The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, Office of Inspector General, audited the lender, Berkeley Point Capital, and the underwriting for the Second and Delaware project loan.  We initiated the review of the loan underwriting based on a previous review of the Second and Delaware project, which focused on the construction and development of the project.  The almost $46 million project is Federal Housing Administration (...

We audited the Crisfield Housing Authority’s use of public housing program operating and capital funds because we received a hotline complaint alleging misuse of public housing assets and we had never audited the Authority.  The audit objective was to determine whether the Authority administered its public housing program in accordance with applicable U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) requirements and its annual...

We audited the Crisfield Housing Authority’s Housing Choice Voucher program because we received a hotline complaint alleging that it misused public housing assets and we had never audited the Authority.  Our audit objective was to determine whether the Authority (1) ensured that families met eligibility requirements, (2) properly admitted families from the waiting list, (3) correctly calculated housing assistance payments and maintained...

The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), Office of Inspector General (OIG), assisted the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Massachusetts in the civil investigation of First American Mortgage Trust.  First American has its principal place of business in Brighton, MA, and does business as NXTLoan.Com Corp., a Delaware corporation.  First American is the parent company of NXTL. On October 18, 2016, First...

We audited the City of Albuquerque’s Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) program based on our risk analysis and as part of the Office of Inspector General’s annual audit plan to review community planning and development funds.  The audit objective was to determine whether the City administered its CDBG program in accordance with U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) requirements. The City did not always properly...

We audited the Housing Choice Voucher program at the Boston Housing Authority because of the size of the program, the time that had elapsed since our last audit, and the inherent program risk.  The Authority operates the second largest Housing Choice Voucher program in New England.  In addition, our office had not audited any Authority program since 2010.  The Housing Choice Voucher program is inherently risky as Congress...

We audited the Community Development Block Grant Disaster Recovery (CDBG-DR) assistance grant provided to the City of Springfield, MA, by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) to assist in disaster recovery and rebuilding efforts resulting from damages caused by presidentially declared disasters.  The audit objective was to determine whether the City properly followed Federal procurement requirements and whether...

Sons of Divine Providence did not properly oversee the HUD-insured nursing home to ensure that it operated in accordance with its regulatory agreement.  By not informing HUD of the lawsuits, the changes in management agents, and the loans, Sons of Divine Providence did not provide HUD the necessary data to understand the risk to the HUD insurance fund.  However, when Sons of Divine Providence sold the nursing home and paid off the HUD...

We audited the Housing Opportunities Commission of Montgomery County’s Housing Choice Voucher program because (1) it had a large program receiving more than $82 million in fiscal year 2015, (2) it had the second largest number of housing choice vouchers of non-Moving to Work housing agencies within the jurisdiction of the Philadelphia region, and (3) we had not audited its program.  Our audit objective was to determine whether the...

We audited the Housing Authority of the City of Annapolis’ procurement activities due to a hotline complaint.  The complaint alleged that the Authority failed to follow procurement requirements.  This is the second of two audit reports on the Authority.  Our audit objective was to determine whether the Authority procured services and products using operating and capital funds in accordance with applicable requirements. The...

We audited the Housing Authority of the City of Annapolis’ Resident Opportunities and Self-Sufficiency (ROSS) program due to a hotline complaint.  The complaint alleged that the Authority used ROSS grant funds to pay a resident who did not work on a grant.  This is the first of two audit reports on the Authority.  Our objective was to determine whether the Authority administered its ROSS program in accordance with applicable U.S...

We audited the Somerville Housing Authority’s public housing and Public Housing Capital Fund programs as part of our fiscal year 2016 regional audit plan.  We initiated our review because the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s (HUD) Boston Office of Public and Indian Housing had not monitored the programs in the past 5 years and we had not audited the Authority in the past 10 years.  Our audit objectives were to...

The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), Office of Inspector General (OIG) assisted the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of California in the civil investigation of Iron Mountain, Incorporated, and Iron Mountain Information Management, LLC (Iron Mountain).  Iron Mountain is headquartered in Boston, MA.  The investigation began due to a qui tam[1] filing in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern...

We audited the State of Maryland’s Community Development Block Grant Disaster Recovery-funded Housing Recovery program.  We conducted the audit because the program was the largest funded program in the State’s first action plan.  Our objectives were to determine whether the State (1) assisted eligible applicants, (2) avoided duplicating assistance, (3) incurred eligible expenses that were properly supported, (4) procured services and...

We conducted a limited review of the Cambridge Housing Authority’s Moving to Work Housing Choice Voucher Program’s use of exception payment standards.   This program allows public housing authorities to use exception payment standards to set rental payments in excess of the payment standard established for an authority’s rents . The review was initiated as a result of a concern raised by a member of Congress about whether public...

At the request of the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s (HUD) Office of Public Housing in Albuquerque, NM, we conducted a review of the Mesilla Valley Public Housing Authority.  The Office of Public Housing estimated that the Authority could lose nearly $1 million by the end of 2014 because it had leased only 983 of its 1,607 vouchers.  Our objectives were to determine the extent, cause, and impact of not leasing all...

We reviewed the City of Albuquerque, Department of Family and Community Services’ Continuum of Care program.  We initiated the review based on a complaint alleging misconduct in the City’s program.  Specifically, the complainant alleged the City’s Continuum of Care failed to comply with conflict of interest and procurement requirements, did not maintain accurate Homeless Management Information System reports, and expended funds for...

We audited the Housing Authority of the City of Meridian’s Queen City apartments at the request of the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s (HUD) Single Family Office of Asset Management.  Our objectives were to determine whether the Authority acquired, financed, and managed the purchase of the apartments in accordance with applicable regulations and determine the cause of the Queen City apartments’ Federal Housing...

We audited the Truth or Consequences Housing Authority of Truth or Consequences, NM, in response to an anonymous complaint alleging that the Authority inappropriately transferred ownership of some of its properties to the New Mexico Housing and Community Development Corporation and used its assets to support the Corporation’s activities. Our audit objective was to determine whether the Authority had adequate controls to ensure that it complied...

We audited the Chelsea, MA, Housing Authority based on a request from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), Boston Office of Public and Indian Housing, which was concerned about financial controls at the Authority.  Our audit objectives were to determine whether Authority officials properly implemented financial controls over the allocation of costs, and reasonableness of salaries. Authority officials did not design...