HUD OIG is conducting a limited review of the emergency Indian Housing Block Grant (IHBG) and Indian Community Development Block Grant (ICDBG) funds authorized under the CARES Act.  HUD awarded $200 million in IHBG CARES Act funding and $100 million in ICDBG CARES Act funding.  The audit objective is to determine the status of emergency IHBG and ICDBG CARES Act funds and any areas of potential concern.

HUD OIG is reviewing HUD's real estate owned (REO) program for Section 184 Tribal Trust land properties.  Through this program, HUD can sell foreclosed properties previously endorsed under section 184 of the Housing and Community Development Act of 1992.  The objective of the review is to determine whether HUD is appropriately tracking, marketing, and selling REO Section 184 Tribal Trust Land properties.

HUD OIG is auditing HUD’s oversight of Federal Housing Administration (FHA) refunds.  FHA insures mortgages to increase homeownership opportunities.  An upfront insurance premium, paid at the time of closing, is refundable if the loan ends early, whether through sale, foreclosure, or refinancing.  We received a hotline complaint describing roadblocks to obtaining refunds.

HUD OIG is auditing a Continuum of Care Program in California.  The City Controller issued a report on August 28, 2019, criticizing the grantee for falling short of its homeless outreach goals and considered the goals as ill-defined and not in alignment with County benchmarks.  Data from HUD indicates the grantee had nine grants expire in 2017 and 2018 with balances totaling nearly $4.5 million as of September 2019.

HUD-OIG is auditing COVID-19 single family forbearance reporting. The audit will help HUD to determine how accurately the servicers are reporting the forbearance assistance offered to their customers. The audit will further enable HUD to adequately forecast the performance of its FHA loan portfolio in order to maintain an adequate capital ratio. The audit objective is to determine whether data available in HUD’s single family default monitoring system (SFDMS) is consistent with information maintained by loan servicers.

HUD OIG is researching Public and Indian Housing and Multifamily use of vacant units during previously Presidentially Declared Disasters and the COVID-19 declared Disaster, as well as PIH and Multifamily’s ability to place a waitlist preference for the homeless and how many homeless individuals had a 50058 or 50059 new move-in during the COVID pandemic.  Since the introduction of the CARES act, there has been an emphasis to review how HUD has reacted to the COVID-19 disaster.  HUD allocated $1 billion to keep America's homeless population safe.

HUD OIG is  researching prior audits of HUD’s partial claims loss mitigation option.  On July 8, 2020, FHA issued Mortgagee Letter 2020-22 informing mortgagees the full suite of loss mitigations available to single family borrowers affected by the COVID-19 pandemic.  The purpose of this research is to provide HUD information regarding lessons learned and risks identified in these prior audits that HUD should act on now to ensure program integrity and mitigate the risk of financial loss for COVID-19 related partial claims.  

HUD OIG is researching prior audits of HUD’s Single Family Default Monitoring System to provide HUD information regarding lessons learned and risks identified in these prior audits.  The forbearances will result in increased claims filed against the insurance fund.  The lessons learned from prior audits identify what actions HUD should take now to ensure program integrity and mitigate the risk of financial loss for COVID-19 related forbearance assistance and foreclosure moratorium related to single family loans.  

HUD OIG is auditing HUD’s multifamily complaint intake and resolution activities.  In July 2019, an explosion occurred a multifamily property in Jacksonville, Florida, which resulted a fire injuring several people.  There have been concerns related to health and safety issues at this complex which appear to have gone unaddressed and may have led to the fire.

HUD OIG is auditing HUD's COVID-19 procurement activities. Due to the pandemic, regular contracting requirements were revised to help meet the needs of contractors who did not have access to the Federal work sites or could not complete contracts in a timely manner due to quarantining, social distancing, or other COVID-19 related interruptions.  The audit objective is to determine what HUD has done to accommodate contractors' pandemic related issues while ensuring that HUD meets is business objectives.