Audit of the Federal Housing Administration's Financial Statements for Fiscal Years 2009 and 2008
This report presents the results of Urbach Kahn and Werlin LLP (UKW) audit of the fiscal year 2009 and 2008 financial statements of the Federal Housing Administration (FHA). The report on FHA’s financial statements, dated November 9, 2009 includes an unqualified opinion on FHA’s financial statements. The report contains four significant deficiencies in FHA’s internal controls and one reportable instance of noncompliance with laws and…
November 11, 2009
Report
#2010-FO-0002
The South Bronx Community Management Co., Inc., Bronx, New York, Had Weaknesses in Its Administration of the Project Maria Isabel
We audited the management agent operations of the South Bronx Community Management Co., Inc. (agent), as they relate to the administration of the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD)-Section 202 direct loan for elderly and handicapped housing project Maria Isabel at the request of the HUD New York City Office of Multifamily Housing. The audit disclosed that the agent generally complied with HUD financial and unit maintenance…
November 02, 2009
Report
#2010-NY-1003
The City of Saginaw, Michigan, Lacked Adequate Controls over Its Community Development Block Grant-Funded Demolition Activities
The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s (HUD) Office of Inspector General audited the City of Saginaw’s (City) Community Development Block Grant (Block Grant) program-funded demolition activities. The audit was part of the activities in our fiscal year 2009 annual audit plan. We selected the City based upon a request from HUD’s Detroit Office of Community Planning and Development. Our audit objective was to determine whether the…
November 01, 2009
Report
#2010-CH-1002
Jersey Mortgage Company, Cranford, New Jersey, Did Not Always Comply with HUD/FHA Loan Underwriting Requirements
We completed an audit of Jersey Mortgage Company (Jersey Mortgage), a nonsupervised lender located in Cranford, New Jersey. The audit objectives were to determine whether Jersey Mortgage (1) approved Federal Housing Administration (FHA)-insured loans in accordance with the requirements of the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD)/FHA, which include adherence to prudent lending practices, and (2) developed and implemented a…
October 08, 2009
Report
#2010-NY-1002
The City of Altoona, Pennsylvania, Made Unsupported Community Development Block Grant Payments
We audited the City of Altoona, Pennsylvania’s (City), Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) program based on a citizen complaint. Our audit objective was to determine if the City properly paid a subrecipient for eligible CDBG activities. We found that the City paid a subrecipient $914,335 for CDBG activities that it could not demonstrate were eligible. The City could not demonstrate that it paid a subreicipient for eligible activities that…
October 01, 2009
Report
#2010-PH-1001
HUD Needs to Make a Final Determination on Whether San Diego Square Subleased Property is HUD Insured Under Section 202 of the Housing Act of 1959
We performed a review of the San Diego Square (Square) project in response to a hotline complaint. The complainant stated that San Diego Kind Corporation (Corporation) misappropriated a lease prepayment of $480,060 and HUD failed to enforce program rules and regulations after detecting the misappropriation. Our objective was to determine whether the complaint was valid. We were unable to determine whether the allegations were valid. The…
September 30, 2009
Memorandum
#2010-LA-0801
Custom Closing Services, Incorporated, Farmington Hills, Michigan, Did Not Always Comply with Its Contract When Closing Sales of HUD Real Estate-Owned Properties
The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development's (HUD) Office of Inspector General performed an audit of Custom Closing Services, Incorporated (Custom), a contractor closing sales of HUD real estate-owned properties in the state of Michigan. The audit was conducted based on a complaint to our hotline alleging that Custom caused significant delays in the closing of HUD homes in Michigan. Our audit objective was to determine whether Custom…
September 29, 2009
Report
#2009-CH-1021
Review of Selected Controls within the Disaster Recovery Grant Reporting System
We audited selected controls within the Disaster Recovery Grant Reporting system (DRGR) related to Neighborhood Stabilization Program (NSP) funding because of the emergency and the transparency nature of the Housing and Economic Recovery Act and the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, respectively, and corresponding statutory timeframes. DRGR is an existing system that was modified to track close to $5.9 billion dollars of NSP funds, the…
September 29, 2009
Report
#2009-DP-0007
Controls Over FHA's Single-Family Lender Approval Process Need Improvement
In response to a congressional request, we audited the Federal Housing Administration (FHA) Title II single-family lender approval process. We wanted to know whether the application process provided effective controls and procedures to ensure approval of only those lenders meeting program requirements.
