The Office of Inspector General (OIG) assisted the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of New Jersey in the investigation of Finance of America Mortgage LLC.  The investigation began due to a qui tam filing in the U.S. District Court for the District of New Jersey.  The relator alleged that Finance of America, through its acquisition of Gateway Funding Diversified Mortgage Services LLP, knowingly participated in a mortgage fraud…

We audited Luzerne County, PA’s Community Development Block Grant Disaster Recovery grant provided through the Disaster Relief Appropriations Act of 2013.  We selected the County for review because (1) it had obligated the most disaster funds of the three Pennsylvania grantees that received funds through the Act and (2) the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) had disbursed approximately $2.1 million to the County as of…

We audited the Westmoreland County Housing Authority’s Housing Choice Voucher program because the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) authorized it more than $8.7 million in program funding per year in fiscal years 2013 and 2014 and we had not audited its program.  This is the second of two audit reports on the Authority’s program.  Our objectives in this audit were to determine whether the Authority ensured that…

We audited the Westmoreland County Housing Authority’s Housing Choice Voucher program.  We selected the Authority for audit because the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) authorized it more than $8.7 million in program funding per year for fiscal years 2013 and 2014 and we had not audited its program.  Our audit objective was to determine whether the Authority managed its waiting list and selected families in…

We audited the Lansing Housing Commission’s Section 8 Housing Choice Voucher program based on our analysis of risk factors related to the public housing agencies in Region 5’s  jurisdiction and the activities included in our 2015 annual audit plan.  Our audit objectives were to determine whether the Commission (1) appropriately calculated housing assistance payments, (2) maintained eligibility documentation required to support the…

The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s (HUD) Office of Inspector General (OIG), in coordination with the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Michigan, conducted a review of GTL Investments, Inc., doing business as John Adams Mortgage Company regarding its originations, underwriting, quality control, and endorsement of Federal Housing Administration (FHA) loans. The U.S. Government contended that it had certain…

We conducted a review of the Housing Authority of the City of Pittsburgh’s payments for outside legal services in conjunction with an ongoing internal audit of the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s (HUD) oversight of public housing agencies’ expenditures for outside legal services.  Our review objective was to determine whether the Authority made payments for outside legal services in compliance with applicable…

We audited the Pennsylvania Housing Finance Agency’s implementation of the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s (HUD) Loss Mitigation program for loans insured by the Federal Housing Administration (FHA).  We conducted the audit because the Agency had the largest active portfolio and the largest number of delinquent loans for servicers located in Pennsylvania as of October 2014.  Our objectives were to determine whether…

We audited Member First Mortgage, Limited Liability Company, a Federal Housing Administration (FHA) nonsupervised servicer as part of the activities in our fiscal year 2015 annual audit plan.  We selected Member First based upon our analysis of risk factors for single-family servicing lenders in Region 5’s jurisdiction.   Our audit objectives were to determine whether (1) Member First complied with the U.S. Department of Housing…

We audited the Detroit Housing Commission’s Section 8 Moderate Rehabilitation Program as part of the activities in our fiscal year 2015 annual audit plan.  We selected the Commission based upon a citizen’s complaint alleging mismanagement in the administration of the Commission’s former program projects, Colony Arms and Fisher Arms Apartments.  Our audit objectives were to determine whether the Commission appropriately (1) maintained…

We audited Prudential Huntoon Paige Associates, LTD’s underwriting of a $22.8 million mortgage loan to refinance Lafayette Towers Apartments, a 584-unit highrise multifamily project in Detroit, MI.  We initiated the review based on the early default, assignment, and significant amount of the project.  Our objective was to determine whether Prudential underwrote and processed the loan for Lafayette Towers according to the U.S.…

We audited the Bucks County Housing Authority’s Housing Choice Voucher program because the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) authorized it more than $15 million per year in fiscal years 2012 to 2014 and we had not audited its housing quality standards inspection program.  Our audit objective was to determine whether the Authority ensured that its Housing Choice Voucher program units met HUD’s housing quality standards…

We conducted a review of the Philadelphia Housing Authority’s compliance with Federal lobbying disclosure requirements and restrictions.  We found that the Authority engaged in the prohibited practice of using Federal funds for lobbying and a former executive director certified to the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) that it did not do so.  In addition, the former executive director falsely certified to HUD that…

We audited the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s (HUD) oversight of its Home Equity Conversion Mortgage (HECM) program and found that contrary to program residency requirements, 37 borrowers were not living in the property associated with the loan and were renting the property to participants in HUD’s Section 8 Housing Choice Voucher program.  Renting the properties to Section 8 program participants violated program…

We audited the County of Beaver, Beaver Falls, PA’s administration of the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s (HUD) HOME Investment Partnerships Program funds.  We audited the County because we received a complaint alleging misuse of Federal funds resulting from a potential conflict of interest involving a County employee.  Our audit objective was to determine whether the County administered its HOME program in…

We audited Lake Village of Fairlane Apartments as part of the activities in our fiscal year 2014 annual audit plan.  We selected the project based on a referral from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s (HUD) Detroit Office of Multifamily Housing Programs.  Our objective was to determine whether the project’s owner and former management agents operated the project in accordance with HUD’s requirements and the…

We audited the Lake Village of Auburn Hills multifamily project as part of the activities in our fiscal year 2014 annual audit plan.  We selected the project based on a request from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s (HUD) Detroit Office of Multifamily Housing.  Our objective was to determine whether the project’s owner and former management agents operated the project in accordance with the regulatory agreement…

We audited the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s (HUD) Detroit Office of Public Housing as part of a nationwide audit of HUD’s oversight of environmental reviews.  We selected the Detroit Office based on our risk assessment.  Our audit objectives were to determine whether the Detroit Office’s oversight of public housing environmental reviews within its jurisdiction ensured that (1) the responsible entities performed…

We audited the Pontiac Housing Commission’s Section 8 Housing Choice Voucher program based on our analysis of risk factors relating to the housing agencies in Region 5’s  jurisdiction.  Our objective was to determine whether the Commission complied with Federal, State, or its own requirements regarding its Family Self-Sufficiency program and conflicts of interest. The Commission did not always administer its Family Self-Sufficiency…

We audited the Ferndale Housing Commission’s Section 8 Housing Choice Voucher program as part of the activities in our fiscal year 2014 annual audit plan.  We selected the Commission based upon an analysis of risk factors related to public housing agencies in Region 5’s jurisdiction.   Our objectives were to determine whether the Commission appropriately (1) calculated housing assistance payments, (2) maintained required…