We contracted with the independent public accounting firm of CliftonLarsonAllen LLP (CLA) to audit the financial statements of Ginnie Mae as of and for the fiscal years ended September 30, 2023 and 2022, and to provide reports on Ginnie Mae’s (1) internal control over financial reporting and (2) compliance with laws, regulations, contracts, and grant agreements and other matters.  Our contract with CLA required that the audit be performed…

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…

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…

We audited the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s (HUD) Real Estate Assessment Center’s inspection process.  The audit objectives were to determine whether the Center (1) ensured that public housing properties were inspected within required timeframes before the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic; (2) could improve its Big Inspection Plan for inspecting high-priority non-National Standards for the Physical…

The Office of Evaluation began preliminary research related to the Program Management Improvement Accountability Act (PMIAA) of 2016.  The objective was to determine how HUD has implemented and complied with the requirements of PMIAA.  After completing informational interviews with HUD officials and reviewing related documentation, we have determined that a full evaluation is premature at this time because HUD is still implementing key…

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…

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)…

We conducted this evaluation to assess the maturity of HUD’s Robotic process automation (RPA) activities and determine whether HUD had implemented related controls to address technology and program management risks.  RPA is a software technology used to emulate human actions on a computer.  RPA software programs, referred to as “bots,” can complete repetitive tasks quickly and consistently, freeing up employees to work on other, higher…

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-…

We audited the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s (HUD) information technology (IT) infrastructure to support mandatory telework. During mandatory telework, more employees simultaneously needed remote access to HUD’s network and agency resources for an extended period, which presented unique risks and security requirements. While HUD is no longer operating under mandatory telework, understanding the challenges it faced is key to…

The Federal Information Security Modernization Act of 2014 (FISMA) requires all Federal agencies to conduct independent penetration tests and vulnerability assessments on a sampling of information systems annually.  In conjunction with our fiscal year 2022 FISMA evaluation (2022-OE-0001), we conducted a targeted penetration test and vulnerability assessment of sample systems that resulted in a Topic Brief.  The objective of this…

We contracted with the independent public accounting firm of CliftonLarsonAllen LLP (CLA) to audit the financial statements of HUD as of and for the fiscal years ended September 30, 2022 and 2021, and to provide reports on HUD’s 1) internal control over financial reporting; and 2) compliance with laws, regulations, contracts, and grant agreements and other matters, including whether financial management systems complied substantially with the…

We contracted with the independent public accounting firm of CliftonLarsonAllen LLP (CLA) to audit the financial statements of FHA as of and for the fiscal years ended September 30, 2022 and 2021, and to provide reports on FHA’s 1) internal control over financial reporting; and 2) compliance with laws, regulations, contracts, and grant agreements and other matters.  Our contract with CLA required that the audit be performed in accordance…

We contracted with the independent public accounting firm of CliftonLarsonAllen LLP (CLA) to audit the financial statements of Ginnie Mae as of and for the fiscal years ended September 30, 2022 and 2021, and to provide reports on Ginnie Mae’s 1) internal control over financial reporting; and 2) compliance with laws, regulations, contracts, and grant agreements and other matters. Our contract with CLA required that the audit be performed in…

The Federal Information Security Modernization Act of 2014 (FISMA) directs Inspectors General to conduct an annual evaluation of the agency information security program.  FISMA, Department of Homeland Security (DHS), Office of Management and Budget (OMB) and National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) establish information technology (IT) security guidance and standards for Federal agencies. We conducted this evaluation to assess…

We audited the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s (HUD) efforts to meet the Geospatial Data Act of 2018 (the Act). Our audit objective was to determine whether HUD met the 13 responsibilities stated in the Act with regard to its collection, production, acquisition, maintenance, distribution, use, and preservation of geospatial data.  The Act also generally requires covered agencies provide access to geospatial data and…

In coordination with the Pandemic Response Accountability Committee, we conducted an audit to identify potential fraud schemes that could affect HUD’s pandemic funds.  We reviewed the funds appropriated by the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act and the American Rescue Plan (ARP) Act for the Tenant-Based Rental Assistance (TBRA), Project-Based Rental Assistance (PBRA), HOME Investment Partnerships, and Public Housing…

We audited the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s (HUD) Community Development Block Grant Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act program. Our audit objective was to determine what challenges grantees faced in using program funds for activities that prepare for, prevent, or respond to the coronavirus and its impact.  We used a survey questionnaire to gather feedback and insight directly from 1,047 program…

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…

We completed a corrective action verification (CAV) of recommendations from prior Office of Inspector General (OIG) audit reports on the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s (HUD) government purchase cards and government travel cards, both issued January 31, 2020. During our CAV, we followed up on all 10 recommendations from OIG audit report 2020-KC-0001 and all 13 recommendations from OIG audit report 2020-KC-0002. Our CAV…