We audited HUD’s appraiser review process as part of our annual plan. The audit was proposed in response to a single-family loan origination audit that raised concerns regarding HUD’s oversight of FHA appraisers. This is the second of two audits covering HUD’s controls over the appraiser review process. The first audit report, 2008-LA-0002, focused on HUD’s oversight of the FHA appraiser roster; whereas this audit report focuses on the…

We completed a review of First Source Financial USA (First Source), a former nonsupervised loan correspondent approved to originate FHA-insured loans. The objective was to determine whether First Source originated FHA loans and had a quality control plan that complied with HUD rules and regulations. We reviewed 20 loans amounting to more than $2.5 million that were in claim status. Our review disclosed that First Source: (1) allowed…

The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), Office of Inspector General, reviewed James B. Nutter and Company's (J.B. Nutter) quality control program. Our objective was to determine whether J.B. Nutter followed HUD's quality control requirements for home equity conversion mortgages insured by the Federal Housing Administration (FHA). We concluded that for six months in 2007 and 2008, J.B. Nutter did not meet HUD's or its own…

We completed an audit of Wells Fargo Bank NA, Rochester, New York, Branch Office (Wells Fargo), a national bank and supervised lender. The audit objectives were to determine whether Wells Fargo (1) approved insured loans in accordance with U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD)/Federal Housing Administration (FHA) requirements, which include following prudent lending practices, and (2) developed and implemented a quality control…

The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) Office of Inspector General reviewed 23 Federal Housing Administration (FHA) loans underwritten by Peoples Bank of Overland Park , Kansas . Our audit objectives were to determine whether Peoples Bank followed HUD requirements for (1) borrower eligibility and creditworthiness and property eligibility when underwriting loans and (2) implementing a quality control program. We concluded…

We audited the City of Tulsa's (City) Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) program due to a departmental request. Our initial objective was to determine whether the City expended CDBG funds in accordance with U. S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) rules and regulations. Based upon the initial results, we modified the objective to determine whether the City ensured that its largest subrecipient, the Tulsa Development…

We audited the Newark, Delaware, branch office (branch office) of Wells Fargo Home Mortgage (Wells Fargo). The branch office is mainly responsible for underwriting loans for 22 Wells Fargo sales branch offices in Pennsylvania. We selected the branch office because of its relatively high default rate, compared with the average default rate for the state of Pennsylvania. Our objective was to determine whether the branch office complied with U.S.…

The U. S. Department of Housing and Urban Development's (HUD) Office of Inspector General audited HUD's administration of the Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) set-aside for colonias (colonia set-aside). We performed the review because of concerns that surfaced during an audit survey of the state of Texas's colonia set-aside funds. That review showed that HUD had not issued regulations or handbooks that required compliance with Section…

HUD OIG audited Meridian Lending, Inc., a Federal Housing Administration (FHA)-approved direct endorsement lender. The objectives were to determine whether it followed the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development's (HUD) requirements for (1) borrower eligibility and creditworthiness and property eligibility when underwriting loans and (2) implementing a quality control program. Meridian did not follow HUD requirements in originating two…

We audited the Milford, Connecticut, branch office of Countrywide Bank, FSB (Countrywide), which is a supervised national bank approved by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) to originate, underwrite, and service Federal Housing Administration (FHA) single-family insured loans. We selected the Milford, Connecticut, branch office largely based on a lender risk analysis, which showed that the loans it originated had a…

The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development's (HUD) Office of Inspector General reviewed HUD's oversight of projects that opted out of the Section 8 program between January 1, 2004, and December 31, 2007. We reviewed the opt-out process because it involved large amounts of funds potentially not accounted for or remitted to HUD. With a few minor exceptions, HUD complied with applicable requirements while administering the opt-out…

We reviewed Senior Reverse Mortgage Services, Incorporated (originator), a home equity conversion mortgage (HECM) originator. The originator originated loans for one of the largest lenders in Texas, Financial Freedom Senior Funding Corporation. Our objective was to determine whether the originator complied with U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) regulations and adequately counseled borrowers and disclosed costs. Generally,…

We concluded that Single Family could improve the reliability of its process for reporting performance measure results. Single Family has a performance measurement process in place; however, it could make the process more reliable if it routinely evaluated data used for performance measure results and formally documented its structure and process for developing, monitoring, and reporting on performance measures. We recommended that HUD…

We audited the Municipality of Carolina's (Municipality) Community Development Block Grant (Block Grant) program. We selected the Municipality for review as part of our strategic plan. The objective of the audit was 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. The Municipality…

We completed an audit of the County of Essex's (County) Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) program, which was administered by its Division of Housing and Community Development. Our audit objectives were to determine whether the County disbursed CDBG funds efficiently and effectively in accordance with its submission to HUD and applicable rules and regulations and had a financial management system in place to adequately safeguard the funds…

We completed an audit of the operations of the City of Troy, New York (the City), pertaining to its administration of its Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) program. The objective of our audit was to determine whether the City administered its CDBG program in an effective and efficient manner in compliance with applicable HUD rules and regulations. The audit disclosed that the City generally complied with HUD program requirements when…

As part of the Office of Inspector General (OIG) annual goals for internal audits, we reviewed U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) policies prohibiting the use of funds from the Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) program to supplant general government funds. Congress stated in a 2006 House congressional report that CDBG funds were never meant "to be used to replace local general government funds on projects communities…

We completed an audit of Mortgage Access Corporation, doing business as Weichert Financial Services, a nonsupervised lender located in Morris Plains, New Jersey. The audit objectives were to determine whether Mortgage Access Corporation (1) approved insured loans in accordance with U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD)/Federal Housing Administration (FHA) requirements, and (2) developed and implemented a quality control plan…

We audited A Plus Mortgage, Inc. (A Plus), to determine whether (1) the fees charged to Federal Housing Administration (FHA) borrowers by A Plus were appropriate under U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), FHA, and Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act (RESPA) regulations and (2) the loan officers originating FHA-insured loans were employees of A Plus. A Plus disregarded HUD FHA requirements and provisions of RESPA and engaged…