The Puerto Rico Department of Housing Should Enhance Its Fraud Risk Management Practices
We audited the Puerto Rico Department of Housing’s (PRDOH) fraud risk management practices to assess the maturity of its antifraud efforts. HUD heavily relies on its grantees to detect and prevent fraud, waste, and abuse and PRDOH is HUD’s second largest Community Development Block Grant Disaster Recovery and Mitigation (CDBG-DR and CDBG-MIT) grantee with over $20 billion in block grant funding. Our objective was to assess PRDOH’s fraud risk…
October 27, 2023
Report
#2024-FW-1001
Preventing Duplication of Benefits When Using Community Development Block Grant Disaster Recover and Mitigation Funds
We performed an audit examining HUD’s efforts to prevent duplication of benefits when using Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) Disaster Recovery and Mitigation funds. Our objective was to determine how the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) assesses the adequacy of grantee procedures to prevent a duplication of benefits, both before and after grant execution.
HUD certified grantees’ high-level processes for preventing…
October 24, 2023
Report
#2024-FW-0001
Disaster Recovery Data Portal
We performed an audit related to the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s (HUD) Disaster Recovery Data Portal. The Disaster Recovery Data Portal is a technological solution planned by HUD to facilitate the rapid and secure transmission of data from the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) to HUD’s Community Development Block Grant Disaster Recovery grantees. We performed the work because HUD needs a solution to automate…
July 21, 2023
Report
#2023-FW-0003
State of California, 2018 Disasters Owner-Occupied Rehabilitation and Reconstruction Program
We selected the State of California’s 2018 disaster owner-occupied rehabilitation and reconstruction program to audit after an internal risk assessment of disaster grantees showed the grant was newer and had not yet disbursed the majority of its funding. The State received more than $1 billion for the 2018 disasters. Our audit objective was to determine what the State is considering and to what extent resilience-based mitigation efforts help…
July 13, 2023
Report
#2023-FW-1004
The Virgin Islands Housing Finance Authority’s Administration of Its Non-Federal Match Program Had Weaknesses
We audited the Virgin Islands Housing Finance Authority’s Non-Federal Match Program for Community Development Block Grant Disaster Recovery (CDBG-DR) funds. This Match Program was developed to assist non-Federal entities in paying for their share of projects that addressed unmet needs because of the 2017 Hurricanes Irma and Maria. We initiated this audit due to the $415 million of CDBG-DR funds allocated by the Authority and to support the U.S…
June 12, 2023
Report
#2023-FW-1002
Virgin Islands Housing Finance Authority Ineffectively Monitored CDBG-DR Activities
We audited the Virgin Islands Housing Finance Authority’s monitoring of its Community Development Block Grant Disaster Recovery (CDBG-DR)-funded activities. We initiated the audit because of the large amount of CDBG-DR funds awarded to the U.S. Virgin Islands for the 2017 disasters and to aid in the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s (HUD) strategic objective to support effectiveness and accountability in long-term disaster…
June 12, 2023
Report
#2023-FW-1003
HUD Can Improve Its Oversight of the Physical Condition of Public Housing Developments
We audited the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s (HUD) oversight of the physical condition of public housing developments. Our audit objective was to assess HUD’s oversight of the physical condition of public housing developments; specifically, whether HUD had adequate oversight of public housing agencies’ (PHA) (1) corrective actions in response to periodic Real Estate Assessment Center (REAC) inspections and (2) annual self-…
May 30, 2023
Report
#2023-CH-0004
The Stark Metropolitan Housing Authority, Canton, OH, Did Not Always Comply With Federal and Its Own Procurement Requirements
We audited the Stark Metropolitan Housing Authority’s public housing program based on significant deficiencies noted during our prior audit of the Authority. Our audit objective was to determine whether the Authority complied with Federal and its own requirements for procuring goods and services.
The Authority did not always comply with Federal and its own procurement requirements. Specifically, for the contracts reviewed, it did not always (…
May 24, 2023
Report
#2023-CH-1002
HUD’s Oversight of CDBG-DR Grantees’ Use of Program Income
We audited the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s (HUD), oversight of Community Development Block Grant Disaster Recovery (CDBG-DR) grantees’ use of program income. We initiated this audit in accordance with our goal of ensuring and promoting accountability and effectiveness in disaster response and recovery. Our audit objective was to determine whether HUD ensured that program income generated from disaster funds awarded to…
May 17, 2023
Report
#2023-FW-0002
Opportunities Exist to Enhance Oversight of the Foster Youth to Independence Initiative to Improve Program Effectiveness
We audited the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), Office of Public Housing Voucher Programs’ oversight of the Foster Youth to Independence Initiative (FYI). We audited the program early in its implementation to identify opportunities to improve the program’s design and effectiveness. Our audit objective was to determine the effectiveness of FYI.