Our audit found that FHA needs to improve the lender approval process. The process did not have sufficient controls and procedures to ensure…
September 29, 2009
Report
#2009-SE-0004
HUD’s Oversight of FHA Lenders Underwriting of Home Equity Conversion Mortgages Was Generally Adequate
The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s (HUD) Office of Inspector General audited HUD’s oversight of the Federal Housing Administration (FHA)-insured home equity conversion mortgages (HECM) program. We initiated the audit as part of the activities in our 2008 annual audit plan. Our audit objective was to determine whether HUD had adequate oversight of the underwriting of HECM loans. This is the second of two audit reports…
September 29, 2009
Report
#2009-CH-0003
City of Aurora, Colorado’s Capacity to Administer Recovery Act Funding
The City of Aurora, Colorado will receive more than $1.6 million in Recovery Act funding to carry out its Homelessness Prevention and Rapid Re-Housing Program and perform additional activities under its Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) program. HUD's Office of Inspector General (OIG) evaluated the City's capacity to administer its Recovery Act funds. The OIG did not find evidence to indicate that the City lacked the capacity to…
September 29, 2009
Memorandum
#2009-DE-1802
James B. Nutter and Company
We reviewed Federal Housing Administration (FHA)-insured home equity conversion mortgages (HECM) loans originated by First Call Mortgage Company and sponsored by James B. Nutter & Company (J.B.Nutter) during the period of January 2007 to December 2008. We reviewed these loans because in September 2008 state banking regulators from New Hampshire and Massachusetts found that First Call used deceptive business practices and did not have the…
September 28, 2009
Report
#2009-BO-1012
The City of Brockton, Massachusetts, Recipient, Building a Better Brockton, Inc., Lacked Sufficient Capacity to Effectively Administer Its Neighborhood Stabilization Program
We conducted a capacity review of the operations of the City of Brockton’s (City) grantee, Building a Better Brockton, Inc. (recipient), which has responsibility for administering the City’s NSP. Our objective was to determine whether the City and/or its recipient had the capacity to effectively and efficiently administer its NSP under the provisions of the Housing and Economic Recovery Act of 2008 (HERA) and the American Recovery and…
September 27, 2009
Memorandum
#2009-BO-1803
HUD’s Office of Multifamily Housing Needs a Uniform Process to Ensure That Commercial Rent Rates Are Comparable to Market Rate Rents
The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s (HUD) Office of Inspector General audited HUD’s process for reviewing and approving commercial rents for multifamily properties. Our objective was to determine whether HUD’s review and approval process for commercial rents ensured that multifamily properties received commercial rents that were comparable to market rate rents.
HUD did not have a uniform process to ensure that commercial rent…
September 24, 2009
Report
#2009-KC-0002
The Municipality of Río Grande, Puerto Rico, Needs to Improve Administration of Its Community Development Block Grant Program and Its Recovery Act Funds
We audited the Municipality of Rio Grande’s (Municipality) Community Development Block Grant (Block Grant) program. We selected the Municipality for review as part of our strategic plan. The objectives of the audit were to determine whether the Municipality complied with U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) regulations, procedures, and instructions related to the administration of the Block Grant program and whether the…
September 24, 2009
Report
#2009-AT-1012
Evaluation of the Front-End Risk Assessment for the Neighborhood Stabilization Program 2
The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s (HUD) Office of Inspector General reviewed the front-end risk assessment (assessment) for the Neighborhood Stabilization Program 2 (NSP2). Our objective was to determine whether the assessment complied with the Office of Management and Budget’s (OMB) updated guidance for the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (Recovery Act), as well as HUD’s streamlined assessment process. Our…
September 23, 2009
Memorandum
#2009-AT-0801
Evaluation of the Front-End Risk Assessment for the Community Development Block Grant Recovery Program
The U. S. Department of Housing and Urban Development's (HUD) Office of Inspector General evaluated the front-end risk assessment for the Community Development Block Grant Recovery (CDBG-R) grant. Our objective was to determine whether the assessment complied with the Office of Management and Budget’s (OMB) updated guidance for the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (Recovery Act), as well as HUD’s streamlined assessment process.…
September 23, 2009
Memorandum
#2009-FW-0802
Adams County, Colorado Had Weaknesses That Could Significantly Affect Its Capacity to Administer Its Recovery Act Funding
Adams County, Colorado will receive more than $1.3 million in Recovery Act funding to carry out its Homelessness Prevention and Rapid Re-Housing Program and to provide additional funding to its Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) program. HUD's Office of Inspector General (OIG) evaluated the County's capacity to administer its Recovery Act funds. The OIG found weaknesses that could significantly affect the County’s capacity to administer…
September 23, 2009
Memorandum
#2009-DE-1801
The City of Boston's Department of Neighborhood Development, Boston, Massachusetts, Can Develop the Capacity to Administer Its Housing and Economic Recovery Act and American Recovery and Reinvestment Act Programs
We performed an audit of the City of Boston’s (City) Department of Neighborhood Development (Department). We selected the City based upon the results of our previous audit of the City’s HOME Investment Partnerships Program (HOME) and the significance of the Neighborhood Stabilization Program (NSP) funds awarded. Our objective was to determine whether the City had the capacity to effectively and efficiently administer its NSP under the…
September 22, 2009
Memorandum
#2009-BO-1802
The City of Altoona, Pennsylvania, Needs to Strengthen Its Capacity and Controls to Adequately Administer American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 Funding
We audited the City of Altoona, Pennsylvania’s (City) capacity to administer funds it receives under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (Recovery Act). The City will receive $1.3 million in Recovery Act funds to carry out Community Development Block Grant and Homelessness Prevention Rapid Re-Housing activities. Our objective was to determine whether the City had adequate capacity and controls to adequately administer its…
September 22, 2009
Memorandum
#2009-PH-1802