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…

MISSOULA — The former executive director of the Whitefish Housing Authority was sentenced today to four months in prison and four months of home confinement, to be followed by three years of supervised release, and ordered to pay $144,842 for embezzling from the organization, which receives federal funds from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, U.S. Attorney Jesse Laslovich said.The defendant, Dwarne Lamont Hawkins, 46, of…

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…

HELENA — Mold Wranglers, Inc., a Kalispell-based company that provides hazardous material mitigation services, today admitted to filing false requests for payment to the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs claiming an abatement of lead paint was done at Freedom’s Path Fort Harrison when it was not, the U.S. Attorney’s Office said.The defendant, Mold Wranglers, Inc., appeared for arraignment on and pleaded guilty to an information charging one…

HELENA – A Helena real estate agent and property manager today admitted to failing to provide lead-based paint disclosures as required to veterans residing in housing at Fort Harrison, in Helena, which resulted in the exposure of veterans and their families to significant levels of lead, the U.S. Attorney’s Office said.The defendant, Melanie Ann Carlin, 54, of Clancy, appeared for arraignment on and pleaded guilty to an information charging her…

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…

MISSOULA — The former executive director of the Whitefish Housing Authority today admitted to embezzling at least $100,000 from the organization, which receives federal funds from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, U.S. Attorney Jesse Laslovich said.The defendant, Dwarne Lamont Hawkins, 46, pleaded guilty to theft from organization receiving federal funding. Hawkins faces a maximum of 10 years in prison, a $250,000 fine and…

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…