Enforce the requirement for all HUD web applications and services to be approved and authorized by OCIO. The OIG has determined that the contents of this recommendation would not be appropriate for public disclosure and has therefore limited its distribution to selected officials.

Corrective Action Taken

In January 2023, HUD's Office of the Chief Information Officer developed and released a Web Applications Directive to all HUD program offices. This directive described how web applications are defined, approved, inventoried, and maintained, including processes for tracking, and monitoring such applications.

Issue a change to regulations at 24 CFR Part 203, which would avoid unnecessary costs to the FHA insurance fund, allowing an estimated $2.23 billion to be put to better use. These changes include (1) a maximum period for filing insurance claims and (2) disallowance of expenses incurred beyond established timeframes.

Status

The Federal Housing Administration (FHA) reported that the recommendation cannot be closed out without the publication of the FHA Maximum Claim Rule. The proposed changes have been on HUD’s regulatory agenda since Spring 2020 but, as of November 2024, the Office of Single Family Housing does not have an estimated publication date.

Analysis

To fully address this recommendation, HUD must publish the FHA Maximum Claim Rule.

Implementation of this rule should result in HUD putting $2.23 billion to better use.

Update selection rules for CAIVRS to provide for complete reporting of all ineligible borrowers to put $9.5 million to better use.

Status

In 2020, HUD suspended reporting delinquencies and defaults to the Credit Alert Verification Reporting System (CAIVRS) because these debts are owed to the lender and are not delinquent Federal debt. A debt is not delinquent until a payment is past due to HUD for a deficiency judgment against the borrower in connection with an FHA claim. Rather than add the missing borrowers to CAIVRS, HUD determined it would remove default and claim data from the system and use it to exclusively identify borrowers with delinquent Federal debt. This will resolve the issue of incomplete reporting of delinquent federal debts greater than 3 years old. As of early June 2024, the Office of Single Family Housing stated that it was on target to complete its action plan by June 28, 2024.

Analysis

To fully address this recommendation, HUD must provide evidence that it removed default and claim data from CAIVRS.

Implementation of this recommendation should result in HUD putting $9.5 million to better use.