HUD OIG assisted the U.S. Attorney’s Office, Southern District of Florida, in the civil investigation of Group One Mortgage, Inc.  Group One’s principal place of business is located in Jupiter, FL.  Group One has participated in the FHA insurance program since 2004 and became a direct endorsement lender in 2005.  The direct endorsement program authorizes private-sector mortgage lenders to approve mortgage loans for FHA insurance…

HUD OIG assisted in an investigation into alleged violations of Federal Housing Administration (FHA) regulations applicable to the direct endorsement program by Golden First Mortgage Corporation and its owner.  Golden First is a former FHA-approved mortgage lender, with its principal place of business located in Great Neck, NY.  Golden First participated in the direct endorsement program from 1989 until 2010.  As a direct…

HUD OIG assisted the U.S. Department of Justice, Washington, DC, and the U.S. Attorney’s Office, District of Colorado, in the civil investigation of MetLife Bank, N.A.  MetLife had its principal place of business in Convent Station, NJ.  MetLife became an approved direct endorsement lender under HUD’s Federal Housing Administration (FHA) program on April 5, 2007.  The direct endorsement program authorizes private-sector mortgage…

HUD OIG conducted a civil investigation of an alleged loan origination fraud scheme involving a cash-out refinance loan that was insured by the Federal Housing Administration (FHA).  FHA provides mortgage insurance on loans made by FHA-approved lenders to creditworthy borrowers.  Borrowers must occupy the properties as their primary residence for at least 1 year.  Borrowers certify to their intent to occupy the property when…

The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), Office of Inspector General audited the City of Minot, ND’s Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) Disaster Recovery program because the City was awarded more than $67 million in CDBG Disaster Recovery funds in April 2012 and an additional $35 million in May 2013.  Before our audit, the City had spent more than $26 million and $1.3 million, respectively.  In addition, we…

We audited the State of Rhode Island’s Neighborhood Stabilization Program (NSP) based on a risk assessment that considered the amount of funding, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s (HUD) risk assessment, and HUD findings related to one of the State’s subrecipients.  Our overall audit objective was to determine whether the State properly administered the NSP and ensured that costs incurred were in accordance with HUD…

We completed a review of the Rhode Island Housing’s HOME Investment Partnerships Program based on an Office of Inspector General risk assessment of New England HOME recipients that considered the amount of funding provided and prior audit and monitoring findings.  Our audit objectives were to determine whether Rhode Island Housing officials awarded HOME funds to grantees in a reasonable and supported manner and whether HOME funds were…

We audited New Image Emergency Shelter’s Housing Opportunities for Persons With AIDS (HOPWA) program based on a referral from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, Office of Inspector General’s (HUD OIG) Office of Investigation and a citizen complaint, alleging that New Image lacked adequate documentation to support program expenditures and employee salaries. Our objective was to determine whether New Image administered and…

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 reviewed the general and application controls over the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s (HUD) Loan Accounting System (LAS) as part of the internal control assessments required for the fiscal year 2014 financial statement audit under the Chief Financial Officer’s Act of 1990.  Our objective was to review the effectiveness of general and application controls over LAS for compliance with HUD information technology…

We audited the Office of the Commissioner for Municipal Affairs’ Section 108 Loan Guarantee program as part of our strategic plan and based on the deficiencies noted during our recent review of Municipal Affairs’ Section 108 Loan Guarantee program, concerning the slow progress of the Vieques Sports Complex project (Audit memorandum number 2014-AT-1801, issued March 20, 2014).  The objectives of the audit were to determine whether Section…

We completed a review of the City of New York, Office of Management and Budget’s administration of the Community Development Block Grant Disaster Recovery Assistance (CDBG-DR) funds awarded to the City as a result of damages caused by Hurricane Sandy.  This review was related to the disbursement of $183 million as reimbursement to the Health and Hospitals Corporation under the City’s Public Service activity.  The objectives of the…

We reviewed the general and application controls over the Federal Housing Administration’s subsidiary ledger as part of the internal control assessments required for the fiscal year 2014 financial statement audit under the Chief Financial Officer’s Act of 1990.  Our objective was to review the effectiveness of general and application controls over the subsidiary ledger for compliance with the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban…

We reviewed the general and application controls over the Federal Housing Administration's (FHA) Single Family Housing Enterprise Data Warehouse as part of the internal control assessments of FHA’s principal financial statements for fiscal year 2014.  Our objective was to determine the effectiveness of general and application controls over the data warehouse for compliance with HUD information technology policies and Federal information…

We audited the Jefferson Parish’s Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) program as part of the Office of Inspector General’s annual audit plan to review Community Development funds.  The audit objective was to determine whether the Parish adequately supported and expended its program funds in accordance with Federal requirements. We found that the Parish did not always (1) have documentation to support program expenditures, (2) comply…

We audited the City of Chicago’s HOME Investment Partnerships Program.  We selected the City’s Program based upon our analysis of risk factors related to Program grantees in Region 5’s jurisdiction.  Our objectives were to determine whether the City complied with HUD’s requirements regarding (1) leases between rental new construction projects’ owners and households, (2) use and reporting of Program income, and (3) monitoring of…

The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development – Office of Inspector General audited the City of Colorado Springs (City) in response to a citizen’s complaint received by our office.  The complainant alleged the City committed HOME Investment Partnerships Program (HOME) funds without written agreements, delayed the reporting of Community Development Block Grants (CDBG) program income in a timely manner, and improperly charged some of…

The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development – Office of Inspector General audited the Colorado Coalition for the Homeless, Denver, CO in response to issues discovered during a U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) - Denver, Office of Community Planning and Development (CPD), monitoring review.  Issues identified during HUD’s review included improperly accounting for administrative costs and the use of grant funds…

The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development – Office of Inspector General audited HUD’s Federal Housing Administrations single family mortgage seven-loan limit.  We initiated this review based on issues identified in an audit of the Wyoming Housing Opportunities Association in memorandum 2013-DE-1801.  Our objective was to determine the impact of investor loan properties on the FHA fund.  We found multiple instances of…

We audited Peoples Home Equity, Inc.(Peoples), a Federal Housing Administration (FHA) approved nonsupervised direct endorsement lender located in Brentwood, TN.  We selected Peoples based on its high default rates.  The audit was part of our annual audit plan to review single family programs and lenders.  Our audit objectives were to determine whether Peoples complied with HUD requirements when it originated and underwrote FHA…