We audited the City of Tuscaloosa, Alabama’s Community Development Block Grant Disaster Recovery (CDBG-DR) grant.  We selected the City for review because it was allocated more than $43 million in funding to recover from the tornadoes of April 2011.  Our audit objective was to determine whether the City of Tuscaloosa (1) ensured that only eligible projects were selected into the program, (2) ensured that funds were expended only for…

We completed a review of the City of New York, Office of Management and Budget’s administration of the Interim Assistance Rapid Repairs Program, funded with Community Development Block Grant Disaster Recovery (CDBG-DR) funds provided by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) to assist in the disaster recovery and rebuilding efforts resulting from Hurricane Sandy.  The objective of the audit was to determine whether City…

(REISSUED February 17, 2017) We audited the Town of Amherst’s Housing Choice Voucher program administered through a contractor, Belmont Housing Resources for Western New York, to address our audit plan priority to ensure that the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s (HUD) public and Indian housing programs are sufficiently administered by public housing agencies (PHA).  We selected this auditee based on a risk analysis of…

We audited the Tarrytown Municipal Housing Authority’s administration of its public housing program based on an Office of Inspector General risk assessment.  The objectives of the audit were to evaluate the Authority’s financial controls to determine whether (1) U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) funds were used for eligible, reasonable, and supported expenses and (2) adequate financial controls were maintained to…

We completed a review of the City of New York, Mayor’s Office of Housing Recovery Operations’ administration of the Build it Back Single Family Program, funded with Community Development Block Grant Disaster Recovery (CDBG-DR) funds provided by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) to assist in the disaster recovery and rebuilding efforts resulting from Hurricane Sandy.  The objective of the audit was to determine…

The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), Office of Inspector General (OIG), assisted the U.S. Department of Justice, Washington, DC, and the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Middle District of Florida in a civil investigation of Regions Bank.  Regions Bank has its principal place of business in Birmingham, AL, and became a Federal Housing Administration (FHA)-approved direct endorsement lender in 1985.  As a direct…

We audited Folts, Inc.’s management of the Folts Adult Home and Folts Home projects to address our concern with U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD)-assisted health care facilities.  We selected this auditee as the result of a risk assessment of nursing homes located in New York State, which considered HUD’s risk indicators and factors such as loan default; internal control issues; and financial statements not being filed…

The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), Office of Inspector General (OIG), assisted the U.S. Department of Justice, Washington, DC, and the U.S. Attorney’s Office, Western District of New York, in the civil investigation of Manufacturers and Traders Trust Company, also known as M&T Bank.  M&T Bank has its principal place of business in Buffalo, NY.   On March 19, 2013, a former employee of M&T Bank…

We audited the New York State Community Development Block Grant Disaster Recovery (CDBG-DR) assistance-funded New York State Tourism and Marketing program based on the amount of funds drawn down to date and weaknesses identified in prior Office of Inspector General audits.  State officials allocated $30 million in CDBG-DR funds to the Tourism and Marketing program, of which $22.4 million had been obligated and disbursed as of September 30…

The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), Office of Inspector General (OIG), assisted the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Western District of New York in the civil investigation of Pilgrim Village Associates, L.P.; North-Ellicott Management, Inc.; and Trammell Property Management (Pilgrim Village). Pilgrim Village Associates, L.P., was the owner of Pilgrim Village Apartments, a 90-unit multifamily housing development located in…

We audited the Rochester Housing Authority’s Housing Choice Voucher program to address our goal to contribute to improving the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s (HUD) execution of its fiscal responsibilities.  We selected this auditee based on a risk analysis of public housing agencies administered by the HUD Buffalo field office, which considered, among other factors, funds received and the number of program housing units…

We audited the Mobile Housing Board’s financial operations.  We selected the Housing Board based on concerns from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s (HUD) Alabama State Office of Public Housing, following a Real Estate Assessment Center (REAC) financial assessment of the Housing Board for fiscal years 2009 to 2013.  The REAC assessment showed that the Housing Board’s financial condition had deteriorated over those…

We completed a review of the State of New York Governor’s Office of Storm Recovery’s administration of the Small Business Grants and Loans program funded with Community Development Block Grant Disaster Recovery (CDBG-DR) funds provided by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD).  The objectives of the audit were to determine whether State officials (1) approved and disbursed CDBG-DR funds for the Small Business Grants…

We audited the City of New York, Office of Management and Budget’s administration of its Temporary Disaster Assistance Program (TDAP) funded with Community Development Block Grant Disaster Recovery (CDBG-DR) funds provided by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) to assist in the disaster recovery and rebuilding efforts resulting from Hurricane Sandy.  The disaster recovery funds were authorized by Congress under the…

We performed the 20th review of the Lower Manhattan Development Corporation’s (LMDC) administration of the $2.783 billion in Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) Disaster Recovery funds awarded to the State of New York in the aftermath of the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center in New York City.  The objective of the audit was to determine whether LMDC disbursed CDBG Disaster Recovery funds in accordance…

We audited the Huntsville Housing Authority’s Section 8 Housing Choice Voucher program.  We initiated the audit under the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), Office of Inspector General’s (OIG) annual audit plan.  We selected the Authority as part of a strategic plan with the Assistant United States Attorney in Northern Alabama to evaluate housing authorities in her jurisdiction.  Our audit objective was to…

We audited the City of Rochester’s Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) program to address our audit plan priority to improve financial management controls over CDBG grants.  We selected this grantee based on a risk analysis of grantees administered by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s (HUD) Buffalo field office, which considered funds received and the risk score assigned by HUD.  The City received more than $…

We reviewed the City of Niagara Falls’ Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) program.  We selected this auditee based on our risk assessment of CDBG grantees administered through the Buffalo, NY, field office, which considered the City’s funding, HUD’s risk assessment of the City, and prior Office of Inspector General (OIG) audits.  The City received more than $2.2 million in each of its program years 2013 and 2014; was ranked…

We audited Morris Park Nursing and Rehabilitation Center based on a risk assessment we performed on nursing homes located in New York and New Jersey.  Morris Park has a Section 232 HUD-insured loan in the amount of $7.4 million.  The objective of the audit was to determine whether Morris Park officials managed funds in compliance with the regulatory agreement and applicable HUD requirements. Morris Park officials generally managed…

We audited the State of Alabama’s Department of Economic and Community Affairs’ Community Development Block Grant Disaster Recovery (CDBG-DR) grant.  We selected the State for review because it was awarded more than $49 million in funding to recover from the tornadoes of April 2011.  Our audit objective was to determine whether the State administered its CDBG-DR funds used for infrastructure to ensure that only eligible applicants…