We audited the Pell City and Ragland Housing Authorities’ financial operations.  We began our review of Pell City and Ragland because it aligns with a goal in our annual audit plan to improve the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s (HUD) execution of and accountability for grant funds.  Our audit objective was to determine whether the Pell City Housing Authority complied with HUD’s regulations regarding the management...

On April 17, 2018, the Office of Program Enforcement issued a letter stating that it had reached a resolution under a Program Fraud Civil Remedies Act of 1986[1] case regarding Summit Bradford Apartments located in Tulsa, OK, following its review.  The Government alleged that the owner submitted 40 false claims under the Act.  The Office of Program Enforcement included with its letter the March 28, 2018, settlement agreement with BSR...

We audited the City of Birmingham, AL’s Community Development Block Grant Disaster Recovery (CDBG-DR) grant.  We selected the City for review based on concerns by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s (HUD) Birmingham Office of Community Planning and Development in regard to the City’s administration of its disaster recovery program.  Our audit objectives were to determine whether the City ensured that (1)...

We audited the Housing Authority of the City of Tulsa’s administration of its Section 8 program.  We selected the Authority based on reports generated by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s (HUD) Enterprise Income Verification system (EIV).  The Authority had indicators of noncompliance with program requirements.  Specifically, EIV reported an annualized income discrepancy of more than $1.6 million for 328...

We audited the City of Tuscaloosa, Alabama’s Community Development Block Grant Disaster Recovery (CDBG-DR) grant.  We selected the City for review because it was allocated more than $43 million in funding to recover from the tornadoes of April 2011.  Our audit objective was to determine whether the City of Tuscaloosa (1) ensured that only eligible projects were selected into the program, (2) ensured that funds were expended only for...

We audited the State of Oklahoma because it received $93.7 million in Community Development Block Grant Disaster Recovery (CDBG-DR) allocations for presidentially declared disasters that occurred in 2011, 2012, and 2013.  The substantial amount of CDBG-DR funding required a review of the State’s program.  Our objective was to determine whether the State obligated and spent its grant in accordance with requirements.  The State...

The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), Office of Inspector General (OIG), assisted the U.S. Department of Justice, Washington, DC, and the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Middle District of Florida in a civil investigation of Regions Bank.  Regions Bank has its principal place of business in Birmingham, AL, and became a Federal Housing Administration (FHA)-approved direct endorsement lender in 1985.  As a direct...

The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), Office of Inspector General audited the Wyoming Community Development Authority of Casper, WY, for calendar years 2012-2015.  The audit was initiated based on concerns received from U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) officials from the Office of Community Planning and Development program staff in Denver, CO.  The objectives of the audit were to determine...

The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), Office of Inspector General audited the Evanston Wyoming Housing Authority’s public and Indian housing program funds for calendar years 2013-2015.  We initiated this audit in response to a hotline complaint.  The complaint alleged that the Authority used its purchase cards and laundry machine program income to pay for personal expenses, such as remodeling of staff members’...

We audited the Mobile Housing Board’s financial operations.  We selected the Housing Board based on concerns from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s (HUD) Alabama State Office of Public Housing, following a Real Estate Assessment Center (REAC) financial assessment of the Housing Board for fiscal years 2009 to 2013.  The REAC assessment showed that the Housing Board’s financial condition had deteriorated over those...

We audited the Muscogee (Creek) Nation’s use of U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) funds in accordance with the Office of Inspector General’s goal to ensure the integrity and soundness of HUD’s Public and Indian Housing programs and to follow up on weaknesses identified in other reviews.  The audit objective was to determine whether the Nation complied with HUD requirements when it housed families and procured contracts...

We audited the Huntsville Housing Authority’s Section 8 Housing Choice Voucher program.  We initiated the audit under the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), Office of Inspector General’s (OIG) annual audit plan.  We selected the Authority as part of a strategic plan with the Assistant United States Attorney in Northern Alabama to evaluate housing authorities in her jurisdiction.  Our audit objective was to...

We audited the State of Alabama’s Department of Economic and Community Affairs’ Community Development Block Grant Disaster Recovery (CDBG-DR) grant.  We selected the State for review because it was awarded more than $49 million in funding to recover from the tornadoes of April 2011.  Our audit objective was to determine whether the State administered its CDBG-DR funds used for infrastructure to ensure that only eligible applicants...

We reviewed the City of Moore, OK, because it received $52.2 million in Community Development Block Grant Disaster Recovery (CDBG-DR) funding in response to the tornado that struck Moore on May 20, 2013.  Further, the City only recently became a CDBG entitlement grantee, and there was a substantial increase between its regular CDBG funding and its CDBG-DR funding.  Also, our annual audit plan placed a priority on reviewing entities...

The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), Office of Inspector General audited the State of Wyoming’s Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) program run by the Wyoming Business Council.  Our audit objective was to determine whether the State reimbursed only approved costs, its grant agreements contained all required language, it properly monitored its projects, and it ensured that projects met the national objective in...

We audited PK Management, LLC, a management agent of four apartment complexes in the Birmingham, AL, metropolitan area.  We initiated the review based on a request from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s (HUD) Birmingham Office of Multifamily Housing Programs.  Our audit objective was to determine whether the Section 8 housing assistance payments made to PK Management for the four multifamily complexes were...

The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), Office of Inspector General audited the Wyoming Housing Opportunities Association (Association) based on information obtained during a separate audit of the Wyoming Community Development Authority (State Finance Agency), which indicated that 51 Federal Housing Administration (FHA) mortgages with the same borrower had defaulted.  The purpose of our audit was to determine whether...

We audited the City of Huntsville’s Community Development Department, which administers the Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) and HOME Investment Partnerships Program, at the request of the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s (HUD) Alabama Office of Community Planning and Development.  Our objectives were to determine whether the Department’s commitment to use CDBG and HOME funds for the acquisition and rehabilitation...

We audited the Section 8 program administered by Summit Bradford Apartments in Tulsa, OK.  We selected Bradford because we were informed that its management agent may have received Section 8 subsidies for vacant units.  Our objective was to determine whether Summit Bradford Apartments, LP, the owner, and Summit Housing Partners, LLC, the management agent, administered Bradford’s Section 8 program in compliance with its housing...

We reviewed the administration of the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s (HUD) Loss Mitigation Program at the Wyoming Community Development Authority, located in Casper, WY.  Our objective was to determine whether the Authority properly administered HUD’s Loss Mitigation Program for Federal Housing Administration (FHA)-insured mortgages.  We selected the Authority based on its high rate of foreclosure claims.  Its...