The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, Office of Inspector General reviewed the allegations contained in a hotline complaint against CARE Housing, Inc., Fort Collins, CO, to determine whether CARE accurately represented itself as an eligible community housing development organization (CHDO) and whether it used its grant funds for the Provincetowne project in accordance with applicable rules and regulations.  We found no...

We completed the 17th audit report in our ongoing review of the Lower Manhattan Development Corporation’s (LMDC) 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, 2011 through March 31, 2012, LMDC...

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

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 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 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 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 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 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...

The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), Office of Inspector General (OIG), assisted the U.S. Attorney’s Office, Southern District of New York, in conducting a review of MortgageIT, Inc. MortgageIT is a residential mortgage banking company headquartered in New York City, NY. Originally founded in 1988, MortgageIT was acquired by Deutsche Bank in 2007, and was a HUD-approved Title II nonsupervised mortgage company. Its home...

We completed a review of the New York City Housing Authority’s use of Federal funds. We selected this auditee based on a hotline complaint, case number HL-2011-0705, which alleged a pattern of waste, overspending, and abuse by the Authority. Specifically, the complaint alleged that the Authority (1) froze its Section 8 vouchers due to lack of available funds, (2) overpaid at least one housing manager with an annual salary of $187,000, (3) paid...

The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s (HUD) Office of Inspector General reviewed the Aurora Housing Authority to determine whether the Authority obligated its funds by the deadline, adequately managed its procurements and contracts, and accurately reported its Recovery Act information in FederalReporting.gov. We determined that the Authority did not obligate $22,018 of its Recovery Act funds by the March 17, 2010, deadline,...

The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), Office of Inspector General, audited the Colorado Coalition for the Homeless in response to a hotline complaint. The complaint contained allegations regarding control weaknesses, resulting in noncompliance with Homelessness Prevention and Rapid Re-Housing Program (HPRP) requirements. The objective of our review was to determine whether the allegations of weaknesses in the Coalition’s...

We audited the City of Syracuse, NY, pertaining to its Economic Development Initiative (EDI)-Special Project grants. The audit objective was to determine whether City officials were administering EDI Special Project grants effectively, efficiently, and economically in accordance with applicable rules and regulations. Specifically, we wanted to determine whether City officials expended EDI funds for eligible activities that were fully supported...

We completed an audit of the City of Buffalo, NY (City) pertaining to its administration of its supplemental Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) program funded under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009. We selected the City based on concerns identified in our completed audit of the City’s CDBG program, Audit Report Number 2011-NY-1010 issued April 15, 2011. Our audit objectives were to determine whether the City...

We audited the operations of the City of Syracuse, NY, pertaining to its Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) program. The objectives of the audit were to determine whether the City administered its CDBG program effectively, efficiently, and economically in accordance with applicable rules and regulations. Specifically, we wanted to determine whether City officials had (1) established and implemented the necessary controls to ensure that...