In an effort to increase transparency and accountability in the use of Federal funding in program activities, Federal law and guidance requires the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) and its prime recipients to ensure that complete and accurate subaward data is posted on USASpending.gov. We audited HUD to determine whether the prime award recipients of HUD funding met all of the Federal Funding Accountability and Transparency Act (FFATA) reporting requirements for their subawards on USASpending.gov, including the amount of the subaward and a description of the products or services provided.
We found that HUD’s prime award recipients of the Offices of Community Planning and Development (CPD) and Office of Lead Hazard Control and Healthy Homes (OLHCHH) programs did not always report their subawards of $30,000 or greater as required by FFATA. Specifically, 25 prime awards in CPD programs and 10 prime awards in OLHCHH programs from 2 separate statistical samples of 70 prime awards made at least 1 subaward that they did not report to USASpending.gov. Additionally, we found that 31 of 68 sampled subawards under the CPD programs were noncompliant with subaward reporting requirements, primarily because the subaward description was not adequate to provide the stakeholders with an understanding of the purpose of the awarded funds. HUD’s prime award recipients lacked knowledge of the FFATA subaward reporting requirements due to insufficient guidance and oversight by HUD program offices and lack of an enterprise-level policy. This noncompliance impairs the transparency and accountability of Federal spending, limiting stakeholders’ ability to fully evaluate the use of Federal funds within their communities.
Recommendations
Deputy Secretary
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Status2025-FO-0005-001-AOpenClosed
Work with the prime award recipients that had subaward reporting deficiencies to ensure that their subaward information is reported or reported accurately.
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Status2025-FO-0005-001-BOpenClosed
Update and expand the guidance on FFATA subaward reporting requirements provided to prime award recipients by (1) updating program website(s) with comprehensive information about FFATA, (2) implementing training, (3) issuing formal communication, and (4) implementing a feedback mechanism to ensure that all prime award recipients have the opportunity to share challenges with HUD and ask questions.
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Status2025-FO-0005-001-COpenClosed
Integrate FFATA reporting requirements into program monitoring procedures for all programs and conduct regular reviews to assess compliance.
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Status2025-FO-0005-001-DOpenClosed
Ensure that programs with subaward activity include specific clauses related to FFATA compliance in their grant agreements, and notices of funding opportunities.
Lead Hazard Control
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Status2025-FO-0005-001-EOpenClosed
Work with the prime award recipients that had subaward reporting deficiencies to ensure that their subaward information is reported or reported accurately.
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Status2025-FO-0005-001-FOpenClosed
Update and expand the guidance provided to prime award recipients by (1) updating program website(s) with comprehensive information about FFATA, (2) implementing training, (3) issuing formal communication, and (4) implementing a feedback mechanism to ensure that all prime award recipients have the opportunity to share challenges with HUD and ask questions.
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Status2025-FO-0005-001-GOpenClosed
Integrate FFATA reporting requirements into the program monitoring procedures for all programs and conduct regular reviews to assess compliance.
Chief Financial Officer
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Status2025-FO-0005-001-HOpenClosed
Develop a policy or update the existing Grants Management Policy to include 1) the process and controls that HUD will use to hold the prime recipients accountable for FFATA compliance and 2) clearly defined roles and responsibilities between OCFO and the program offices to ensure that action is prioritized by the correct responsible parties regarding FFATA compliance.
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Status2025-FO-0005-001-IOpenClosed
Work with applicable program offices to develop training materials and tools, such as dashboards, to assist program offices in monitoring their grant portfolios for subaward reporting compliance.