As part of the Office of Inspector General (OIG) annual goals for internal audits, we reviewed U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) policies prohibiting the use of funds from the Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) program to supplant general government funds. Congress stated in a 2006 House congressional report that CDBG funds were never meant "to be used to replace local general government funds on…

As part of the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), Office of the Inspector General's (OIG) strategic plan, we audited HUD's controls over the physical condition of Section 8 housing stock for the Housing Choice Voucher program. Our objective was to determine whether HUD had adequate controls to ensure that its Section 8 housing stock was in material compliance with housing quality standards. We found that…

The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development's (HUD) Office of Inspector General audited HUD's Enterprise Income Verification (EIV) system. HUD implemented the EIV system nationwide for public housing authorities to use to identify and reduce tenant income and subsidy errors within the Section 8 and public housing programs. Our objective was to determine whether HUD provided adequate guidance and training to its EIV…

As part of our strategic plan, we audited the United States Department of Housing and Urban Development's (HUD) American Dream Downpayment Initiative (Initiative). Our audit objective was to determine whether HUD had adequate controls to ensure that its grantees did not exceed allowable downpayment assistance limits and that funds were used as required. HUD had controls in place to ensure that grantees did not exceed allowable…

The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development's (HUD) Office of Inspector General audited HUD's community service and self-sufficiency requirement (the requirement) as a result of news media reports that the requirement is rarely enforced. Our audit objective was to determine whether HUD ensured that housing authorities properly administered the requirement. We found that HUD did not have adequate controls to ensure…

We audited HUD's controls over the FHA appraiser roster in response to a single-family loan origination audit that had raised concerns about FHA appraisers and appraisals. We reviewed HUD's appraiser roster (roster) to determine whether HUD's controls over the roster were adequate to ensure that only qualified/eligible appraisers were placed on the roster and whether the oversight and maintenance of the roster were…

We reviewed general and application controls for selected information systems to assess management controls over the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development's (HUD) computing environments as part of the Office of Inspector General's (OIG) audit of HUD's financial statements for fiscal year 2007 under the Chief Financial Officer's Act of 1990. Our review was based on the Government Accountability Office (GAO…

We completed an evaluation of the preforeclosure sales program in Region III. Our objectives were to determine whether mortgagees administered the program in compliance with Federal Housing Administration (FHA) requirements and whether these procedures effectively limited the risk of program fraud and abuse. We determined that mortgagees technically complied with most FHA requirements in administering the program for the homes tested…

We completed a nationwide inspection of the monitoring conducted by State agencies of units of general local government (referred to in this document as local grant recipients) under the State Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) program. Monitoring is one method used by States to ensure compliance with program regulations and assists agencies in the detection and prevention of fraud. The objective of this inspection was to…

We completed a risk assessment of Community Development Block Grant (CDBG), Office of Public and Indian Housing (PIH), and other funding associated with Katrina Public Housing reconstruction on the Mississippi Gulf Coast. Our objectives were (1) to identify the source, amounts, and disposition of disaster relief funding and (2) to assess the "overlap" risk associated with the multiple funding sources and the extent to which there may…

HUD OIG audited the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development's (HUD) Quality Assurance Division because the results of some previous OIG audits indicated that the Quality Assurance Division might not have consistently followed its requirements. Our objective was to determine whether HUD's Quality Assurance Division consistently required Federal Housing Administration (FHA)-approved lenders to indemnify loans with…

We audited the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development's (HUD) administration of the Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) program. Our audit objectives were to determine whether HUD (1) had a system to measure the impact and outcome of its significant investment in grantees, which specifically determined whether (a) investments demonstrated increases in neighborhood health and (b) the primary CDBG objective of…

We audited the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s (HUD) Katrina Disaster Housing Assistance Program (KDHAP) and Disaster Voucher Program (DVP) administered by public housing agencies. We initiated the audit as part of our examination of relief efforts provided by the federal government in the aftermath of Hurricanes Katrina and Rita. Our audit objectives were to determine whether HUD (1) properly determined the…

This report provides additional details to supplement our Report on the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development's (HUD) Fiscal Years 2007 and 2006 Financial Statements, which is included in HUD's Fiscal Year 2007 Performance and Accountability Report. In OIG'S opinion, based on our audit and the reports of other auditors, the financial statements were presented fairly, in all material respects, in conformity…

This report presents the results of Urbach Kahn and Werlin LLP's audit of the Federal Housing Administration's (FHA) financial statements for the years ended September 30, 2007 and 2006. In Urbach Kahn and Werlin's opinion, FHA's principal financial statements are presented fairly, in all material respects, in conformity with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States of America. The report…

This report presents the results of Carmichael, Brasher, Tuvell and Company's audit of the Government National Mortgage Association's (Ginnie Mae) financial statements for the years ended September 30, 2007 and 2006. In Carmichael, Brasher, Tuvell and Company's opinion, the financial statements present fairly, in all material respects, the financial position of Ginnie Mae as of September 30, 2007 and September 30, 2006…

We audited the District of Columbia Housing Authority's (Authority) administration of its leased housing under its Moving to Work Demonstration (Moving to Work) program based on our analysis of various risk factors relating to the housing authorities under the jurisdiction of the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development's (HUD) Baltimore field office. This is the second of three audit reports to be issued on the…

We completed a limited review concerning Sprint FONCARDS or calling cards. We conducted the review to ensure adequate controls were present. The objectives of our review were to determine the controls in place to identify waste, fraud or abuse regarding the FTS 2001 Sprint FONCARD. We determined that verification memorandums were not being sent to individuals to verify that calls were official and were made by the individual as…

We completed a limited review of social security number validation procedures used by lenders to qualify single family loans for FHA mortgage insurance. Prior to 2005, the use of invalid or false social security numbers (SSNs) by borrowers and co-borrowers to obtain FHA insured mortgages was an issue. Effective June 2005, FHA required the lenders to validate borrowers social security numbers by matching their names and dates of birth…

We completed a limited review concerning college students living in Section 8 subsidized housing. We conducted the review in response to media and congressional attention and subsequent issuance of new regulations and policy guidance by HUD that restricted the eligibility of the students. The media had reported that taxpayer subsidized housing was being occupied by students to offset the high price of college. It also reported…