We audited Tuscan Homes I and II, a multifamily project located in Hartford, CT, because our risk assessment ranked the project as the highest risk multifamily project in New England.  Our audit objective was to determine whether the owner managed the project in accordance with its regulatory agreement and U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) requirements; specifically, whether (1) exigent health and safety deficiencies…

The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s (HUD) Office of Inspector General audited the Meeker Family and Elderly Housing project based on a referral from HUD’s Office of Multifamily Housing Programs in Denver, CO.  The project is owned and managed by the Meeker Housing Authority.  HUD alleged that the owner had failed to file audited financial statements or make mortgage payments to HUD for the past 10 years.  Our…

We audited the Federal Housing Administration-insured nursing home, Middlesex Health Care Center in Middletown, CT, because we identified profitability and solvency issues during ongoing work with the Section 232 program.  Additionally, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) identified the project as potentially troubled as of November 2017.  Our audit objective was to determine whether the project was operated…

We audited the Federal Housing Administration-insured nursing home, Riverside Health and Rehabilitation Center (the project), of East Hartford, CT, based on our risk assessment of nursing homes in the New England region.  Additionally, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) identified the project as potentially troubled as of January 9, 2017, and four physical inspections performed by HUD’s Real Estate Assessment Center…

We audited Baker Tower Apartments, LLC (corporation), located in Denver, CO, based on data showing that the corporation had taken more than $3.4 million in owner distributions since 2013 and scored poorly on its most current Real Estate Assessment Center physical property inspection.  The objective of our audit was to determine whether the corporation complied with the regulatory agreement and U.S. Department of Housing and Urban…

The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s (HUD) Office of Inspector General (OIG) performed a review of The Retreat at Church Ranch bank records based on our audit conducted of the project.  Our review disclosed that the owner allegedly made payments for personal expenses from the project’s bank account.  We requested that HUD pursue proceedings against the owner. On July 22, 2015, HUD notified the owner of his proposed…

The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s (HUD) Office of Inspector General (OIG) performed a review of The Retreat at Church Ranch bank records based on our audit conducted of the project.  Our review disclosed that the owner allegedly made payments for personal expenses from the project’s bank account.  We requested that HUD pursue proceedings against the owner. On March 31, 2015, HUD filed a complaint seeking more than…

The Office of Inspector General (OIG) conducted an audit of Opportunity in Living (OIL), Centennial, CO’s participation in the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s (HUD) Single Family Property Disposition program.  Our audit objective was to determine whether OIL’s purchase of HUD-owned homes during the exclusive listing period violated HUD regulations at 24 CFR (Code of Federal Regulations) Part 291.  We determined that…

We audited the multifamily project, Glenbrook Manor, in Stamford, CT, based on a request by officials from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s (HUD) Hartford, CT, Office of Multifamily Housing Programs.  Our audit objectives were to determine whether Glenbrook Manor expended project funds for eligible activities and costs that were reasonable and supported, and whether surplus cash was properly calculated and deposited…

We conducted a limited review of Federal Housing Administration (FHA) loans underwritten by Pulte Mortgage LLC. We selected the lender based on the results of an auditability survey, which determined that Pulte Mortgage allowed prohibited restrictive covenants to be filed against Federal Housing Administration (FHA)-insured properties. The objective of our review was to determine the extent to which Pulte Mortgage failed to prevent the…

We audited Ofori & Associates, PC, regarding its U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) real estate-owned (REO) Management and Marketing (M&M) III program. This review was part of the Office of Inspector General’s efforts to improve the integrity of the single-family insurance program. Our audit objective was to determine whether Ofori complied with case processing requirements and timeframes to obtain the highest net…

We audited Prysma Lending Group, LLC, a nonsupervised lender, located in Danbury, CT, in support of the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), Office of Inspector General’s (OIG) goal of improving the integrity of the single-family insurance program. We selected Prysma for audit because its 3.28 percent default rate for Federal Housing Administration (FHA)-insured single-family loans with beginning amortization dates between…

We conducted a review of Federal Housing Administration (FHA) loans underwritten by Webster Bank (Webster), an FHA direct endorsement lender. This review was conducted as part of our “Operation Watchdog” initiative to review the underwriting of 15 direct endorsement lenders at the suggestion of the FHA Commissioner. The Commissioner expressed concern regarding the increasing claim rates against the FHA insurance fund for failed loans. The…

We performed a review of 20 Federal Housing Administration (FHA) loans underwritten by Assurity Financial Services, LLC (Assurity). Our review objective was to determine whether Assurity underwrote the 20 loans in accordance with Federal Housing Administration (FHA) requirements. This review is part of Operation Watchdog, an Office of Inspector General (OIG) initiative to review the underwriting of 15 direct endorsement lenders at the…

We performed a review of 20 Federal Housing Administration (FHA) loans underwritten by Assurity Financial Services, LLC (Assurity). Our review objective was to determine whether Assurity underwrote the 20 loans in accordance with Federal Housing Administration (FHA) requirements. This review is part of Operation Watchdog, an Office of Inspector General (OIG) initiative to review the underwriting of 15 direct endorsement lenders at the suggestion…

The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s (HUD) Office of Inspector General audited Access National Mortgage Corporation (Access National) to determine whether it complied with HUD regulations, procedures, and instructions in originating, underwriting, and submitting for endorsement the FHA-insured loans selected for review. Access National generally complied with HUD regulations, procedures, and instructions in the origination and…

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 Casa Otonal multifamily housing project, located in New Haven, Connecticut, based on a referral received from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s (HUD) Hartford Program Center. The referral disclosed compliance findings regarding the project’s audited financial statements, including instances of unauthorized loans/disbursements to an affiliate. Our primary audit objective was to determine whether the project…

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 higher…

We audited the records for Moosup Gardens Apartments (project), a U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD)-insured multifamily project in response to a request from HUD. Our audit objective was to determine whether the project's costs were accurately reported to HUD and in accordance with the regulatory agreement and HUD's requirements. We identified questioned costs and opportunities for funds to be put to better use…