We audited Broward County’s Continuum of Care Program, which was awarded more than $21 million in the 2011 through 2013 grant years. The objectives were to determine whether Broward County (1) spent grant funds for eligible program activities and ensured that expenditures were sufficiently supported and (2) maintained sufficient documentation to support that the funding sources used to match the grant funds were eligible. Broward County...

We audited the State of Florida’s Community Development Block Grant Disaster Recovery (CDBG-DR) program because the State was awarded more than $107 million to recover from the 2008 natural disasters and to undertake activities and long-term strategies that focus on reducing future natural disasters.  Further, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), Office of Inspector General, had not audited the State since 2006....

We audited the City of New Orleans’ Community Development Block Grant Disaster Recovery (CDBG-DR) assistance funds awarded to the City as a result of damages caused by Hurricane Isaac.  Our objective was to determine whether the City maintained adequate procurement controls and financial management systems and administered its CDBG-DR funds in accordance with Federal guidelines, HUD regulations, and other requirements. We found that the...

In accordance with our annual audit plan to review public housing programs and based upon our regional risk analysis, we reviewed the Covington Housing Authority’s Section 8 Housing Choice Voucher program.  Our objective was to determine whether the Authority administered its program in accordance with U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) regulations and its administrative plan.  The Authority generally followed HUD’...

HUD OIG assisted the U.S. Attorney’s Office, Southern District of Florida, in the civil investigation of Group One Mortgage, Inc.  Group One’s principal place of business is located in Jupiter, FL.  Group One has participated in the FHA insurance program since 2004 and became a direct endorsement lender in 2005.  The direct endorsement program authorizes private-sector mortgage lenders to approve mortgage loans for FHA insurance...

We audited the Jefferson Parish’s Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) program as part of the Office of Inspector General’s annual audit plan to review Community Development funds.  The audit objective was to determine whether the Parish adequately supported and expended its program funds in accordance with Federal requirements. We found that the Parish did not always (1) have documentation to support program expenditures, (2) comply...

We audited EverBank’s Preforeclosure Sale Program because it had the highest Florida preforeclosure sale claims of all servicing lenders located in Florida and more than 50 percent of its Florida Federal Housing Administration (FHA) claims were from preforeclosure sales with more than $12.9 million paid from 2011 through 2013.  Our objective was to determine whether EverBank properly determined that mortgagors were eligible to participate...

We audited Miami-Dade County’s HOME Investment Partnerships Program.  The County was selected for review because (1) our audit plan included audits of HOME grantees; (2) the Miami U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), Office of Community Planning and Development, ranked the County as high risk in its 2012 and 2013 risk assessments; and (3) HUD’s Office of Inspector General (OIG) had not performed an audit of the County’s...

In accordance with our regional plan to review public housing programs and because of weaknesses identified by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), we reviewed the public housing programs of the South Landry Housing Authority, Grand Coteau, LA.  Our objective was to determine whether the Authority administered its HUD public housing programs in accordance with regulations and guidance. The Authority did not comply...

We performed an audit of the Boca Raton Housing Authority mainly to assess the validity of nine allegations made against the Authority.  The primary audit objective was to determine whether the Authority administered its Section 8 Housing Choice Voucher program tenant files in accordance with the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s regulations, specifically to verify the validity of the complaint. Four of the nine...

In accordance with our regional plan to review public housing programs and because of weaknesses identified during a prior audit by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), Office of the Inspector General (OIG), we reviewed the public housing programs of the Kenner Housing Authority in Kenner, LA.  Our overall objective was to determine whether the Authority administered its public housing programs in accordance with...

We audited the Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) program administered by Hillsborough County, FL, as part of the activities in our 2013 fiscal year annual audit plan.  We selected the County for review based on a complaint referral from the Office of Inspector General’s Office of Investigation on a public complaint alleging the County’s misuse of CDBG funds for the County’s cleanup events.  Our audit objective was to determine...

We audited the St. Charles Parish Housing Authority based upon our regional risk analysis and as part of our annual audit plan to review public housing agencies’ operations.  Our objective was to determine whether the Authority operated its Section 8 Housing Choice Voucher program in accordance with the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s (HUD’s) requirements and its administrative plan. The Authority did not operate its...

We conducted a review of Section 8 Housing Choice Voucher program payments made to Deandra Caison, a landlord, for a tenant residing in a property that Ms. Caison no longer owned.  Ms. Caison had sold the property to her brother but continued to receive housing assistance payments.  Between November 2007 and March 2010, Caison received $29,055 in housing assistance payments from the Orlando Housing Authority.  To resolve the...

In accordance with our regional plan to review public housing programs and because of weaknesses identified by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), we reviewed the public housing programs of the Colfax Housing Authority, Colfax, LA.  Our objective was to determine whether the Authority administered its HUD public housing programs in accordance with regulations and guidance. The Authority did not properly oversee its...

We audited the City of West Palm Beach’s HOME Investment Partnerships Program.  The City was selected for review because (1) our audit plan included audits of HOME grantees, (2) the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s (HUD) Miami Office of Community Planning and Development ranked the City as high risk in its 2012 risk assessment, and (3) the most recent HUD monitoring review in 2012 identified concerns with the City’s...

In accordance with our goal to review American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 funds, we reviewed the City of New Orleans’ Homelessness Prevention and Rapid Re-Housing Program.  Our objective was to determine whether the City had adequate financial and programmatic controls to meet Program requirements. The City did not have adequate financial and programmatic controls over its Program to ensure that it expended and reported funds in...

In accordance with our regional plan to review public housing programs and because of weaknesses identified by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), HUD’s Office of the Inspector General (OIG) reviewed the public housing programs of the Kenner Housing Authority in Kenner, LA.  Our overall objective was to determine whether the Authority administered its public housing programs in accordance with regulations and...

We audited Lighthouse Inn, an assisted living facility located in Pompano Beach, FL.  In April 2008, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) insured the $5.1 million mortgage on the property under Section 232 of the National Housing Act.  In September 2010, the facility defaulted on the mortgage loan.  Our overall audit objective was to determine whether the owner of Lighthouse Inn complied with the executed...

We reviewed the City of Apalachicola’s Small Cities Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) funded by the State of Florida for a marina improvements project in response to a hotline complaint.  The complaint was submitted to the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s (HUD) Office of Inspector General in a letter, dated June 29, 2012.  The objectives of the review were to determine whether the City’s CDBG grant application...