We reviewed the U. S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s (HUD’s) guidance on using American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (Recovery Act) capital funding for physical needs assessments. Our objective was to determine whether HUD’s guidance to grantees on using Recovery Act capital funds for physical needs assessments was sufficient to ensure grantees had the information needed to avoid missing the grant obligation deadline of…

As part of the Office of Inspector General’s (OIG) obligation to ensure accountability and transparency in the use of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (Recovery Act) funds, we performed a capacity review to assess the Syracuse Housing Authority’s (Authority) administration of its capital funding program. The Authority was awarded $4.5 million in capital funds under the Recovery Act. Our objective was to evaluate the Authority…

HUD OIG performed an audit of Mortgage Counseling Services, Inc., a Federal Housing Administration approved non-supervised lender. The review was performed based on the lender’s high default rates. The purpose of the audit was to determine whether the lender 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 (…

We performed this review at the request of the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development's (HUD) Multifamily Program Center, Richmond field office, due to concerns regarding the appropriateness of HUD's current regulatory agreement with the Yorkville Cooperative (Cooperative). Our objective was to determine if HUD entered into the appropriate regulatory agreement with the Cooperative for its Section 221(d)(3) program. HUD and the…

We audited the SFDS Development Corporation (agent), management agent for three U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) subsidized Section 202 elderly housing direct loan properties, in response to a complaint to the Office ofInspector General (OlG) Hotline that alleged misappropriation of HUD funds by the agent. The objective of our review was to assess the merits of the complaint. It was expanded to assess the agent's…

We performed a review of the Lutheran Gardens Corporation (Corporation) trust fund account in response to a HUD request, dated March 30, 2009. HUD believed that as much as $2.72 million was withdrawn from a trust account in violation of a trust agreement (agreement) with HUD, dated April 22, 2005, and questioned certain disbursements. Our objective was to determine whether the Corporation withdrew and expended trust funds in accordance with…

As part of the Office of the Inspector General’s (OIG) directive to determine whether safeguards exist to ensure that American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (Recovery Act) funds are used for their intended purposes, we audited the Dallas Housing Authority’s (Authority) Recovery Act Public Housing Capital Fund formula grant (grant). Our objective was to evaluate the Authority’s capacity in the areas of internal controls, eligibility,…

The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), Office of Inspector General, audited Kier Property Management and Real Estate, LLC (Kier) to determine whether Kier properly accounted for property and management agent costs and properly accomplished its occupancy functions. Kier recorded more than $2 million in notes payable in the properties’ books for notes that did not properly restrict repayment of the principal to surplus cash…

We audited the Section 8 Project-Based Voucher program operated by the State of Massachusetts, Department of Housing and Community Development (DHCD), as part of our annual audit plan. Our objective was to determine whether the DHCD properly administered its Project-Based Voucher program in compliance with U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) requirements. The DHCD generally administered its program in compliance with HUD…

We audited the Scranton Housing Authority (Authority) based on a referral from our Office of Investigation. Our audit objective was to determine whether the Authority followed applicable procurement regulations and used U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) funds properly. The Authority did not purchase goods, services and property in accordance with applicable HUD requirements, the terms of its annual consolidated…

As part of the Housing and Urban Development (HUD) Office of Inspector General's obligation to ensure accountability and transparency in use of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (ARRA) funds, we performed a review to assess the Housing Authority of New Orleans' (Authority) capacity to administer $34.5 million in ARRA funding. Our objective was to evaluate the Authority's capacity and risks in the following areas: basic internal…

The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s (HUD) Office of Inspector General performed an audit of Leader Financial Services (Leader), a Government National Mortgage Association (Ginnie Mae) issuer servicing Federal Housing Administration (FHA)-insured loans. We initiated the audit based on the 62 percent delinquency rate of Leader’s mortgage-servicing package purchased from Fidelity Home Mortgage Corporation (Fidelity). Our…

We audited the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s (HUD) annual contributions contracts (contract) for performance-based Section 8 contract administration (PBCA). We audited this contract because our prior audit of HUD payments to the PBCAs for certain performance standards indicated that HUD was not getting the best value for the dollars spent on the PBCA’s services. Our audit objective was to determine whether the performance…

We conducted a review of the Guam Housing and Urban Renewal Authority (the authority) because it received more than $1.9 million in Capital Fund Recovery Act Grant (grant) funding as part of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009. Our objectives were to determine whether the authority (1) had effective and efficient operations in place to manage its grant-funded projects and (2) had administered its grant funds in accordance with U…

We audited the Yorkville Cooperative (Cooperative) based on a request from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s (HUD) Richmond Multifamily Program Center and a citizen complaint. The objective of the audit was to determine whether the Cooperative administered its Section 221(d)(3) property and housing assistance contract according to its regulatory agreement and HUD requirements. The Cooperative did not administer its Section…

The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s (HUD) Office of Inspector General audited the Grand Rapids Housing Commission’s (Commission) Section 8 Project-Based Voucher program (program). The audit was part of the activities in our fiscal year 2009 annual audit plan. We selected the Commission’s program based upon our internal audit survey of HUD’s oversight of the program and our analysis of risk factors relating to the housing…

We completed an audit of Ark Mortgage, Incorporated (Ark Mortgage), a nonsupervised direct endorsement lender located in North Brunswick, New Jersey. The audit objectives were to determine whether Ark Mortgage officials (1) originated insured loans in accordance with U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development/Federal Housing Administration (HUD/FHA) requirements and (2) developed and implemented a quality control plan that complied with…

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…

We audited the U. S. Department of Housing and Urban Development's (HUD) controls over Housing Choice Voucher program payments for deceased tenants and invalid Social Security numbers as part of the regional audit plan. In previous audits of public housing agencies (agencies), we identified problems with excess housing assistance payments for deceased tenants. We wanted to determine whether HUD monitored agencies' actions in response to its…