We audited the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), Office of Multifamily Housing Programs’ efforts to address multifamily mortgage application processing delays.  When applications for these loans are delayed, it slows the production and availability of affordable multifamily housing units.  During the COVID-19 pandemic, HUD took action to eliminate a backlog of over 500 applications waiting to be…

We performed an audit examining HUD’s efforts to prevent duplication of benefits when using Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) Disaster Recovery and Mitigation funds.  Our objective was to determine how the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) assesses the adequacy of grantee procedures to prevent a duplication of benefits, both before and after grant execution. HUD certified grantees’ high-level…

The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), Office of Inspector General, audited HUD’s Office of Multifamily Housing Programs upon receiving a hotline complaint.  The hotline complaint contained allegations that (1) HUD routinely fails to perform Endangered Species Act analysis or consultations; (2) there are many projects that have deficiencies in noise analysis and environmental assessment site factors; (3) the…

We audited Tuscan Homes I and II, a multifamily project located in Hartford, CT, because our risk assessment ranked the project as the highest risk multifamily project in New England.  Our audit objective was to determine whether the owner managed the project in accordance with its regulatory agreement and U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) requirements; specifically, whether (1) exigent health and safety…

We audited the Lake View Towers Apartments’ Section 8 housing assistance payments program based on our analysis of risk factors related to multifamily projects in Region 5’s jurisdiction and the activities included in our fiscal year 2019 annual audit plan.  Our audit objective was to determine whether the management agent administered the project’s program in accordance with the owner’s contract with the U.S. Department of…

We audited the State of New York’s Community Development Block Grant Disaster Recovery-funded New York Rising Buyout and Acquisition program.  We initiated this audit due to concerns related to whether properties purchased were substantially damaged.  The objective of this audit was to determine whether the State ensured that properties purchased under the acquisition component of the program met applicable U.S. Department…

We audited the City of New York’s Infrastructure Rehabilitation and Reconstruction of Public Facilities Program.  We selected this program for review because the City had allocated nearly $91 million to the program and disbursed more than $59.6 million as of October 31, 2017, and as part of our ongoing oversight of the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s (HUD) Disaster Recovery programs.  Our objective was to…

We performed the 22nd review of the Lower Manhattan Development Corporation’s (LMDC) administration of the $2.783 billion in Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) Disaster Recovery funds awarded 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.  The objective of the audit was to determine whether LMDC administered its Disaster Recovery-funded…

We audited the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s (HUD) oversight of disaster grantee procurement processes.  We conducted the audit after prior audits identified procurement issues.  Our objective was to determine whether HUD provided sufficient guidance and oversight to ensure that disaster grantees followed proficient procurement processes when purchasing products and services. HUD did not provide…

We audited the City of New York’s Community Development Block Grant Disaster Recovery-funded Public Housing Rehabilitation and Resilience Program.  Our objective was to determine whether the City had established adequate controls to ensure that it followed U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), Federal, and City requirements when disbursing disaster funds under its program.  We found that the City generally…

We audited the State of New York’s Community Development Block Grant Disaster Recovery-funded Non-Federal Share Match Program.  We conducted this audit because the State had used approximately $223 million for the program as of December 2016 and a U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) review of the program had identified weaknesses related to compliance monitoring and recordkeeping.  Our objective was to…

The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), Office of Inspector General audited HUD’s Office of Community Planning and Development’s (CPD) process for making changes to its programs, policies, and operations.  We initiated the audit because of concerns we had with HUD’s disaster recovery delivery sequence and duplication of benefits policies during a previous external audit (Audit Report 2016-DE-1003). Our…

The Office of Community Planning and Development (CPD) manages more than $14 billion in disaster recovery funding that Congress appropriated through the Disaster Relief Appropriations Act of 2013 (Public Law (PL) 113-2).  CPD distributed the funds to 34 grantees as Community Development Block Grant Disaster Recovery grants. PL 113-2 requires grantees to establish adequate procedures to detect fraud, waste, and abuse of disaster…

Twenty-two Promise Zones were selected through three rounds of national competition. The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), oversees 14 urban Promise Zones, and the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) oversees 8 rural and tribal Promise Zones. The Office of Management and Budget (OMB) tasked HUD and USDA to lead the Promise Zone initiative and play essential roles in gathering information about progress in…

This report is for informational purposes only and does not represent an OIG perspective or position. The Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance Act was designed to bring an orderly and systematic means of Federal disaster assistance for State and local governments to carry out their responsibilities to aid citizens.  Although, State and local governments may carry out their responsibilities in an orderly and…

The Office of Community Planning and Development (CPD) manages $15.2 billion in disaster recovery funding appropriated by Congress in the Disaster Relief Appropriations Act of 2013 (Sandy Supplemental). CPD distributed the funds to 34 grantees as Community Development Block Grants-Disaster Recovery (CDBG-DR). CPD uses a risk analysis process to rank grantees that pose the greatest risk to the integrity of its programs. According to…