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 City of Utica, New York’s (City) administration of its lead-based paint hazard control program. The City was awarded $2.04 million under the Recovery Act to carry out lead-based paint hazard control activities in…

We reviewed the front-end risk assessment (assessment) for the Office of Healthy Homes and Lead Hazard Control (OHHLHC) for the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD). The Recovery Act appropriated $100 million to the lead hazard control program. Our review of the assessment for OHHLHC determined that while OHHLHC generally complied with the Recovery Act, HUD’s Streamlined FERA Process and the Departmental Management Control…

We performed a limited scope audit of the Office of Fair Housing and Equal Opportunity to determine whether the Office complied with the requirements of 42 U.S.C. (United States Code) Chapter 45, Subpart I, Section, 3616a(d), entitled Fair Housing Intiatives Program, Education and Outreach, when it published the 2007 Fair Housing Initiatives Program notice of funding availability. The audit disclosed that the Office generally complied with the…

We audited the Housing Authority of the City of Gary's (Authority) Section 8 housing program. The audit was part of the activities in our fiscal year 2005 annual audit plan. We selected the Authority based upon a risk analysis the identified it as having a high risk Section 8 housing program. The objective of the audit was to determine whether the Authority managed its Section 8 program in accordance with the U.S. Department of Housing and…

NEWARK, N.J. – The Department of Justice announced today that it has filed a lawsuit alleging that the owner of rental properties in Elizabeth, New Jersey, violated the Fair Housing Act by subjecting tenants to sexual harassment, U.S. Attorney Craig Carpenito announced. The complaint alleges that Joseph Centanni, who owns hundreds of rental units in and around Elizabeth, has subjected tenants and applicants to sexual harassment on multiple…

Assistant Attorney General Eric Dreiband of the U.S. Department of Justice’s Civil Rights Division and U.S. Attorney John H. Durham today announced that the Justice Department and the U.S. Attorney’s Office have filed a lawsuit in the District of Connecticut alleging that female tenants and applicants of residential rental properties in and around New London, Connecticut, were subjected to sexual harassment, coercion, intimidation and threats,…

The Lead Disclosure Rule requires landlords to provide disclosures concerning lead paint to prospective tenants in “target housing,” which includes most houses constructed before 1978.