In accordance with our annual audit plan to review public housing programs and because of an anonymous complaint and issues identified by the San Antonio Office of Public Housing, we reviewed the Housing Authority of the City of Taylor, Taylor, TX.  Our objectives were to determine whether the Authority operated its public housing and related grant programs in accordance with the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s (HUD)...

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 Cornerstone Home Lending, formerly known as Cornerstone Mortgage Company.  We selected Cornerstone based upon a high default rate at Cornerstone’s Branch 87 in 2007 through 2009.  Our audit objectives were to determine whether Cornerstone (1) complied with HUD and Federal Housing Administration (FHA) regulations when originating and underwriting FHA-insured mortgages and (2) implemented a quality control plan that met...

At the request of the Director of the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s (HUD) Houston, TX, Office of Multifamily Housing Programs, we conducted a review of Yale Court Apartments (project).  Our objective was to determine whether the project owner used the project funds in accordance with its regulatory agreement and HUD regulations. The former owner used more than $3.5 million of the project funds for ineligible and...

In accordance with our regional plan to review public housing programs, we reviewed the Beaumont Housing Authority, Beaumont, TX.  Our objective was to determine whether the Authority’s controls over tenant and unit eligibility were sufficient to ensure that it administered its low-rent public housing and Housing Choice Voucher programs in accordance with U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) regulations and guidance....

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...

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 as part of our overall risk strategy to review smaller housing authorities, we reviewed the Housing Authority of the City of Beeville, TX.  Our objective was to determine whether the Authority operated its public housing and related grant programs in accordance with the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s (HUD) requirements.  However, we limited...

We audited the State of Texas’ Community Development Block Grant Disaster Recovery Program based on a hotline complaint, which alleged mismanagement of the Lower Rio Grande Valley Development Council’s Disaster Recovery housing program.  The complainant also made allegations concerning excessive home costs and ineligible homeowners.  Our audit objectives were to determine whether the State (1) ensured that the contractor limited the...

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...

In accordance with our regional plan to review public housing programs and because of a complaint received by our office, we reviewed the Housing Authority of the City of Nixon, Nixon, TX.  Our objective was to determine whether the Authority operated its public housing and related grant programs in accordance with the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s (HUD) requirements.  Specifically, we wanted to determine whether...

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...

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 regional plan to review public housing programs and because of weaknesses identified by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s (HUD) Office of Public Housing, we reviewed the Malakoff Housing Authority, Malakoff, TX.  Our objective was to determine whether the Authority’s controls were sufficient to ensure that it administered its HUD Public Housing programs in accordance with regulations and guidance...

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’s (HUD) Office of Public Housing, we reviewed the City of Brackettville Housing Authority, Brackettville, TX.  Our objective was to determine whether the Authority operated its public housing and related grant programs in accordance with HUD requirements.  The Authority’s...

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 completed an audit of the City of Eagle Pass Housing Authority’s (Authority) American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (Recovery Act) grant activities. The Authority was selected based on the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s (HUD), Office of the Inspector General’s (OIG)  annual plan to conduct oversight of the Recovery Act funds provided to public housing agencies and our regional risk evaluation.  Our audit...

We audited the Harris County Housing Authority, Houston, TX, at the request of the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s (HUD) Fort Worth Office Director of Public and Indian Housing.  The request followed a series of news articles alleging mismanagement and extravagant spending at the Authority, the removal or replacement of various former managers and board of commissioners members, and concerns expressed by the new managers...

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...

We audited the City of Sarasota because it was awarded $23 million in Neighborhood Stabilization Program 2 (NSP2) funds and it was in accordance with our audit plan to review funds provided under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009. Our objective was to determine whether the City administered its NSP2 in accordance with applicable Federal requirements. Specifically, we wanted to determine whether (1) approved activities met a...