We audited the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s (HUD) Kansas City, KS, Office of Public Housing as part of a nationwide audit of HUD’s oversight of environmental reviews. We selected the Kansas City Office based on our risk assessment. Our audit objectives were to determine whether the Kansas City Office ensured that (1) the responsible entities or the Kansas City Office performed the required reviews and (2) HUD did not...

The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), Office of Inspector General, audited the City of Kansas City, MO’s Neighborhood Stabilization Program I (NSP I) based on previous problems in the City’s Community Development Block Grant program and the amount of funding it received.  During fiscal year 2008, the City received more than $7.3 million in NSP1 funding.  Our audit objectives were to determine whether the City...

The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development – Office of Inspector General selected the City of Joplin, MO’s Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) Disaster Recovery program for audit because the City was awarded more than $45 million in CDBG Disaster Recovery funds in April 2012 and an additional $113 million in May 2013.  In addition, we had not audited the City’s activities for at least 10 years.  Our audit objective was...

The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), Office of Inspector General completed an audit of Windridge Apartments in Wichita, Kansas.  We selected Windridge Apartments based on a referral from the Region 7 Office of Multifamily Housing due to high tenant receivables and excessive travel expenses.  Our audit objectives were to determine whether Windridge Apartment Associates, L.P., (1) followed HUD rules and...

The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s (HUD), Office of Inspector General audited The Temtor, a residential and commercial development in St. Louis MO.  We selected The Temtor for audit because the project quickly defaulted on its mortgage and requested a partial payment of claim.  The project reached final endorsement on January 30, 2012, and failed to make timely mortgage payments beginning March 1, 2012.  Our...

The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s (HUD), Office of Inspector General reviewed the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 Community Development Block Grant (CDBG-R) Program of the City of St. Louis, MO. Our audit objectives were to determine whether the City complied with applicable Recovery Act requirements for CDBG-R funds and properly reported its Recovery Act activities. We found that the City did not comply with...

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 CitiMortgage, Inc. CitiMortgage is a direct subsidiary of Citibank, N.A., and Citibank is an indirect subsidiary of Citigroup. CitiMortgage is based in O’Fallon, MO. The review began due to a qui tam filing in the U.S. District Court for the Southern...

The U. S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), Office of Inspector General audited the Wichita, KS, Housing Authority’s Housing Choice Voucher program. We selected the Authority for review because it received more than $12 million in Section 8 funding in both 2011 and 2010. Also, it is one of the largest housing authorities in Kansas and had not been reviewed by HUD OIG. Our audit objective was to determine whether the Authority...

The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), Office of Inspector General audited the Manhattan, KS Housing Authority’s administration of its Recovery Act capital fund grants. Our objectives were to determine whether the Authority executed a contract change order in compliance with HUD procurement regulations and the Authority’s procurement policy and accurately and completely reported Recovery Act grant information in...

The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), Office of Inspector General audited the Topeka, KS Housing Authority’s administration of its Recovery Act competitive capital fund grants. We selected the Authority for review because it spent a large amount of Recovery Act funds. Our objectives were to determine whether the Authority expended Recovery Act grant funds in accordance with Recovery Act requirements and applicable HUD...

As part of the Office of Inspector General’s (OIG) nationwide effort to review the foreclosure practices of the five largest Federal Housing Administration (FHA) mortgage servicers (Bank of America, Wells Fargo Bank, CitiMortgage, JP Morgan Chase, and Ally Financial, Incorporated) we reviewed CitiMortgage’s foreclosure and claims processes. In addition to this memorandum, OIG issued separate memorandums for each of the other four reviews. OIG...

The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), Office of Inspector General audited John Calvin Manor of Lee’s Summit, MO, in response to a request from HUD’s Office of Multifamily Housing in Kansas City, KS. Our audit objective was to determine whether the property violated its regulatory and loan agreement with HUD. The property violated its regulatory and loan agreements with HUD by improperly spending restricted funds,...

The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), Office of Inspector General audited the 68 Federal Housing Administration (FHA) claims submitted by CitiMortgage, Inc., of O’Fallon, MO. Our audit objective was to determine whether Citi properly determined that borrowers were eligible to participate in the Preforeclosure Sale Program. We found that Citi improperly submitted claims totaling nearly $5 million for 63 of the 68...

The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), Office of Inspector General audited the Housing Authority of the City of Mountain Grove, MO in response to a citizen’s complaint received by our office. Our objective was to determine whether the Authority complied with contract procurement regulations and properly disposed of property assets. The Authority did not comply with HUD procurement regulations or its own procurement...

The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), Office of Inspector General audited HUD’s Region VII Office of Community Planning and Development (CPD) to determine whether it complied with HUD’s monitoring requirements for Recovery Act recipients. The Region VII CPD office complied with HUD’s monitoring requirements for Recovery Act recipients. It appropriately established and implemented a risk assessment process to target...

The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), Office of Inspector General audited the Housing Authority of the City of Mountain Grove, MO (Authority), in response to a citizen’s complaint received by our office. The complaint made allegations related to asset misappropriations, a procurement violation, and conflicts of interest. Our objective was to determine whether the allegations were valid. The allegations related to asset...

The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development's (HUD) Office of Inspector General audited the Missouri Housing Development Commission’s (Commission) Recovery Act funded Tax Credit Assistance Program (TCAP). Our audit objective was to determine whether the Commission expended Recovery Act grant funds in accordance with Recovery Act requirements and applicable U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) rules. We concluded...

The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), Office of Inspector General, audited allegations made against BIONIC Real Estate Services, LLC (BIONIC), a HUD-approved management agent, in a citizen complaint received by our office. The allegations related to BIONIC’s management of Powell Apartments, a HUD Section 236-insured multifamily property with partial project-based Section 8-subsidized units. The objective of our review was...

The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development's (HUD) Office of Inspector General audited the Missouri Housing Development Commission’s (Commission) Recovery Act funded Tax Credit Assistance Program (TCAP). Our audit objectives were to determine whether the Commission obtained wage reports and lobbying certifications required by Federal law and accurately reported job creation to Recovery.gov. We concluded that the Commission did...

We reviewed 12 Federal Housing Administration (FHA) loans that American Sterling Bank (American) underwrote as an FHA direct endorsement lender. Our review objective was to determine whether American underwrote the 12 loans in accordance with FHA requirements. This review is part of Operation Watchdog, an Office of Inspector General (OIG) initiative to review the underwriting of 15 direct endorsement lenders at the suggestion of the FHA...