The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), Office of Inspector General (OIG), conducted an investigation of Mason-McDuffie Mortgage Corporation to determine whether it violated HUD requirements when underwriting loans insured by the Federal Housing Administration (FHA).  Mason-McDuffie was approved on September 1, 2005, as an FHA mortgage lender, and its principal place of business is located in San Ramon, CA.  FHA is...

Due to concerns identified by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s (HUD) Office of Community Planning and Development (CPD), we completed a limited scope, spinoff audit of Veterans First and reviewed additional grants not covered in our original audit (2015-LA-1002, issued April16, 2015).  CPD was concerned that HUD funds for two additional grants not reviewed in the first audit were used to cover shortfalls in Veterans...

We audited the Fresno Housing Authority due to a complaint alleging that the Authority steered contracts, did not seek competition for all of its required procurements, and did not maintain adequate supporting documentation.  The objective of the audit was to determine whether the Authority used its operating and capital funds in accordance with U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) requirements when procuring goods and...

We audited the City of West Covina’s Community Development Block Grant program because of a news article 1  raising concerns about the City’s financial policies and past spending practices that included the mismanagement of funds.  The review was also the first time that the Office of Inspector General had conducted a review of the City.  Our objective was to determine whether the City administered its program in accordance with...

We audited the Housing Authority of the County of San Bernardino’s Shelter Plus Care program due to a public complaint alleging that the Authority disregarded U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) program requirements related to participants’ eligibility.  Our objective was to determine whether the Authority administered its program funds in accordance with HUD rules and requirements, specifically related to participants’...

We audited Sutton Irvine Residence, Inc.’s Section 202-funded project based on concerns expressed by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s (HUD) Office of General Counsel, Departmental Enforcement Center, regarding the management of the project.  The concern was that Sutton Irvine had defaulted on its mortgage payments to HUD and may have diverted project funds for nonproject expenses.  Our audit objective was to...

We audited Veterans First’s Supportive Housing Program (SHP) based on a referral from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), Office of Inspector General’s Office of Investigation and a hotline complaint, alleging that Veterans First employees were directed to prepare false accounting documents.  Our objective was to determine whether expenditures Veterans First charged to its SHP grants and program fees it charged to...

The U. S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), Office of Inspector General (OIG), conducted a limited review of the Oakland Housing Authority’s Moving to Work Housing Choice Voucher program’s use of exception payment standards exceeding the Authority’s 110 percent limit on fair market rents.  The review was initiated as a result of a congressional request alleging fraud, waste, and abuse by public housing agencies...

We audited New Image Emergency Shelter’s Housing Opportunities for Persons With AIDS (HOPWA) program based on a referral from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, Office of Inspector General’s (HUD OIG) Office of Investigation and a citizen complaint, alleging that New Image lacked adequate documentation to support program expenditures and employee salaries. Our objective was to determine whether New Image administered and...

We audited the Office of the Commissioner for Municipal Affairs’ Section 108 Loan Guarantee program as part of our strategic plan and based on the deficiencies noted during our recent review of Municipal Affairs’ Section 108 Loan Guarantee program, concerning the slow progress of the Vieques Sports Complex project (Audit memorandum number 2014-AT-1801, issued March 20, 2014).  The objectives of the audit were to determine whether Section...

We initiated a review of the City of Los Angeles’ Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) program due to concerns that CDBG-funded assets may be at risk.  We performed our review to address questionable costs identified during a prior Office of Inspector General review (audit report 2014-LA-0001).  Our objective was to determine whether the City maintained the required documentation for its CDBG-funded projects to support its vested...

We audited the City of Pomona’s Neighborhood Stabilization Programs (NSP1 and NSP3).  We initiated the audit because of a hotline complaint with concerns regarding the administration of program funds.  Our objective was to determine whether the City administered its NSP funds in accordance with applicable U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) rules and requirements.  Specifically, we wanted to determine whether...

We assisted the U.S. Attorney’s Office of the Northern District of California in the civil investigation of Reunion Mortgage, Inc. (Reunion).  Reunion is a former Federal Housing Administration (FHA)-approved mortgage lender, with its principal place of business located in Milpitas, CA.  Based in large part on our review of loans underwritten by Reunion between December 2007 through October 2009, the U.S. Attorney’s Office filed a...

We conducted a civil fraud review of an alleged loan origination fraud scheme involving a loan officer that assisted a borrower to purchase a home under the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), Federal Housing Administration (FHA) program.  The alleged scheme involved submitting a false loan application and other documentation to obtain an FHA-insured loan on a home in Brentwood, CA.  Based in part on OIG’s review,...

We reviewed HUD’s San Juan, PR, Office of Community Planning and Development’s monitoring of the Vieques, PR, Sports City Complex project.  The review was performed based on indicators identified in the audit of the Vieques Sports City Complex, Office of the Commissioner for Municipal Affairs’ (OCMA) Puerto Rico State Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) Section 108 Loan Guarantee program.  More than 11 years had elapsed since HUD...

We audited the City of Richmond’s Neighborhood Stabilization Program 1 (NSP1) in response to HUD Office of Community Planning and Development’s concerns over the City’s management of its NSP1.  Our objective was to determine whether the City administered its NSP1 in accordance with requirements related to procurement and cost eligibility. The City did not administer its NSP1 in accordance with requirements related to procurement and cost...

We reviewed an alleged loan origination fraud scheme involving a borrower purchasing a home in which the loan was insured under the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), Federal Housing Administration (FHA) program.  The alleged scheme involved submitting a false loan application to obtain an FHA-insured loan on a home in Brentwood, CA.  Based in part on our review, HUD filed a complaint against the borrower under...

We audited the Municipality of Carolina’s HOME Investment Partnerships Program as part of our strategic plan, based on the amount of HOME funds approved.  The objectives of the audit were to determine whether HOME-funded activities met program objectives, home buyers complied with HOME’s primary residency requirement for the duration of the period of affordability, and the Municipality maintained a financial management system in compliance...

We reviewed the developer fees the County of San Bernardino paid to its Neighborhood Stabilization Program (NSP) developers.  Our objective was to determine whether the County adequately ensured that NSP developer fees paid to its developers met HUD requirements.  We performed our review to address questionable costs identified during a prior Office of Inspector General (OIG) review (audit report 2014-LA-0002).  During that...

We audited the Office of the Commissioner for Municipal Affairs’ (OCMA) Puerto Rico State Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) Section 108 Loan Guarantee program as part of our strategic plan, based on concerns regarding the slow progress of the Vieques sports complex project.  The objective of this audit was to determine whether OCMA used Section 108 loan proceeds on a project that met a national objective of the CDBG program and...