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 Delaware County Housing Authority's (Authority) Section 8 Housing Choice Voucher program (program). We selected the Authority for an audit based on our analysis of various risk factors relating to the housing authorities under the jurisdiction of the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development's (HUD) Philadelphia regional office. This is the first of two audit reports that we plan to issue on the Authority's program. Our…

As part of our strategic plan objective to assist the U. S. Department of Housing and Urban Development's (HUD) efforts to reduce rental assistance overpayments, we audited the Dallas Housing Authority's (Authority) Housing Choice Voucher program (voucher program). Our objective was to determine whether the Authority properly administered its overall voucher program. The Authority acknowledged its longstanding weaknesses, as previously reported…

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.…

We audited the District of Columbia Housing Authority's (Authority) controls over its leased housing under its Moving to Work Demonstration program based on our analysis of various risk factors relating to the housing authorities under the jurisdiction of the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development's (HUD) Baltimore field office. This is the third of three audit reports on the Authority's program. The audit objectives addressed in this…

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 audited the Housing Authority of the City of Allentown's (Authority) administration of its housing quality standards inspection program for its Section 8 Housing Choice Voucher program as part of our fiscal year 2008 audit plan. This is our second audit report issued on the Authority's program. The audit objective addressed in this report was to determine whether the Authority adequately administered its Section 8 housing quality standards…

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,…

At HUD's request, we audited the Housing Choice Voucher program of the Richland Housing Authority (Authority). HUD was concerned about the results of an audit of the Authority performed by the Washington State Auditor's Office. Our objective was to determine whether the Authority made ineligible purchases with program funds. We found that the Authority did not track its program expenses. Also, it charged more than $57,000 in unsupported and…

We audited the Housing Authority of the City of Calexico (Authority) in response to a request from our Office of Investigation and the FBI. Our objective was to determine whether the Authority complied with HUD's rules and regulations with respect to its public housing program. We found the Authority improperly used Section 5(h) program funds for the acquisition and operation of the Second Street Apartments. In addition, it (1) did not provide…

We completed an audit of Union County's (County) Housing Choice Voucher program, which is administered by its Division of Planning and Community Development. Our audit objectives were to determine whether the County's (1) Housing Choice Voucher program units met housing quality standards; (2) costs charged to the Housing Choice Voucher program were supported and eligible; and (3) controls over the Housing Choice Voucher program, including…

The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development's (HUD) Office of Inspector General audited the Portage Metropolitan Housing Authority's (Authority) Section 8 Housing Choice Voucher program (program) under its Moving to Work Demonstration program. The audit was part of the activities in our fiscal year 2008 annual audit plan. We selected the Authority based upon our analysis of risk factors relating to the housing agencies in Region V's…

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 Tuckahoe Housing Authority (Authority) to assess the merits of a complaint and determine whether the Authority administered its low-rent housing program and nonprofit entity activities in accordance with the annual contributions contract and other U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) regulations. The audit disclosed that the Authority did not adequately administer its low-rent program and nonprofit entity…

We audited the City of Phoenix Housing Department’s (Housing Department) Housing Choice Voucher program. We conducted the audit as part of the Office of Inspector General’s (OIG) annual plan. The Housing Department was selected for review because it is the largest housing authority in the state of Arizona and had not previously been audited by OIG. The objective of the audit was to determine whether the Housing Department supported tenant…

We audited Renton Housing Authority (Authority), Renton, Washington. The review was initiated due to a hotline complaint from a Housing Choice Voucher program recipient. The complainant stated that the contract rent was unreasonable because it exceeded the rent for comparable unassisted units on the premises. The audit objective was to determine whether the complaint was valid. We also wanted to determine whether the Authority had controls in…

As part of the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), Office of the Inspector General's (OIG) strategic plan, we audited the Municipality of Caguas (authority) Section 8 Housing Choice Voucher program. Our audit objectives were to determine whether Section 8 units met housing quality standards in accordance with HUD requirements and whether the authority properly determined housing assistance subsidies. Of the 10 units…

We audited the Housing Authority of the City of San Buenaventura (Authority) in response to a hotline complaint alleging mismanagement and misuse of U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) funding. Our objective was to determine whether the Authority's financial activities, operations, and controls complied with HUD requirements. We found that the Authority did not use program funds in accordance with the requirements of its…