Nationstar Generally Did Not Meet HUD Requirements When Providing Loss Mitigation to Borrowers of Delinquent FHA-Insured Loans
We audited Nationstar Mortgage, LLC’s (doing business as Mr. Cooper (Nationstar)) compliance with the Federal Housing Administration’s (FHA) requirements for providing loss mitigation assistance to borrowers after their COVID-19 forbearance ended. We concurrently conducted a nationwide audit of servicers’ compliance with the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s (HUD) COVID-19 loss mitigation requirements (HUD Office of Inspector…
June 13, 2023
Report
#2023-KC-1001
Servicers Generally Did Not Meet HUD Requirements When Providing Loss Mitigation Assistance to Borrowers With Delinquent FHA-Insured Loans
We performed an audit of loan servicers’ compliance with the Federal Housing Administration’s (FHA) requirements for providing loss mitigation assistance to borrowers after their COVID-19 forbearance ended. We initiated the audit based on the large number of borrowers exiting forbearance, because the loss mitigation programs available to these borrowers were new and created a risk for both borrowers and the FHA insurance fund when servicers do…
June 13, 2023
Report
#2023-KC-0005
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 Can Improve Oversight of Its Temporary Endorsement Policy for Loans in COVID-19 Forbearance
We audited the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s (HUD) temporary policy for endorsement of loans with COVID-19 forbearance activity because an analysis of data in HUD’s systems showed that there may have been loans that did not comply with the policy’s requirements. The policy was one aspect of HUD’s broader emergency response to COVID-19, which also included an eviction moratorium and loan forbearance for borrowers…
May 15, 2023
Report
#2023-NY-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
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
HUD’s Communication to Homeowners About COVID-19 Policies
We audited the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s (HUD) efforts to proactively communicate information related to the coronavirus disease of 2019 (COVID-19) to homeowners with Federal Housing Administration (FHA)-insured mortgages. We initiated this work based on a U.S. Government Accountability Office report that identified helping borrowers understand the protections available to them as a key challenge and prior audit and…
January 30, 2023
Report
#2023-NY-0001
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
Approximately 31,500 FHA-Insured Loans Did Not Maintain the Required Flood Insurance Coverage in 2020
Develop a control to detect loans that did not maintain the required flood insurance to put $1.5 billion to better use by avoiding potential future costs to the FHA insurance fund from inadequately insured properties.
Corrective Action Taken
In November 2022, FHA published the Acceptance of Private Flood Insurance for FHA-Insured Mortgages final rule (Docket No. FR-6084-F-02) in the Federal Register and issued Mortgagee Letter 2022-18,…
March 22, 2022
Report
#2022-KC-0002
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
HUD Did Not Have Adequate Controls in Place to Track, Monitor, and Issue FHA Refunds Owed to Homeowners
We audited the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s (HUD) oversight of Federal Housing Administration (FHA) refunds based on a hotline complaint alleging that HUD was trying to make it difficult for claimants to obtain refunds or discourage them from pursuing the refunds, which are due to eligible homeowners from the unearned portion of the upfront mortgage insurance premium paid. Our audit found the allegations from the hotline…
January 07, 2022
Report
#2022-LA-0001
FHA Borrowers Did Not Always Properly Receive COVID-19 Forbearances From Their Loan Servicers
The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), Office of Inspector General (OIG), completed an audit to determine whether FHA-insured borrowers properly received the COVID-19-related forbearance. The Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act (CARES Act), signed into law on March 27, 2020, provided a mortgage payment forbearance option for all borrowers who suffered a financial hardship due to the COVID-19 national…
December 15, 2021
Report
#2022-KC-0001
HUD Did Not Always Implement Corrective Actions To Further Ensure That HECM Borrowers Complied With Principal Residency Requirements
The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), Office of Inspector General (OIG), completed a corrective action verification (CAV) of recommendations from four prior home equity conversion mortgage (HECM) audit reports. The CAV was initiated because protecting the Federal Housing Administration (FHA) mutual mortgage insurance fund is one of HUD’s top management challenges. The prior audits determined that HUD lacked controls to…
December 10, 2021
Report
#2022-PH-0801
Evaluating Public Housing Agency Challenges With the HUD Veterans Affairs Supportive Housing Program
We conducted this evaluation due to the growing homeless crisis and the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s (HUD) establishing a goal of ending homelessness. Our objective was to evaluate the challenges that participating public housing agencies (PHA) face in meeting the goals and objectives of the HUD Veterans Affairs Supportive Housing (VASH) program.
The results from our limited review may help HUD in addressing PHAs’…
November 30, 2021
Report
#2022-LA-0801
Public Housing Agencies’ Experiences and Challenges Regarding the Administration of HUD’s CARES Act Funds
We conducted a limited review of the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s (HUD) Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act supplemental public housing operating funds (supplemental funds). Our objective was to assess public housing agencies’ (PHA) experiences and challenges and HUD’s efforts in providing guidance related to the administration of the supplemental operating funds under the CARES Act.
We found that…
November 16, 2021
Memorandum
#2022-CH-0801
HUD Remains Challenged To Serve the Maximum Number of Eligible Families Due to Decreasing Utilization in the Housing Choice Voucher Program
We audited the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s (HUD) oversight of voucher utilization and reallocation in the Housing Choice Voucher Program based on the HUD Office of Inspector General’s (OIG) report on HUD’s top management challenges for fiscal year 2020 and HUD’s strategic goals and objectives reported in its 2018-2022 strategic plan.
In addition, while responding to a congressional inquiry from Senator Chuck Grassley’s…
September 15, 2021
Report
#2021-CH-0001