We audited the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), Federal Housing Administration (FHA) Claims Without Conveyance of Title (CWCOT) program.  We selected this review to assist HUD in recovering improper payments and to reduce the risk of losses to the FHA insurance fund. The objective of our audit was to assess whether HUD is appropriately demanding and collecting improper payments identified for CWCOT loans by its…

We conducted an audit on the effectiveness of the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s (HUD) Home Equity Conversion Mortgage (HECM) program’s Life Expectancy Set Asides (LESA).  The LESA is a set aside portion of the HECM mortgage that makes property tax, hazard insurance, and flood insurance payments on behalf of certain financially vulnerable borrowers.  While not guaranteed, the LESA funds are intended to last for the…

In August 2024, we issued an audit report on the California Department of Housing and Community Development’s (HCD) fraud risk management practices, finding that HCD was not adequately prepared to prevent, detect, and respond to fraud due to the lack of focus it placed on fraud risks and establishing a robust fraud risk management framework for the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act (CARES) Act funding for the Emergency Solutions…

We recently issued an audit report on the City and County of Honolulu’s (City) fraud risk management practices, which determined the grantee did not adequately develop a fraud risk management framework for the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act funding provided for the Emergency Solutions Grant (ESG) program to prevent, detect, and respond to fraud (Audit Report No. 2024-LA-1002, issued August 6, 2024). This audit follows…

Beginning in 2021, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) Office of Inspector General (OIG) conducted several audits to assess HUD’s anti-fraud efforts and to develop inventories of fraud risks for several of its programs.  Our previous work found that HUD’s fraud risk management program was in its early stages of development and we recommended that HUD perform program-specific fraud risk assessments and incorporate…

We audited New York City (NYC) Department of Social Services (DSS) with the objective of evaluating DSS’ fraud risk management practices for its Emergency Solutions Grants Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act (ESG CARES Act) funded activities and assessed the maturity of its efforts to prevent, detect, and respond to fraud.  Fraud within activities funded by the ESG CARES Act can lead to significant financial losses,…

We audited Neighborhood Loans, Inc., to evaluate its quality control (QC) program for originating and underwriting Single Family FHA-insured loans. Our audit covered the period October 2020 through September 2022.  We selected Neighborhood Loans for review based on its increasing loan volume and delinquency rate and because its rate of self-reporting loans to HUD when it identified fraud, material misrepresentations, and other material…

We audited Flat Branch Mortgage, Inc., to evaluate its quality control (QC) program for originating and underwriting Single Family FHA-insured loans.  Our audit covered the period October 2020 through September 2022.  We selected Flat Branch for review based on its loan volume and delinquency rate and because its rate of self-reporting loans to HUD when it identified fraud, material misrepresentations, and other material findings that…

This report was issued from a series of six reports taking an in-depth look at how six communities used the pandemic funding they received to address a wide range of needs. This report focused on Jicarilla Apache Nation Reservation in New Mexico with a detailed look at six of the 42 pandemic programs that provided funding to the community. This report was led by the Pandemic Relief Accountability Committee (PRAC) in coordination with HUD OIG as…

We audited the HUD Office of Housing Counseling to assess its processes for achieving its goal to advance homeownership through prepurchase and postpurchase homeownership counseling, including its use of performance metrics and the collection and use of outcome data.  We selected this review because housing counseling plays a significant role in improving housing outcomes for home buyers, homeowners, and renters.HUD’s Office of Housing…

We audited loanDepot.com to evaluate its quality control (QC) program for originating and underwriting Single Family Federal Housing Administration (FHA)-insured loans.  We selected loanDepot for review based on its loan volume and delinquency rate and because its rate of self-reporting loans to HUD when it identified fraud, material misrepresentations, and other material findings that it could not mitigate was below average for more than…

This report was issued from a developing series of six reports taking an in-depth look at how six communities used the pandemic funding they received to address a wide range of needs. This report focused on White Earth Nation Reservation in Minnesota with a detailed look at ten of the 56 pandemic programs that provided funding to the community. This report was led by the Pandemic Relief Accountability Committee (PRAC) in coordination with HUD…

We performed an audit of CMG Mortgage, Inc., to evaluate its quality control (QC) program for originating and underwriting Single Family Federal Housing Administration (FHA)-insured loans.  We selected CMG for review based on its loan volume and delinquency rate and because its rate of self-reporting loans to HUD when it identified fraud, material misrepresentations, and other material findings that it could not mitigate was below average…

We performed an audit of Carrington Mortgage’s compliance with Federal Housing Administration (FHA) requirements for foreclosures that started in 2022. Pursuant to the Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security Act (CARES Act), as extended by the Secretary, from March 18, 2020, through July 31, 2021, there was a pause on new and ongoing foreclosures for FHA single‐family mortgages for homes that remained occupied. We selected Carrington…

We performed an audit of MidFirst’s compliance with Federal Housing Administration (FHA) requirements for foreclosures that started in 2022.  Pursuant to the Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security Act (CARES Act), as extended by the Secretary, from March 18, 2020, through July 31, 2021, there was a pause on new and ongoing foreclosures for FHA single‐family mortgages for homes that remained occupied. We selected MidFirst Bank…

This report was issued from a developing series of six reports taking an in-depth look at how six communities used the pandemic funding they received to address a wide range of needs. This report focused on Coeur d’Alene, Idaho, with a detailed look at six of the 27 pandemic programs that provided funding to the community. This report was led by the Pandemic Relief Accountability Committee (PRAC) in coordination with HUD OIG as a project…

We audited the Federal Housing Administration (FHA), Office of Asset Sales’ U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD)‐Held Vacant Loan Sales (HVLS) program. The audit objective was to assess the extent to which HUD tracks and measures its loan sales’ program success and its achievement of mission outcomes as they relate to the Affordable Housing Action Plan.  HUD did not have adequate information to measure its loan sales’…

We audited HUD and its grantees’ monitoring of subrecipients and contractors in HUD’s Emergency Solutions Grants Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act (ESG-CV) program to assess subrecipient monitoring in the program.  ESG and ESG-CV grantees often rely on subrecipients and contractors to carry out ESG-CV-funded activities on behalf of the grantees, and are required to monitor subrecipients to ensure that the purpose of…

This report was issued from a developing series of six reports taking an in-depth look at how six communities used the pandemic funding they received to address a wide range of needs. This report focused on Sheridan County, Nebraska, with a detailed look at six of the 31 pandemic programs that provided funding to the community. This report was led by the Pandemic Relief Accountability Committee in coordination with HUD OIG as a project…

We audited the City and County of Honolulu’s Department of Budget and Fiscal Services’ and Department of Community Services’ (City) fraud risk management practices for its Emergency Solutions Grants Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act (ESG CARES Act) program with the objective of assessing the maturity of the City’s fraud risk management framework that encompasses control activities to prevent, detect, and respond to fraud.…