Opportunities Exist for CPD To Improve Collection of Disaster Recovery Grantee Data for Non-Federal Match Activities
The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), Office of Inspector General (OIG) is auditing the use of Community Development Block Grant Disaster Recovery (CDBG-DR) funds as non-Federal match for the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s (FEMA)Public Assistance Program. Our objectives are to determine whether four CDBG-DR grantees made improper payments and whether the Office of Community Planning and Development’s…
February 28, 2025
Report
#2025-FW-0801
Grantees Were Delayed in Completing National Disaster Resilience Program Activities, but Remain On Track to Accomplish Goals
We audited the project activity status for 12 grantees that received funds under the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s (HUD) Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) National Disaster Resilience (NDR) grant to determine whether the grantees have accomplished or are on track to accomplish the goals of the activities outlined in their action plans. We found that NDR grantees should be able to accomplish their program goals by…
February 21, 2025
Report
#2025-FW-0001
Status of Puerto Rico Electrical System Enhancements Efforts
We reviewed the Puerto Rico Department of Housing’s (PRDOH) Electrical Power System Enhancements and Improvements programs to provide (1) background and funding information, (2) an update on the status of the programs and their progress, and (3) other relevant program information for interested stakeholders including Congress and the public. The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) provided its grantee, PRDOH, $1.93…
August 09, 2024
Report
#2024-FW-1004
The Puerto Rico Housing Finance Authority’s Homebuyer Assistance Program Positively Impacted Participants but May Not Have Distributed Disaster Recovery Funds Equitably
We audited the Puerto Rico Housing Finance Authority’s (PRHFA) Homebuyer Assistance Program (HBA), which provides eligible applicants with closing costs and downpayment assistance for the purchase of a primary residence. The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) provided its grantee, the Puerto Rico Department of Housing (PRDOH), $495 million in Community Development Block Grant Disaster Recovery funds for HBA Our…
March 19, 2024
Report
#2024-FW-1003
After More Than 6 Years, The City of New Orleans’ National Disaster Resilience Project Activities Had Made Little Impact on Resilience
In January 2017, HUD awarded the City $141.2 million in Community Development Block Grant National Disaster Resilience grant funding for disaster resilience. HUD designed the grant to give states flexibility in planning program activities and help state and local communities recover from past disasters, while also improving their infrastructure to withstand future extreme events through strategic community investments. The City initially…
March 11, 2024
Report
#2024-FW-1002
CPD Could Improve the Timing of Delivery of Disaster Recovery Funding
From 2001 to 2022, the Community Development Block Grant - Disaster Recovery program provided almost $98 billion to states, cities, counties, and territories to help them recover from disasters. Administering disaster recovery has been a recurring U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) top management challenge since 2018. Therefore, we audited the disaster recovery program to determine whether the Office of Community…
December 15, 2023
Report
#2024-FW-0002
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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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)…
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,…
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-…
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…
October 18, 2022
Report
#2023-FW-1001