We reviewed the County of Santa Barbara’s HOME Investment Partnerships program due to concerns expressed by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s (HUD) Los Angeles Office of Community Planning and Development regarding the County’s administration of its HOME program.  Our objective was to determine whether the County performed its monitoring responsibilities and ensured that incurred HOME program expenditures were eligible...

We audited the City of Santa Ana’s Neighborhood Stabilization Program 2 (NSP2).  We initiated the audit as part of the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), Office of Inspector General’s (OIG) fiscal year 2012-2013 annual audit plan.  Our objective was to determine whether the City administered its program funds in accordance with applicable HUD rules and requirements.  Specifically, our focus was to determine...

We reviewed alleged violations of U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) requirements.  The alleged violations related to fraudulent expense reimbursements sought and received by a contractor from CDBG funds.  The Department of Justice filed a complaint under the False Claims Act and in February 2013 reached a settlement with the subject.  The subject acknowledged and...

We completed a review of Nassau County, NY Office of Community Development’s administration of its HOME Investment Partnerships Program. We selected this auditee based on a risk assessment conducted by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s (HUD) New York City Office of Community Planning and Development. The objectives of the audit were to determine whether the County committed and obligated HOME funds in a timely...

We reviewed the City of San Bernardino’s Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) and CDBG-Recovery Act (CDBG-R) programs because the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s (HUD) Los Angeles Office of Community Planning and Development expressed concerns about the City’s administration of its CDBG program. Our objective was to determine whether the City administered its CDBG and CDBG-R program funds in accordance with applicable HUD...

We audited Bay Vista Methodist Heights, San Diego, CA, to determine the full extent of the misuse of its trust funds. We selected Bay Vista for review based on a referral from the Office of Multifamily Housing, stating that Bay Vista violated its trust fund agreement with the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) because the former chief financial officer transferred more than $3 million in restricted funds into Bay Vista’s...

We completed a corrective action verification of a recommendation made to the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s (HUD) Office of Public and Indian Housing (PIH) pertaining to our review of the City of Hawthorne, CA’s Section 8 program, Audit Report 2011-LA-1008, which was issued March 28, 2011. The purpose of the corrective action verification was to determine whether HUD officials appropriately closed audit recommendation 1A....

We audited the City of Albany, NY’s administration of its supplemental Community Development Block Grant program funded under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (CDBG-R). The objectives were to determine whether the City administered its CDBG-R program effectively, efficiently, and economically in accordance with applicable rules and regulations, including the Recovery Act, and other U.S. Department of Housing and Urban...

We conducted a limited review of Federal Housing Administration (FHA) loans underwritten by Standard Pacific Mortgage, Inc. We selected the lender based on the results of an auditability survey, which determined that Standard Pacific Mortgage allowed prohibited restrictive covenants to be filed against FHA-insured properties. The objective of our review was to determine the extent to which Standard Pacific Mortgage failed to prevent the...

We completed a review of Deutsche Bank’s Job Creation and Retention Program (JCRP) grant. We selected this auditee based on a hotline complaint, case number HL-2012-0199, that was referred from the United States Government Accountability, FraudNet control number 58392, received on November 23, 2011. The complaint alleged that Deutsche Bank officials fraudulently received a $34.5 million JCRP grant under the guise that they would maintain 5,500...

We reviewed the City of Inglewood’s HOME Investment Partnerships Program. We initiated the review because of the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s (HUD) Los Angeles Office of Community Planning and Development’s expressed concerns about the City’s administration of its program funds. Our objective was to determine whether the City complied with HOME rules and requirements for obligations, commitments, expenditures, program...

We completed a review of the Village of Spring Valley, NY, a subrecipient of Rockland County, NY. We selected this auditee based on a hotline complaint that was referred from the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) OIG, Complaint Number Z-12-0445-1, received on February 14, 2012. The complaint alleged that the Village (1) used eminent domain and Federal funds to seize property, (2) transferred ownership of properties to a developer to be...

We conducted a limited review of Federal Housing Administration (FHA) loans underwritten by Shea Mortgage, Inc. We selected the lender based on the results of an auditability survey, which determined that Shea Mortgage allowed prohibited restrictive covenants to be filed against FHA-insured properties. The objective of our review was to determine the extent to which Shea Mortgage failed to prevent the recording of prohibited restrictive...

The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, Office of Inspector General (OIG) conducted a civil fraud review of an alleged foreclosure rescue scheme operated by Terrill L. Meisinger of Seal Beach, CA. The alleged scheme involved more than 100 properties in three States that were financed through Federal Housing Administration (FHA) and conventional loans and allegedly defrauded distressed homeowners, renters, and lenders. Based on...

We conducted an audit of the City of Long Beach because it was awarded more than $22.2 million in Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 Neighborhood Stabilization Program 2 (NSP2) funds on February 11, 2010 as the lead agency in a consortium with Habitat for Humanity of Greater Los Angeles (Habitat), making it one of the largest NSP2 fund recipients in the Los Angeles area. Our objective was to determine whether the City of Long Beach...

We completed a corrective action verification of the recommendations made to the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s (HUD) Office of Community Planning and Development (CPD) pertaining to our review of The City of Newburgh, NY’s Section 108 Loan Guarantee program, Audit Report 2009-NY-1001, which was issued November 7, 2008. The purpose of the corrective action verification was to determine whether the audit recommendations...

We audited loans originated by Bankers Mortgage Group, Woodland Hills, CA, in response to a referral from the Office of Inspector General’s (OIG) Office of Investigation alleging that Bankers Mortgage Group originated loans with false documentation. Our objective was to determine whether the lender originated FHA-insured loans using sufficient, reliable, and valid documentation. Bankers Mortgage Group did not originate loans using sufficient...

We audited the Buffalo Municipal Housing Authority’s Public Housing Capital Fund Stimulus (Formula) program funded under the Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 based on an Office of Inspector General risk analysis and the amount of funding the Authority received. The objectives of the audit were to determine whether Authority officials (1) procured contracts in accordance with U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD)...

We completed a review of the Oakland Housing Authority in response to a hotline complaint alleging that the Authority engaged in various questionable functions involving its inspection services. The objective of the review was to determine whether the complaint allegations against the Authority were valid. Most of the allegations against the Authority were generally not valid. However, we found indications that 13 of the 19 housing units...

We completed the 16th audit report in our ongoing review of the Lower Manhattan Development Corporation’s administration of the $2.783 billion in Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) Disaster Recovery Assistance funds awarded to the State of New York in the aftermath of the September 11, 2011, terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center in New York City. During the audit period, April 1, 2010 through March 31, 2011, LMDC disbursed...