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…

The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) Office of Inspector General (OIG) conducted an evaluation of the operational effectiveness of information technology (IT) security controls for the HUDUSER system, which is operated by HUD’s Office of Policy Development and Research (PD&R).  The OIG identified four significant weaknesses involving website security, underscoring the need to strengthen technical security controls…

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…

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 the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s (HUD) Office of Single Family Housing’s efforts to increase the supply of affordable housing.  Our audit objective was to determine whether HUD met its intended outcome to increase the supply of affordable housing to owner-occupants, governmental entities, and HUD-approved non-profits by expanding the exclusive listing periods for its Real Estate Owned (REO) properties and…

We contracted with the independent public accounting firm of Sikich CPA LLC to audit the financial statements of FHA as of and for the fiscal year ending September 30, 2025, 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 Sikich required that the audit be performed in accordance with U.S. generally…

We contracted with the independent public accounting firm of Sikich CPA LLC to audit the financial statements of HUD as of and for the fiscal year ending September 30, 2025, 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 requirements of the…

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 in HUD 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 these assessments…

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 the…

We contracted with the independent public accounting firm Sikich CPA LLC to audit the financial statements of Ginnie Mae as of and for the years ending September 30, 2025 and 2024, 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 Sikich required that the audit be performed in accordance with U.S.…

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…

HUD did not comply with PIIA because it did not report compliant improper and unknown payment estimates for the Office of Public and Indian Housing’s Tenant-Based Rental Assistance (PIH-TBRA) program and the Office of Multifamily Housing Programs’ Project-Based Rental Assistance (MF-PBRA) program.   These were HUD’s two largest program expenditures, totaling more than $50 billion in fiscal year 2024.  This noncompliance is…

To determine whether all the unexpended obligations of HUD are valid and meet funding guidelines, the Office of the Chief Financial Officer (OCFO) coordinates annually an Open Obligation Review (OOR) of all program and administrative funds. This review determines which funds are still needed and certifies to Treasury that the funds remaining in its obligation balance at the end of the fiscal year represent future obligations for the department…

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…

The Office of National Drug Control Policy (ONDCP) leads and coordinates the Nation’s drug policy to improve the health and lives of the American people, including the development and implementation of the National Drug Control Strategy (the Strategy).  ONDCP evaluates the effectiveness of national drug control policy efforts, the Strategy’s goals and objectives, and each National Drug Control Program Agency’s program-level measures.…

In an effort to increase transparency and accountability in the use of Federal funding in program activities, Federal law and guidance requires the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) and its prime recipients to ensure that complete and accurate subaward data is posted on USASpending.gov.  We audited HUD to determine whether the prime award recipients of HUD funding met all of the Federal Funding Accountability and…

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…

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…

The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s (HUD) development of requirements documents is a collaboration across HUD program offices.  The Office of the Chief Procurement Officer (OCPO) is responsible for obtaining all goods and services required by HUD efficiently and in the most cost-effective manner possible, while program offices are responsible for preparing the requirements documents and submitting an actionable…