We audited the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) to determine whether HUD had adequate oversight of the physical condition of the public housing units that converted to non-Federal Housing Administration (FHA)-insured project-based vouchers (PBV) under RAD.We found HUD needs to improve its oversight of the physical condition of converted projects.  Before the implementation of its PBV monitoring pilot program…

The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) program offices issued departmental notices to inform public housing agencies (PHA) and owners of the Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2021’s (the Act) requirements.  In addition, HUD program offices planned to use HUD’s revised physical inspection processes to ensure that PHAs and owners complied with the Act, namely under its new National Standards for the Physical…

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), lead-based paint and lead-contaminated dust are some of the most widespread and hazardous sources of lead exposure for young children in the United States.  There is no safe blood lead level in children, and there is no cure for lead poisoning.  Therefore, it is important to prevent exposure to lead, especially among children. U.S. Department of Housing…

In coordination with the Pandemic Response Accountability Committee, we conducted an audit to identify potential fraud schemes that could affect HUD’s pandemic funds.  We reviewed the funds appropriated by the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act and the American Rescue Plan (ARP) Act for the Tenant-Based Rental Assistance (TBRA), Project-Based Rental Assistance (PBRA), HOME Investment Partnerships, and…

“According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), lead-based paint and lead-contaminated dust are some of the most widespread and hazardous sources of lead exposure for young children in the United States.  When lead-based paint peels and cracks, it results in lead-contaminated paint chips and dust.  Children can be poisoned if they chew on surfaces coated with lead-based paint, eat flaking paint chips, or…

We audited rent credits that the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) received from the U.S. General Services Administration (GSA) during fiscal years 2015 through 2018 in exchange for financial contributions for building improvements.  We initiated this audit due to concerns we identified while completing a review of HUD’s use of funds approved by Congress for building improvements.[1]  Our objective was…

The West Calumet Housing Complex (WCHC), located in East Chicago, IN, was a public housing development that opened in 1972 on top of a former lead smelting plant.  HUD and other agencies missed multiple opportunities to identify site contamination at WCHC.  As a result, WCHC residents continued living in unsafe conditions for decades, and inadequate oversight led to the lead poisoning of children in WCHC.  Between 2005…

As part of the Office of Inspector General’s effort to provide oversight of the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s (HUD) relief efforts provided by the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act (CARES Act), we reviewed HUD’s communication to renters regarding the eviction moratorium found in Section 4024.  The objective of our review was to highlight the progress HUD has made and identify areas for…

We reviewed the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s (HUD) funding allotment for tenant protection assistance at the Vineville Christian Towers (project) related to a housing conversion action and its approval of the project’s Rental Assistance Demonstration Program (RAD) conversion.  The review was initiated as a result of internal issues identified during an external audit of the project’s RAD conversion. The…

We initiated our audit in accordance with our strategic goal to provide the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) with services and products to address vulnerabilities, to provide opportunities for improvements, and to recognize positive outcomes.  The audit objective was to determine whether the HUD Office of Community Planning and Development (CPD) monitored and ensured that its Disaster Relief Appropriations…

We completed a risk assessment of the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s (HUD) grant closeout process as required by the Grants Oversight and New Efficiency (GONE) Act of 2016, Public Law 114-117.  Our objective was to determine whether an audit or review of HUD’s grant closeout process was warranted.  We found that a moderate risk was associated with HUD’s grant closeout process and recommend that a full…

The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, Office of Inspector General (HUD OIG), has completed its annual risk assessment of HUD’s charge cards as required by the Government Charge Card Abuse Prevention Act of 2012, Public Law 112-194, and Office of Management and Budget (OMB) Memorandum M-13-21.  Our objective was to analyze the risks of illegal, improper, or erroneous purchases in HUD’s fiscal year 2016 travel and…

In accordance with the statutory requirements of the Digital Accountability and Transparency Act of 2014 (DATA Act) and standards established by the Office of Management and Budget (OMB), we audited the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s (HUD) Office of the Chief Financial Officer’s (OCFO) compliance with the DATA Act for the second quarter of fiscal year 2017. In the DATA Act Compliance Audit of the U.S. Department of…

The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), Office of Inspector General audited the HUD’s travel and purchase card programs for fiscal year 2016 based on (1) our annual risk assessment of these programs and (2) our requirement under the Charge Card Abuse Prevention Act of 2012 to periodically review government travel and purchase cards.  The most recent risk assessment found that there was a moderate risk of…

Very low REAC scores are not prevalent across ORCF’s portfolio.  The majority of RCFs that received a REAC score scored at least 80 on their last inspection, and more than three quarters scored at least 60.  Despite the small percentage of RCFs that scored below 31, we noticed an overall decline in REAC inspection scores across ORCF’s portfolio from 2000 to 2016. REAC has adopted an inspection process that applies uniformly…

The Digital Accountability and Transparency Act of 2014 (DATA Act) and implementation guidance provided in the Office of Management and Budget Memorandum M-15-12 mandates that Federal agencies must report their financial, budgetary and programmatic information to the USASpending.gov web site by the statutory May 2017 deadline. In our second of two Data Act Readiness Reviews, OIG reviewed the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban…

In accordance with the Chief Financial Officers Act of 1990, as amended, we are required to annually audit the consolidated financial statements of the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD). HUD reissued its fiscal year 2016 and 2015 (Restated) consolidated financial statements due to pervasive material errors that were identified by us. Our objective was to express an opinion on the fairness of HUD’s…

We audited HUD’s compliance with the fiscal year 2015 travel and purchase card programs based on our required fiscal year 2014 risk assessment, which determined the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s (HUD) agencywide charge card program to be at medium risk for fraud. Offices of inspector general are required to (1) conduct periodic assessments of the agency charge card programs, (2) perform analyses or audits as…

The Digital Accountability and Transparency Act of 2014 (DATA Act), and implementing guidance provided in the Office of Management and Budget Memorandum M-15-12, is a mandate that Federal agencies must follow to report their financial, budgetary and programmatic information to the USASpending.gov web site.  We have reviewed the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s (HUD) compliance efforts as of July 15, 2016. …

We reviewed the general and application controls over the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s (HUD) Loan Accounting System (LAS) as part of the internal control assessments required for the fiscal year 2014 financial statement audit under the Chief Financial Officer’s Act of 1990.  Our objective was to review the effectiveness of general and application controls over LAS for compliance with HUD information…