We audited the Allegheny County Housing Authority’s administration of its Public Housing Capital Fund grants that it received under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009. We selected the Authority for audit because it received a $7.7 million formula grant and three competitive grants totaling $5.8 million, which was the third largest formula grant and the second largest amount of capital fund competitive grants awarded in...

We conducted a review of the City of Dunkirk, NY (City), pertaining to its Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) funds received under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (Recovery Act). We selected this auditee based on a congressional interest inquiry received by the Recovery Act Transparency and Accountability Board and forwarded to the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s (HUD) Office of Inspector General (OIG...

We audited the City of Reading, PA’s Neighborhood Stabilization Program 2 as part of our annual audit plan to review activities funded by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (Recovery Act) because the City received $5 million in Program funds under the Recovery Act. Our audit objective was to determine whether the City (1) met Program expenditure deadlines, (2) made Program expenditures that were eligible and adequately supported...

We audited the Philadelphia Housing Authority’s (Authority) use of its Public Housing Capital Fund formula grant that it received under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (Recovery Act). We selected the Authority for audit based on a citizen’s complaint alleging misuse of these funds and because it received $126.5 million in Recovery Act capital funds. We focused strictly on $31.5 million of the funds that the Authority...

We completed an audit of the operations of the City of Buffalo, NY (City), pertaining to its administration of its Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) program. Our audit objectives were to determine whether the City (1) administered its CDBG program effectively, efficiently, and economically in accordance with applicable rules and regulations, and (2) expended CDBG funds for eligible activities that met a national objective of the program...

We audited Westbeth Artists Houses (auditee) in response to a complaint submitted to the Office of Inspector General (OIG) hotline alleging that project funds were used to pay an executive director in violation of U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) regulations. Our audit objectives were to assess the merits of the complaint and determine whether project operations generally complied with HUD regulations pertaining to...

We audited the Philadelphia Housing Authority’s (Authority) payments for outside legal services based on a citizen’s complaint alleging misuse of these funds, our observations and concerns regarding the Authority’s use of outside attorneys on prior audits, and concerns over the large sums the Authority paid for outside legal services reported in the media. The Authority paid $30.5 million for outside legal services provided by 15 law firms...

We completed the fifteenth audit report in our ongoing review of the Lower Manhattan Development Corporation’s (LMDC) administration of the $2.783 billion in Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) Disaster Recovery Assistance funds provided to the State of New York in the aftermath of the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center in New York City. During the audit period, October 1, 2009 through March 31, 2010, LMDC...

We audited the City of Pittsburgh’s (City) administration of its Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) funds that it received under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (Recovery Act). We selected the City for audit because it received a $4.5 million grant, which was the third largest CDBG Recovery Act grant awarded in the State of Pennsylvania and it had disbursed more than half of the grant funds as of July 12, 2010. Our...

We completed an audit of the operations of the City of Binghamton, NY (City), pertaining to its administration of its Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) Section 108 Loan Guarantee program. Our audit objectives were to determine whether the City (1) administered its Section 108 loan program effectively, efficiently, and economically in accordance with applicable rules and regulations; (2) used Section 108 loan proceeds on eligible...

We audited the City of Scranton, PA’s (City) Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) program. We selected the City for audit because of the size of its program, its high U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) risk analysis score, and a citizen’s complaint alleging misuse of HUD funds. The objectives of the audit were to determine whether the City (1) maintained records and documentation to identify the source and application...

We audited the Pennsylvania Housing Finance Agency (Agency) because it received $95.1 million in Tax Credit Assistance Program (Program) funds under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (Recovery Act). The Agency received the largest amount of Program funds awarded in Region III. Our objective was to determine whether the Agency administered its Program in accordance with Recovery Act and applicable U.S. Department of Housing and...

We conducted a review of Federal Housing Administration (FHA) loans underwritten by Sterling National Mortgage Company, Inc. (Sterling), an FHA direct endorsement lender. The review was conducted as part of the Office of Inspector General’s (OIG) Operation Watchdog initiative to review the underwriting of 15 direct endorsement lenders at the suggestion of the FHA Commissioner. The Commissioner expressed concern regarding the increasing claim...

We completed a corrective action verification review of the audit recommendations for findings 1 and 2 of Audit Report Number 2006-NY-1005, issued February 21, 2006 pertaining to the general operations of the Utica Municipal Housing Authority, Utica, New York (Authority). The purpose of the corrective action verification was to determine whether the selected audit recommendations were implemented and the deficiencies cited in the report were...

We audited the Harrisburg Housing Authority’s (Authority) procurement function. We audited the Authority because a previous audit conducted in 2007 indicated that there was weakness in its purchasing process. Our objective was to determine whether the Authority procured goods and services in accordance with U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) regulations and other applicable requirements. We found that the Authority did not...

We audited the Philadelphia Housing Authority’s (Authority) administration of its housing quality standards inspection program for its Section 8 Housing Choice Voucher program as part of our fiscal year 2010 audit plan. The audit objective addressed in this report was to determine whether the Authority ensured that its program units met the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s (HUD) housing quality standards. The Authority did...

We performed a capacity review to assess the Rochester Housing Authority’s (Authority) administration of its capital funding program. The Authority was awarded $5.9 million in capital funds under the Recovery Act. Our review determined that the Authority had weaknesses in its financial controls that if left unaddressed could lead to its having a diminished capacity to effectively administer its supplemental Recovery Act funds. Specifically,...

We audited the Harrisburg Housing Authority’s (Authority) administration of its Public Housing Capital Fund grant that it received under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (Recovery Act). We selected the Authority for audit because the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) awarded the Authority a $4.4 million formula grant. Our audit objective was to determine whether the Authority administered the grant funds...