We reviewed the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s (HUD) approval of the Lexington-Fayette Urban County Housing Authority’s Moving to Work (MTW) Demonstration plan and capital funds drawdowns.  The review was performed based on risk indicators identified during audits of the Authority’s Rental Assistance Demonstration Program (RAD) conversion and its Section 8 Housing Choice Voucher Program.  The objective was to...

We audited the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s (HUD) oversight of its Family Self-Sufficiency (FSS) program.  We conducted the audit as part of our annual audit plan.  Our objective was to determine whether HUD provided adequate oversight of its program. HUD did not provide adequate oversight of its FSS program.  Specifically, HUD did not ensure that grantees (1) always had action plans that complied with...

We audited the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s (HUD) Real Estate Assessment Center’s (REAC) inspections process.  We initiated this audit in accordance with our annual audit plan.  Our objective was to determine whether REAC had adequate processes for and controls over the certification and monitoring of contracted inspectors and its public housing units’ physical inspections processes. We found that REAC could...

We audited the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), Section 184 Indian Home Loan Guarantee program based on a Senate Appropriations Committee request to review the management and oversight of the program.  OIG had previously audited the Section 184 program in 2015 (audit report 2015-LA-0002) and determined that the Office of Loan Guarantee (OLG) did not provide adequate oversight of the program.  The objective of...

We audited the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s (HUD) Office of Native American Programs’ Indian Housing Block Grant program.  We selected the program based on concerns as to whether grantees invested, obligated, and spent program funds within the required period.  Our audit objective was to determine whether HUD’s Office of Native American Programs ensured that grantees invested, obligated, and spent program funds...

This report reviewed the Office of Native American Programs – Office of Loan Guarantee’s (OLG) Section 184 program to determine whether its IT systems enabled effective management and oversight of the program. We found HUD had not successfully deployed an information technology (IT) system that enabled effective management and appropriate oversight of all Indian Home Loan Guarantee Program (Section 184 program) processes.  Multiple IT...

HUD had been aware of negative conditions at Alexander County Housing Authority (ACHA) since at least 2010.  HUD identified issues with ACHA’s governance, including the misuse of funds, conflicts of interest, and a failure to comply with HUD policies and Federal civil rights laws.  Further, about 200 children and their families lived in units with peeling paint; graffiti; pest infestations; and other health and safety hazards, such as...

We audited the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s (HUD) oversight of lead-based paint reporting and remediation in its public housing and Housing Choice Voucher programs.  The audit was part of the activities in our fiscal year 2017 annual audit plan.  The audit objective was to determine whether HUD had adequate oversight of lead‐based paint reporting and remediation in its public housing and Housing Choice Voucher...

We audited the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s (HUD) Office of Native American Programs’ Indian Housing Block Grant program.  We selected the program based on the results of a previous audit (audit report 2017-LA-1007) and concerns about the accuracy and completeness of tribal enrollment numbers that HUD used to allocate program funds to eligible Native American grantees.  Our audit objective was to determine...

The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) Office of Inspector General (OIG) reviewed concerns from a complaint within HUD regarding the physical condition of HUD-insured residential care facilities (RCF).  This review is part of an ongoing effort of the Office of Inspector General (OIG).  At least 10 RCFs had received a score below 31 out of a possible 100 on their most recent Real Estate Assessment Center (...

While working with the U.S Department of Housing and Urban Development’s (HUD) Office of Program Enforcement, we noted that the Office of Public Housing did not clearly identify the certifications that public housing agencies were making in the Application for Federal Assistance, SF (standard form)-424.  As a result, we reviewed the guidance concerning the Application, with an objective to determine whether the Office of Public Housing...

Very low REAC scores are not prevalent across ORCF’s portfolio.  The majority of RCFs that received a REAC score scored at least 80 on their last inspection, and more than three quarters scored at least 60.  Despite the small percentage of RCFs that scored below 31, we noticed an overall decline in REAC inspection scores across ORCF’s portfolio from 2000 to 2016. REAC has adopted an inspection process that applies uniformly to all...

The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), Office of Inspector General audited public housing agency compliance with HUD’s flat rent requirements.  We initiated this audit based on multiple external audits conducted by the HUD Office of Inspector General, which showed that housing authorities were unaware of or did not properly implement the flat rent requirements.  Our objective was to determine whether housing...

We audited the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s (HUD) required conversion program activities to determine whether HUD ensured that public housing agencies (PHA) properly evaluated their distressed units and converted them to tenant-based rental assistance programs.  We selected this program for review based on an approved internal audit suggestion in our annual audit plan.  Our audit objective was to determine...

Twenty-two Promise Zones were selected through three rounds of national competition. The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), oversees 14 urban Promise Zones, and the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) oversees 8 rural and tribal Promise Zones. The Office of Management and Budget (OMB) tasked HUD and USDA to lead the Promise Zone initiative and play essential roles in gathering information about progress in Promise Zones...

This report was revised on March 30, 2017 to change the cost type for recommendation 1A on pages 8 and 13 from unreasonable or unnecessary to funds to be put to better use. This change is needed to align the report language with the terminology used by HUD’s audit tracking system. The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), Office of Inspector General, audited HUD’s Office of Public and Indian...

We audited the calculation process for Public Housing Operating Fund subsidies awarded to public housing agencies (PHA).  We initiated this review based on an internal audit suggestion, which was included in our annual audit plan.  The objective of the audit was to determine whether the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) verified Operating Fund calculations to ensure that PHAs received the correct amounts and...

We audited the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s (HUD) oversight of public housing agencies’ declarations of trust.  The audit was part of the activities in our fiscal year 2015 annual audit plan.  Our audit objective was to determine whether HUD had adequate oversight of public housing agencies’ compliance with its declaration of trust requirements. HUD did not always ensure that public housing agencies maintained...

We audited the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s (HUD) Rental Assistance Demonstration.  We initiated the audit under the HUD Office of Inspector General’s annual audit plan.  Our objective was to determine whether HUD had adequate controls over the Demonstration, to include (1) an appropriate completion of a risk assessment that adequately evaluated the following risks: (a) the need for additional administrative...

We reviewed the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s (HUD) oversight of the Chicago Housing Authority’s Moving to Work program based on a congressional request from former Congressman Aaron Schock and media attention regarding the Authority’s exception payment standards.  Our objective was to determine whether HUD provided adequate oversight of the Authority’s Moving to Work exception payment standards. HUD’s Office of Public...