We audited the Housing Authority of the Township of Irvington, NJ, regarding the administration of its public housing program because it was classified as a troubled public housing agency and based on a complaint from the union representing its maintenance and clerical employees.  The complaint alleged serious financial and operational mismanagement.  The audit objectives were to determine whether the issues identified in the…

We audited the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s (HUD) oversight of Federal Housing Administration (FHA)-insured loans originated with borrower-financed downpayment assistance.  The audit was initiated based on the results from three HUD, Office of Inspector General (OIG) audits, which determined that lenders allowed FHA borrowers to finance their own downpayments through an increase in their mortgage interest rate as part…

The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), Office of Inspector General audited the Section 8 housing assistance payments program of the New Horizons project in Kansas City, MO.  Our objective was to determine whether New Horizons properly verified tenants’ eligibility, requested assistance only for tenants living in the units, retained tenant files for the required period, and properly collected and deposited tenant rents…

The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), Office of Inspector General (OIG), assisted the U.S. Department of Justice, Washington, DC, and the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of New Jersey in a civil investigation of Security National Mortgage Company.  Security National is a Federal Housing Administration (FHA)-approved mortgage lender with its principal place of business located in Salt Lake City, UT. On…

We audited the Puerto Rico Department of Housing’s multifamily special escrow funds.  This audit was the result of a referral from the San Juan Office of Multifamily Housing Programs.  The objectives of the audit were to determine whether the Department administered and disbursed its escrow funds in accordance with its memorandum of understanding with the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) and whether funded…

In accordance with the Chief Financial Officers Act of 1990, as amended, we are required to annually audit the consolidated financial statements of the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD). HUD reissued its fiscal year 2016 and 2015 (Restated) consolidated financial statements due to pervasive material errors that were identified by us. Our objective was to express an opinion on the fairness of HUD’s consolidated…

The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), Office of Inspector General audited Village North Apartments in Salt Lake City, Utah based on concerns that surfaced during another assignment when it appeared as though Village North might have moved tenants in and out of units and collected housing assistance payments for them without changing the social security numbers or birthdates for the new tenants.  The objective of our…

The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), Office of Inspector General (OIG), reviewed preforeclosure sales under the Federal Housing Administration (FHA) program in the St. Louis, MO, area.  We found that the purchaser of a property being sold in a preforeclosure sale entered into a consulting agreement with the realtor.  The agreement required that when the purchaser later sold the property, he would pay half of the…

We reviewed Seneca Mortgage’s servicing of Federal Housing Administration (FHA)-insured mortgages and its implementation of the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s (HUD) Loss Mitigation program.  We selected Seneca Mortgage based on the results of our single-family risk assessment.  The objective of the audit was to determine whether Seneca Mortgage complied with HUD’s Loss Mitigation program requirements and…

We reviewed the general and application controls over the Federal Housing Administration’s (FHA) Single Family Premiums Collection Subsystem – Periodic (SFPCS-P) and Single Family Acquired Asset Management System (SAMS) as part of the internal control assessments required for the fiscal year 2016 financial statement audit under the Chief Financial Officer’s Act of 1990.  Our objective was to review the general and application controls over…

We completed a review of the New Rochelle Municipal Housing Authority’s administration of its public housing program.  We selected the Authority based on a management request from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s (HUD) New York Office of Public Housing.  The Authority was designated as a troubled housing authority and had indicators of noncompliance with program requirements, such as using program funds to pay…

We audited the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), Federal Housing Administration’s (FHA) process for making changes to its programs, policies, and operations based on an Office of Inspector General (OIG) preaudit analysis that noted potential violations of departmental clearance requirements for three documents.  Our audit objective was to determine whether HUD followed the proper requirements and procedures when…

We audited the Federal Housing Administration-insured Burrillville Nursing Home, Incorporated, doing business as Pine Grove Health Center, based on a U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), Office of Inspector General risk assessment.  Additionally, HUD identified Pine Grove as a high financial risk and a potentially troubled facility, and Pine Grove’s auditors reported substantial doubt regarding its ability to continue as…

We audited the Port Huron Housing Commission’s public housing program as part of the activities in our fiscal year 2016 annual audit plan.  We selected the Commission based on our analysis of the risk factors relating to public housing agencies in Region 5’s 1 jurisdiction.  Our objective was to determine whether the Commission administered its program in accordance with the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s (HUD) and…

This report was revised on March 30, 2017 to change the cost type for recommendation 1A on pages 8 and 13 from unreasonable or unnecessary to funds to be put to better use. This change is needed to align the report language with the terminology used by HUD’s audit tracking system. The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), Office of Inspector General, audited HUD’s Office of Public and Indian…

The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), Office of Inspector General (OIG), assisted the U.S. Department of Justice, Washington, DC, and the U.S. Attorney’s Office, District of Colorado, in the civil investigation of Primary Residential Mortgage, Inc.  Primary has its principal place of business in Salt Lake City, UT.  Primary became an FHA-approved direct endorsement lender on October 15, 1998.  The direct…

The Houston Housing Authority, Houston, TX, Needs To Improve Its Procurement and Financial Operations and Its Housing Choice Voucher Program Subsidy Determinations We audited the Houston Housing Authority’s public housing and Housing Choice Voucher programs.  We selected the Authority for review in accordance with our audit plan and based upon risk analyses.  Our objectives were to determine whether the Authority (1) followed U.S.…

Based on the results of a prior audit, we reviewed Fort Worth Housing Solutions (FWHS) and transactions with its related entity QuadCo Management Solutions, LLC (QuadCo) of Fort Worth, TX.  Our objectives were to determine whether FWHS (1) properly managed its U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) funds, specifically whether it improperly loaned $1.6 million in HUD funds to QuadCo; (2) paid management fees within HUD’s…

The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), Office of Inspector General audited Majestic Management, LLC, located in St. Louis, MO. Our objective was to determine whether Majestic Management charged only the appropriate fees in managing the projects, properly procured goods and services, and disbursed project funds only for eligible and supported expenses. Majestic Management improperly charged fees to its projects, did not…

(REISSUED February 17, 2017) We audited the Town of Amherst’s Housing Choice Voucher program administered through a contractor, Belmont Housing Resources for Western New York, to address our audit plan priority to ensure that the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s (HUD) public and Indian housing programs are sufficiently administered by public housing agencies (PHA).  We selected this auditee based on a risk analysis of…