We completed a review of Provident Bank’s servicing of Federal Housing Administration (FHA)-insured mortgages and its implementation of the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s (HUD) Loss Mitigation program. We selected Provident Bank based on an Office of Inspector General risk assessment of single-family lenders. The objective of the audit was to determine whether Provident Bank properly serviced FHA-insured mortgages and...

We audited the State of New Jersey’s Community Development Block Grant Disaster Recovery-funded Grants and Forgivable Loans to Small Businesses program.  We conducted the audit because the program was one of the largest funded economic revitalization programs in the State’s action plan and because the State had disbursed more than 37 percent of the funds allocated for the program as of September 2014.  Our objective was to determine...

We audited the State of New Jersey’s Community Development Block Grant Disaster Recovery-funded Sandy Integrated Recovery Operations and Management System.  We conducted the audit based on the significant amount of funds associated with the system and the importance of the system to the successful implementation of the State’s Disaster Recovery grant.  Our objective was to determine whether the State procured services and products for...

We audited the City of Paterson, NJ’s HOME Investment Partnerships Program based on a risk analysis of the City’s program that considered the amount of funding, the risk score assigned by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), our identification of potential issues, and Congress’ general interest in the HOME program.  The objective of the audit was to determine whether City officials had established and implemented...

HUD OIG assisted the U.S. Department of Justice, Washington, DC, and the U.S. Attorney’s Office, District of Colorado, in the civil investigation of MetLife Bank, N.A.  MetLife had its principal place of business in Convent Station, NJ.  MetLife became an approved direct endorsement lender under HUD’s Federal Housing Administration (FHA) program on April 5, 2007.  The direct endorsement program authorizes private-sector mortgage...

We audited the Office of the Commissioner for Municipal Affairs’ Section 108 Loan Guarantee program as part of our strategic plan and based on the deficiencies noted during our recent review of Municipal Affairs’ Section 108 Loan Guarantee program, concerning the slow progress of the Vieques Sports Complex project (Audit memorandum number 2014-AT-1801, issued March 20, 2014).  The objectives of the audit were to determine whether Section...

We audited the City of Passaic, NJ’s Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) program in support of the Office of Inspector General’s (OIG) goal of improving the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s (HUD) execution of its fiscal responsibilities.  We selected the Authority based on a risk assessment of grantees administered by the HUD Newark, NJ, field office that considered grantee funding, HUD’s 2013 risk score, and prior...

We audited the City of Jersey City, NJ’s HOME Investment Partnerships Program based on a risk assessment that considered the amount of funding, the risk score assigned to it by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), and general congressional interest in the HOME program.  The objective of the audit was to determine whether City officials had established and implemented adequate controls to ensure that the HOME program...

We reviewed HUD’s San Juan, PR, Office of Community Planning and Development’s monitoring of the Vieques, PR, Sports City Complex project.  The review was performed based on indicators identified in the audit of the Vieques Sports City Complex, Office of the Commissioner for Municipal Affairs’ (OCMA) Puerto Rico State Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) Section 108 Loan Guarantee program.  More than 11 years had elapsed since HUD...

We audited the State of New Jersey’s Community Development Block Grant Disaster Recovery-funded Homeowner Resettlement program.  We conducted the audit based on the substantial amount of funds the State allocated to the program.  Our objective was to determine whether the State used Block Grant Disaster Recovery funds for its Homeowner Resettlement program to assist eligible homeowners in accordance with applicable U.S. Department of...

We audited the State of New Jersey’s Community Development Block Grant Disaster Recovery-funded tourism marketing program.  We conducted the audit based on a congressional request to review the State’s Hurricane Sandy tourism marketing contract bidding process and the appropriateness of the content of its marketing campaign.  Our objectives were to determine whether the content of the marketing campaign was proper and whether the...

We audited the Municipality of Carolina’s HOME Investment Partnerships Program as part of our strategic plan, based on the amount of HOME funds approved.  The objectives of the audit were to determine whether HOME-funded activities met program objectives, home buyers complied with HOME’s primary residency requirement for the duration of the period of affordability, and the Municipality maintained a financial management system in compliance...

We audited Monmouth County, NJ’s Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) program based on a risk assessment that considered grantee funding, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s (HUD) risk analysis, and prior Office of Inspector General (OIG) audit coverage. The objective of the audit was to determine whether County officials established and implemented adequate controls to provide assurance that CDBG funds were expended for...

We audited Middlesex County, NJ’s HOME Investment Partnerships Program based on a risk analysis that considered funding, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s (HUD) risk score, and prior Office of Inspector General audits.  The audit objective was to determine whether County officials established and implemented adequate controls over their HOME program to ensure that program funds were expended and administered for...

We audited the Office of the Commissioner for Municipal Affairs’ (OCMA) Puerto Rico State Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) Section 108 Loan Guarantee program as part of our strategic plan, based on concerns regarding the slow progress of the Vieques sports complex project.  The objective of this audit was to determine whether OCMA used Section 108 loan proceeds on a project that met a national objective of the CDBG program and...

We audited the Housing Authority of the City of Paterson, Paterson, NJ’s Housing Choice Voucher program based on a risk assessment of authorities administered by the HUD Newark, NJ, field office that considered funding, HUD’s 2012 risk score, and prior OIG audits. The audit objectives were to determine whether Authority officials implemented adequate controls to ensure that the program was administered in accordance with HUD regulations and its...

We audited the Municipality of Arecibo’s HOME Investment Partnerships Program as part of our strategic plan based on the results of a recent audit of the Municipality’s Community Development Block Grant program.  The objectives of the audit were to determine whether dwelling units acquired under the home-ownership program complied with the HUD’s housing standards and affordability requirements, whether the Municipality disbursed HOME funds...

We audited Essex County, NJ’s HOME Investment Partnerships Program based on a risk assessment that considered grantee funding, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s (HUD) risk analysis, and prior audit coverage.  The objective of the audit was to determine whether County officials established and implemented adequate controls to ensure that the HOME program was administered in compliance with program requirements. The...

We audited the Puerto Rico Housing Finance Authority’s HOME Investment Partnerships Program as part of our strategic plan based on the large amount of HOME funds approved.  The objectives of the audit were to determine whether the Authority reported accurate and supported information in the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s (HUD) Integrated Disbursement and Information System and disbursed HOME funds within HUD-established...

We audited the Housing Authority of the City of New Brunswick’s American Recovery and Reinvestment Act Capital Fund Program based upon a risk analysis of authorities administered through the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) Newark, NJ field office, which considered the funding received and HUD’s assigned risk score. The objectives of the audit were to determine whether Authority officials (1) obligated and expended their...