The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), Office of Inspector General (OIG), assisted the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ), Washington, DC, and the U.S. Attorney’s Offices for the District of Kansas and the Northern District of Texas in the civil investigation of PrimeLending, a PlainsCapital company.  The investigation was of PrimeLending’s origination, underwriting, and quality control of Federal Housing Administration (…

The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), Office of Inspector General audited Bank of America because it has released more than 47,000 Federal Housing Administration (FHA)-insured loans into the Distressed Asset Stabilization Program (DASP) note sales program.  Since its inception, DASP has facilitated the sale of more than 108,000 FHA loans, which means that Bank of America accounts for nearly half of the entire program…

We audited the multifamily Section 8 Project-Based Rental Assistance (PBRA) program at the Louis Manor Apartments.  We selected Louis Manor in accordance with our goal to review the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s (HUD) multifamily housing programs and because our analysis of Tenant Rental Assistance Certification System data showed red flag indicators at Louis Manor that appeared to be similar to the conditions we found…

We audited the Eastwood Terrace Apartments multifamily Section 8 Project-Based Rental Assistance (PBRA) program.  We selected Eastwood Terrace in accordance with the Office of Inspector General’s (OIG) goal to review HUD’s multifamily housing programs and because the OIG Office of Investigation conducted an investigation and suggested that the complex might not have had appropriate controls to ensure tenant eligibility.  Our objective…

We audited the multifamily Section 8 project-based rental assistance (PBRA) program at the Villa Main Apartments.  We selected Villa Main in accordance with the Office of Inspector General’s (OIG) goal to review the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s (HUD) multifamily housing programs and because the OIG Office of Investigation conducted an investigation and suggested that the complex might not have had appropriate controls…

We audited JPMorgan Chase’s (Chase) Federal Housing Administration Home Affordable Modification Program (FHA-HAMP) stand-alone partial claims.  We selected Chase for review based on our analysis of risk factors of loan servicers that filed FHA-HAMP stand-alone partial claims and in accordance with our annual audit plan.  Our audit objective was to determine whether Chase complied with the FHA-HAMP stand-alone partial claim market rate…

The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), Office of Inspector General (OIG), assisted the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ), Washington, DC, and the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Middle District of Florida in a civil investigation of Financial Freedom Acquisition, a division of CIT Bank, N.A.  Financial Freedom was originally owned by IndyMac Bank until its failure in 2008, when the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation…

We audited the multifamily project-based Section 8 program at the Beverly Place Apartments.  We selected Beverly Place because we received a complaint of potential fraud, suggesting that the complex did not have appropriate controls to ensure tenant and unit eligibility.  Our objective was to determine whether the owner administered its project-based Section 8 program in accordance with U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development…

We audited Park View Care Center’s owner based on a referral from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s (HUD) Departmental Enforcement Center.  Our objective was to determine whether the property owner complied with the owner’s regulatory agreement and HUD requirements for the Section 232 program.  Park View’s owner did not comply with all the terms of its regulatory agreement and HUD requirements.  Specifically…

The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), Office of Inspector General (OIG), investigated Cunningham and Company to determine whether it violated HUD requirements when underwriting loans insured by the Federal Housing Administration (FHA).  Cunningham is an FHA mortgage lender, formerly located in Greensboro, NC. Based on OIG’s review, HUD contends that Cunningham may be liable under the Program Fraud Civil Remedies Act…

The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), Office of Inspector General (OIG), assisted in an investigation into alleged violations by Reverse Mortgage Solutions, Inc., of Federal Housing Administration (FHA) regulations related to its Home Equity Conversion Mortgage (HECM) program.  The investigation began due to a qui tam filed under the False Claims Act, 31 U.S.C. (United States Code) 3729, in the U.S. District Court for…

We audited Cornerstone Home Lending, formerly known as Cornerstone Mortgage Company.  We selected Cornerstone based upon a high default rate at Cornerstone’s Branch 87 in 2007 through 2009.  Our audit objectives were to determine whether Cornerstone (1) complied with HUD and Federal Housing Administration (FHA) regulations when originating and underwriting FHA-insured mortgages and (2) implemented a quality control plan that met…

At the request of the Director of the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s (HUD) Houston, TX, Office of Multifamily Housing Programs, we conducted a review of Yale Court Apartments (project).  Our objective was to determine whether the project owner used the project funds in accordance with its regulatory agreement and HUD regulations. The former owner used more than $3.5 million of the project funds for ineligible and…

We conducted a limited review of Federal Housing Administration (FHA) loans underwritten by CTX Mortgage Company LLC. We selected the lender based on the results of an auditability survey, which determined that CTX 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 CTX Mortgage failed to prevent the…

We audited the West Village Expansion Project in Durham, NC, a U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) Section 220-insured property, due to a citizen’s hotline complaint. The anonymous complainant alleged that the managing member of the project’s ownership entity spent an excessive amount of project funds on legal fees, transferred more than $500,000 to another entity owned by it, and failed to keep the mortgage current. Our…

The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), Office of Inspector General (OIG), conducted a review of loans underwritten by Countrywide Home Loans Inc., and its divisions Countrywide Bank FSB and Countrywide Mortgage Ventures, LLC. The objective of the review was to determine whether Countrywide underwrote Federal Housing Administration (FHA) loans in accordance with HUD-FHA regulations. Countrywide is a subsidiary of Bank of…

We audited SWBC Mortgage Corporation, a Federal Housing Administration (FHA) direct endorsement lender in San Antonio, TX. We selected the lender for audit because as of September 30, 2011, it had 25 seriously delinquent loans. Our objective was to determine whether the lender originated single-family home loans in accordance with U. S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) and FHA requirements for loans with amortization dates…

We audited J&M Mortgage Brokers, Ltd., dba Mortgages USA, a Dallas, TX-based nonsupervised direct endorsement lender. We selected J&M because it had a high rate of defaults and claims within the first year. Our audit objectives were to determine whether J&M originated Federal Housing Administration (FHA)-insured single family mortgages in accordance with U. S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) regulations,…

As part of the Office of Inspector General’s (OIG) nationwide effort to review the foreclosure practices of the five largest Federal Housing Administration (FHA) mortgage servicers (Bank of America, Wells Fargo Bank, CitiMortgage, JP Morgan Chase, and Ally Financial, Incorporated) we reviewed Bank of America’s foreclosure and claims processes. In addition to this memorandum, OIG issued separate memorandums for each of the other four reviews.…

We performed an audit of PrimeLending, A PlainsCaptial Company, located in Dallas, TX, a Federal Housing Administration (FHA) direct endorsement lender. We selected PrimeLending for audit because of its high default rate in the Houston, Dallas, and Fort Worth, TX, offices as compared to the average default rate for all FHA loans in those offices. Our objective was to determine whether PrimeLending complied with U. S. Department of Housing and…