that HECM loan borrowers complied...

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...

We audited the Second Northwest Cooperative Homes Association’s administration of the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s (HUD) Section 236 program based on a hotline complaint. Our audit objective was to determine if the Association properly identified and remitted excess income to HUD according to its regulatory agreement and whether it hired staff according to applicable HUD regulations. We found that the Association did not...

The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), Office of Inspector General audited John Calvin Manor of Lee’s Summit, MO, in response to a request from HUD’s Office of Multifamily Housing in Kansas City, KS. Our audit objective was to determine whether the property violated its regulatory and loan agreement with HUD. The property violated its regulatory and loan agreements with HUD by improperly spending restricted funds,...

We audited the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s (HUD) monitoring of its Multifamily Accelerated Processing program lenders. The audit was performed based on a hotline complaint and the Office of Inspector General’s annual audit and strategic plan to help HUD improve its fiscal responsibilities. The objective of the audit was to determine whether HUD adequately approved and selected program lenders to monitor. HUD generally...

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...

The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), Office of Inspector General, audited Five Star based upon a request from the HUD Denver Office of Multifamily Housing. The objective of our audit was to determine whether Five Star submitted the required monthly accounting and Section 236 excess income reports to HUD. Five Star did not submit required monthly accounting reports and Section 236 excess income reports to HUD. It...

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 the Office of Healthy Homes and Lead Hazard Control’s monitoring of its American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 grant recipients. The audit was part of the activities in our fiscal year 2011 annual audit plan. We selected Healthy Homes for audit based upon an internal audit suggestion regarding Healthy Homes’ monitoring of its grant recipients...

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 audited the Office of Sustainable Housing and Communities’ implementation of the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s (HUD) partnership with the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) to coordinate Federal weatherization efforts nationwide. This audit was part of our fiscal year 2010 audit plan. Our objective was to determine whether HUD multifamily properties were eligible to receive American Recovery and Reinvestment Act funding...

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,...