WASHINGTON DC— Today, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) Office of Inspector General (OIG) issued a report examining how HUD tracks elevated blood lead levels in children under six reported by multifamily properties receiving Section 8 project-based rental assistance.  The report found that the Office of Multifamily Housing (Multifamily) lacks policies, processes, and a tracking system to effectively…

WASHINGTON, DC— Today, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) Office of Inspector General (OIG) issued its annual audit report assessing HUD’s efforts to estimate, test, and reduce improper payments under the Payment Integrity Information Act of 2019. The audit found that for the eighth consecutive year, HUD was unable to estimate improper payments for its two largest rental assistance programs. Together, the…

WASHINGTON DC— Today, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) Office of Inspector General (OIG) issued a report examining how the New York City Housing Authority’s (NYCHA) evaluates fraud risk, designs antifraud controls, and responds to known fraud to prevent it in the future. The audit found that NYCHA has several antifraud measures in place but lacks a comprehensive strategy or framework for identifying and…

WASHINGTON DC— Today, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) Office of Inspector General (OIG) released a report examining the Boston Housing Authority’s (Authority) compliance with HUD and local requirements for maintaining Public Housing units in decent, safe, sanitary, conditions and in good repair.The audit found that the Authority’s units and buildings were not consistently maintained in accordance with HUD’s and the…

WASHINGTON DC— An Illinois man was sentenced today in federal court to seven months for his role in a scheme to defraud financial institutions in connection with over $800,000 in loans.Lamar Spells, 60, of Flossmoor, was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Steven C. Seeger of the Northern District of Illinois, who also ordered Spells to pay $276,788 in restitution, joint and severally. In April 2023, Spells pleaded guilty to one count of an…

DETROIT – United States Attorney for the Eastern District of Michigan Dawn N. Ison and U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development Inspector General Rae Oliver Davis hosted two summits yesterday focused on promoting the health, safety, and civil rights of tenants living in HUD-assisted housing. The program focused on combatting sexual misconduct and eliminating environmental hazards in HUD-assisted housing.The summits, which took place at…

WASHINGTON DC— Today, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s (HUD) Office of Inspector General (OIG) issued its annual independent evaluation of the effectiveness of HUD’s information security (InfoSec) program and practices under the Federal Information Security Modernization Act of 2014 (FISMA).FISMA requires all Inspectors General (IG) to annually assess the effectiveness of their Federal agency’s InfoSec programs. The Office…

HUD OIG found that the Authority did not always ensure that its HCV Program units met HUD’s housing quality standards and did not consistently stop payments to owners who failed to correct unit deficiencies. We also found the Authority did not comply with HUD’s monitoring and data collection requirements of the Lead Safe Housing Rule for cases of children with elevated blood lead levels (EBLLs).  

HUD OIG found that the Authority did not adequately manage lead-based paint and lead-based paint hazards in its public housing, including failing to perform timely lead‐based paint visual inspections in an estimated 4,762 units.  

The review found the Puerto Rico Department of Housing budgeted most of its $1.93 billion disaster recovery funds for its two main electrical grid programs which were launched in 2023. Both programs are in their early implementation stages.  As of July 12, 2024, PRDOH had spent less than 1 percent of its total budget for both programs – only $179,761 of $1.93 billion.   

WASHINGTON DC— Today, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) Office of Inspector General (OIG) issued a report examining the City and County of Honolulu ’s Department of Budget and Fiscal Services’ and Department of Community Services’ (the City) practices for preventing, detecting, and responding to fraud in the administration of more than $25 million in HUD’s Emergency Solutions Grant Cares Act (ESG-CV) program…

Today, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) Office of Inspector General (OIG) issued a report examining the California Department of Housing and Community Development’s (HCD) practices for preventing, detecting, and responding to fraud in the administration of over $319 million in pandemic funding through HUD’s Emergency Solutions Grant – CARES Act (ESG-CV) program.Congress appropriated $4 billion for ESG-CV grants to…

WASHINGTON DC— Today, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) Office of Inspector General issued a report examining the Cuyahoga Metropolitan Housing Authority’s (Authority) management of cases of children with elevated blood lead levels and oversight of lead‐based paint and associated hazards in its public housing program.The Authority is one of the 10 largest public housing authorities (PHA) in the country with…

WASHINGTON DC— Today, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) Office of Inspector General issued a report examining the physical condition of Housing Choice Voucher (HCV) Program units at the Columbus Metropolitan Housing Authority (Authority). The HCV Program, also known as Section 8, is the Federal Government’s largest tenant-based rental assistance program for low-income families, the elderly, and persons with…

Program Focused on Eliminating Environmental Hazards and Combatting Sexual Misconduct in HUD-Assisted HousingWASHINGTON – Members of the Anacostia Coordinating Council, today, heard presentations and had discussions with U.S. Attorney Matthew M. Graves and the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development Inspector General Rae Oliver Davis at a panel focused on promoting the health, safety, and civil liberty of tenants living in HUD-assisted…

WASHINGTON DC— Today, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) Office of Inspector General (OIG) issued an audit report examining the Puerto Rico Housing Finance Authority’s (PRHFA) Homebuyer Assistance Program (HBA). The HBA program was developed by the Puerto Rico Department of Housing (PRDOH) to incentivize families to stay in Puerto Rico after Hurricanes Irma and Maria by providing eligible applicants with…

DETROIT – Zina Thomas, 60, of Detroit was charged in a criminal complaint filed in United States District Court for her role orchestrating a fraud scheme that stole houses from dozens of Detroit residents, announced United States Attorney Dawn N. Ison.Ison was joined in the announcement by Special Agent-in-Charge Cheyvoryea Gibson, Federal Bureau of Investigation; Special Agent-in-Charge Machelle L. Jindra, Department of Housing and Urban…

DETROIT – Siemens Industry, Inc., a subsidiary of Siemens Corporation, has agreed to pay over $1 million to resolve possible False Claims Act violations, United States Attorney Dawn N. Ison announced today.Ison was joined in the announcement by Inspector General Rae Oliver Davis with the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development.Siemens Industry, Inc., on behalf of itself and predecessor entity Siemens Building Technologies, Inc. (…

WASHINGTON DC— Today, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) Office of Inspector General (OIG) issued an audit examining HUD’s efforts to prevent duplication of benefits when using Community Development Block Grant Disaster Recovery and Mitigation (CDBG-DR/MIT) funds. HUD and more than 30 other federal agencies are responsible for providing money and other resources to states and territories impacted by natural disasters,…

WASHINGTON – Nicole Freeman Smith, 51, of Upper Marlboro, Maryland, pleaded guilty today in Superior Court to one felony count and one misdemeanor count of financial exploitation of a vulnerable adult or elderly person (FEVA) for stealing more than $133,000 from two elderly District residents suffering from cognitive impairment. The plea was announced by U.S. Attorney Matthew M. Graves, D.C. Attorney General Brian L. Schwalb, and Special Agent…