Opportunities exist to enhance oversight of the Foster Youth to Independence…
March 29, 2023
Report
#2023-LA-0004
HUD Could Improve Its Process for Evaluating the Performance of Public Housing Agencies’ Housing Choice Voucher Programs
We audited the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s (HUD) Section Eight Management Assessment Program (SEMAP) based on our report on HUD’s top management challenges for fiscal years 2020 through 2022 and HUD’s strategic goals and objectives reported in its strategic plan for 2018 through 2022. Our audit objective was to assess the effectiveness of HUD’s SEMAP as a performance measure for the Housing Choice Voucher (HCV) Program.…
March 06, 2023
Report
#2023-CH-0002
CDBG-DR Program Generally Met Low- and Moderate-Income Requirements
We audited the Office of Community Planning and Development’s (CPD) monitoring and oversight of the Community Development Block Grant - Disaster Recovery (CDBG-DR) program. The objective of the audit was to determine whether CPD had effectively and efficiently designed its CDBG-DR program requirements and monitoring to ensure that the grantees meet statutory and other Federal low- and moderate-income (LMI) requirements. Generally, CPD had…
March 03, 2023
Report
#2023-FW-0001
HUD Did Not Sufficiently Flag Unacceptable Physical Condition Scores To Assess Its Controlling Participants
We found 13 properties with consecutive REAC scores below 60 that were missing the required flags in HUD’s Active Partners Performance System (APPS) for unacceptable physical condition. This condition occurred because HUD did not have a quality control program to ensure that the account executives manually entered the flags into APPS and there was no automated process for flagging a property once it received the second consecutive below-60 REAC…
February 14, 2023
Report
#2023-KC-0002
Management Challenges of Federal Agencies in Preparing for and Responding to Natural Disasters
As part of a Council of the Inspectors General on Integrity and Efficiency (CIGIE) Disaster Assistance Working Group cross-cutting initiative, we summarized the conclusions, findings, and recommendations of 28 reports related to the Federal Government’s natural disaster preparedness and response issued by 7 Offices of Inspector General (OIGs). The seven participating OIGs included U.S. Departments of Defense, Health and Human Services, Homeland…
October 18, 2022
Report
#2023-FW-1001
The State of North Carolina Generally Had Capacity and Mostly Followed Disbursement Requirements, but Its Procurement Process Needs Improvement
We audited the State of North Carolina’s Community Development Block Grant Disaster Recovery (CDBG-DR) funds. We initiated this audit as part of our commitment to helping the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) address its top management challenges and to support HUD’s strategic objective to support effectiveness and accountability in long-term disaster recovery. Further, Congress has expressed strong interest in HUD’s…
September 16, 2022
Report
#2022-AT-1002
Long Branch Housing Authority, Long Branch, NJ, Did Not Properly Handle Income and Expenses Related to Agreements With Other Housing Agencies
We audited the Long Branch Housing Authority based on the results of our previous audits of the Asbury Park and Red Bank Housing Authorities, which received management services and technical assistance from Long Branch for several years. The objective of the audit was to determine whether Long Branch properly handled income and expenses associated with its agreements with Asbury Park and Red Bank in accordance with requirements.
Long Branch did…
August 24, 2022
Report
#2022-NY-1003
The Housing Authority of Plainfield, NJ, Did Not Always Comply With Requirements When Administering Its Public Housing Programs
We audited the Housing Authority of Plainfield, NJ’s administration of its public housing programs. We selected the Authority based on a risk analysis of public housing agencies in New Jersey that considered the size of the agency, the amount of operating and capital funds received, and previous work conducted by the Office of Inspector General. The objective of the audit was to determine whether the Authority administered its Public Housing…
March 30, 2022
Report
#2022-NY-1002
The State of Florida Administered Its Housing Repair and Replacement Program Effectively but Not Always in a Cost-Efficient and Prudent Manner for the Projects and Activity Delivery Costs Reviewed
We audited the State of Florida’s Housing Repair and Replacement Program (HRRP), one of the programs that the State developed to address its unmet disaster recovery housing needs because of Hurricane Irma in 2017. We audited this program due to the large amount of Community Development Block Grant Disaster Recovery (CDBG-DR) funding allocated of $346.2 million. Our audit objective was to determine whether the State administered its 2017 CDBG-…
March 30, 2022
Report
#2022-AT-1001
HUD Did Not Have Adequate Policies and Procedures for Ensuring That Public Housing Agencies Properly Processed Requests for Reasonable Accommodation
We audited the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s (HUD) oversight of its public housing agencies’ (PHA) reasonable accommodation policies and procedures. We initiated this audit because we identified an increase in housing discrimination complaints based on a failure to provide a reasonable accommodation, even as the total number of all housing discrimination complaints was decreasing. Our audit objective was to determine…
February 07, 2022
Report
#2022-BO-0001
The Buffalo Municipal Housing Authority, Buffalo, NY, Needs To Improve Its Management of the Commodore Perry Homes Development To Address Longstanding Concerns
We audited the Buffalo Municipal Housing Authority’s management of its Commodore Perry Homes development. We selected the Authority based on congressional interest. Half of the development’s buildings were demolished more than 20 years ago, and the majority of the remaining buildings and units have been vacant for years without redevelopment activity. The objective of the audit was to determine whether the Authority properly managed its…
January 11, 2022
Report
#2022-NY-1001