In accordance with our regional audit plan, we performed a number of reviews of very small and small housing agencies located in the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s (HUD) Region 6 jurisdiction.  We worked with HUD’s Office of Public and Indian Housing (PIH) and Departmental Enforcement Center and the Office of the Inspector General’s (OIG) Office of Investigation to identify housing agencies with areas of concern. …

We conducted a limited review of the Cambridge Housing Authority’s Moving to Work Housing Choice Voucher Program’s use of exception payment standards.   This program allows public housing authorities to use exception payment standards to set rental payments in excess of the payment standard established for an authority’s rents . The review was initiated as a result of a concern raised by a member of Congress about whether public…

The Duson Housing Authority failed to administer its public housing programs in accordance with HUD regulations and other requirements.  Specifically, it did not maintain (1) its units and property grounds or perform annual unit inspections, (2) auditable files, (3) adequate documentation to support tenant childcare and medical expense deductions and utility allowances, and (4) its waiting list properly.  This condition occurred…

We audited the Fresno Housing Authority due to a complaint alleging that the Authority steered contracts, did not seek competition for all of its required procurements, and did not maintain adequate supporting documentation.  The objective of the audit was to determine whether the Authority used its operating and capital funds in accordance with U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) requirements when procuring goods and…

We audited the Jefferson Metropolitan Housing Authority’s Section 8 Housing Choice Voucher program based on a request from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) and the activities included in our 2015 annual audit plan.  Our audit objectives were to determine whether the Authority (1) appropriately calculated housing assistance payments, (2) maintained required eligibility documentation to support the admission and…

We audited the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s (HUD) Rental Assistance Demonstration.  We initiated the audit under the HUD Office of Inspector General’s annual audit plan.  Our objective was to determine whether HUD had adequate controls over the Demonstration, to include (1) an appropriate completion of a risk assessment that adequately evaluated the following risks: (a) the need for additional administrative…

In accordance with our regional plan to review public housing programs and as part of our overall risk strategy, we reviewed the Housing Authority of the City of Victoria, TX.  Our objective was to determine whether the Authority operated its public housing and related grant programs in accordance with the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s (HUD) requirements.  However, we limited our review to determining whether the…

The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) – Office of Inspector General audited the Fairmont Housing Authority in Fairmont, NE, regarding its procurement and expenditures for its HUD, Office of Public and Indian Housing programs.  Our audit objective was to determine whether the Authority followed HUD rules and regulations and its own policies and procedures for procurement and expenditures. The Authority did not properly…

We audited the Brown County Housing Authority’s Section 8 Housing Choice Voucher program based on our analysis of risk factors related to the public housing agencies in Region 5’s jurisdiction  and the activities included in our fiscal year 2015 annual audit plan.  Our audit objectives were to determine whether the Authority (1) appropriately calculated housing assistance payments and (2) maintained required eligibility documentation…

We reviewed the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s (HUD) oversight of the Chicago Housing Authority’s Moving to Work program based on a congressional request from former Congressman Aaron Schock and media attention regarding the Authority’s exception payment standards.  Our objective was to determine whether HUD provided adequate oversight of the Authority’s Moving to Work exception payment standards. HUD’s Office of Public…

We audited the Detroit Housing Commission’s Section 8 Moderate Rehabilitation Program as part of the activities in our fiscal year 2015 annual audit plan.  We selected the Commission based upon a citizen’s complaint alleging mismanagement in the administration of the Commission’s former program projects, Colony Arms and Fisher Arms Apartments.  Our audit objectives were to determine whether the Commission appropriately (1) maintained…

We reviewed the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s (HUD) Greensboro, NC, Office of Community Planning and Development’s approval of the City of High Point’s use of a 15 percent cost estimate margin.  The objective of this review was to determine whether HUD knowingly allowed the City to use the 15 percent margin.  HUD’s Greensboro, NC, Office of Community Planning and Development allowed the City to use the 15 percent…

We audited Broward County’s Continuum of Care Program, which was awarded more than $21 million in the 2011 through 2013 grant years. The objectives were to determine whether Broward County (1) spent grant funds for eligible program activities and ensured that expenditures were sufficiently supported and (2) maintained sufficient documentation to support that the funding sources used to match the grant funds were eligible. Broward County…

We audited the City of West Covina’s Community Development Block Grant program because of a news article 1  raising concerns about the City’s financial policies and past spending practices that included the mismanagement of funds.  The review was also the first time that the Office of Inspector General had conducted a review of the City.  Our objective was to determine whether the City administered its program in accordance with…

The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) – Office of Inspector General audited the York Housing Authority in York, NE, regarding its procurement and expenditures for its HUD, Office of Public and Indian Housing programs.  Our audit objective was to determine whether the Authority followed HUD rules and regulations and its own policies and procedures for procurement and expenditures. The Authority did not properly procure…

The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) – Office of Inspector General audited the Stromsburg Housing Authority in Stromsburg, NE, regarding its procurement and expenditures for its HUD, Office of Public and Indian Housing programs.  Our audit objective was to determine whether the Authority followed HUD rules and regulations and its own policies and procedures for procurement and expenditures. The Authority did not…

At the request of the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s (HUD) Office of Public Housing in Albuquerque, NM, we conducted a review of the Mesilla Valley Public Housing Authority.  The Office of Public Housing estimated that the Authority could lose nearly $1 million by the end of 2014 because it had leased only 983 of its 1,607 vouchers.  Our objectives were to determine the extent, cause, and impact of not leasing all…

In accordance with our regional plan to review public housing programs and because of a complaint filed by a contractor with the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s (HUD) Office of the Inspector General (OIG) and issues identified by HUD’s Office of Public Housing, we performed a review of the Hot Springs Housing Authority.  The contractor alleged that the Authority did not procure a contract in compliance with Federal…

The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), Office of Inspector General audited HUD’s Office of Community Planning and Development’s (CPD) administration of the HOME Investment Partnerships Program’s matching requirements to determine whether CPD effectively reviewed participating jurisdictions’ match logs and the support for their match contributions and whether it applied the correct match reductions in fiscal year 2013.…

We completed a review of Hudson County, NJ’s administration of its Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) program based on a risk analysis performed by the Office of Inspector General (OIG).  The objective of the audit was to determine whether County officials had established and implemented controls to ensure that the County administered its CDBG program in accordance with program requirements. Our review determined that Hudson County’s…