The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s (HUD) Office of Inspector General reviewed the Aurora Housing Authority to determine whether the Authority obligated its funds by the deadline, adequately managed its procurements and contracts, and accurately reported its Recovery Act information in FederalReporting.gov. We determined that the Authority did not obligate $22,018 of its Recovery Act funds by the March 17, 2010, deadline,…

The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), Office of Inspector General, audited the Colorado Coalition for the Homeless in response to a hotline complaint. The complaint contained allegations regarding control weaknesses, resulting in noncompliance with Homelessness Prevention and Rapid Re-Housing Program (HPRP) requirements. The objective of our review was to determine whether the allegations of weaknesses in the Coalition’s…

We audited the Housing Authority of the City of Little Rock’s American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 funding. The Authority received more than $6.5 million in Recovery Act funds through three grants: one formula and two competitive. Our objectives were to determine whether the Authority (1) obligated and expended its Recovery Act funding in accordance with HUD rules and regulations and (2) followed Recovery Act reporting requirements…

The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), Office of Inspector General, reviewed the Housing Authority of the City and County of Denver, CO (Authority), because it had the largest number of low-rent and Section 8 units and received the largest amount of American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (Recovery Act) capital funds of all of the housing authorities in HUD's Region VIII (Colorado, Utah, Wyoming, Montana, North…

We audited the West Memphis Housing Authority (Authority) in Arkansas as part of our annual audit plan to review American Reinvestment and Recovery Act (Recovery Act). Our objective was to determine whether obligations the Authority made between January 30 and March 17, 2010, were appropriate, prudent, eligible, and supported, whether procurements and disbursements were made in accordance with requirements. Generally, the Authority complied…

The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), Office of Inspector General, audited the City and County of Denver’s (City) Neighborhood Stabilization Program I (NSP I). We selected the City for review based on our risk assessment considering the amount of Housing and Economic Recovery Act of 2008 (HERA) and American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 NSP funds it received and expended along with other evaluative factors. The…

The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), Office of Inspector General, reviewed the Housing Authority of the City of Pueblo, CO (Authority), based on out risk assessment considering the amount of American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (Recovery Act) capital funds it received and expended along with other evaluative factors. The review is consistent with our responsibility to provide oversight of Recovery Act…

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…

The State of Arkansas (State) is scheduled to receive more than $15.67 million under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (Recovery Act). As part of our organization’s commitment to ensure the proper use of Recovery Act funds, we reviewed the State’s controls and operations. Specifically, our objective was to determine whether the State has the capacity to account for Recovery Act funding and the controls to ensure that its…

The City of Aurora, Colorado will receive more than $1.6 million in Recovery Act funding to carry out its Homelessness Prevention and Rapid Re-Housing Program and perform additional activities under its Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) program. HUD's Office of Inspector General (OIG) evaluated the City's capacity to administer its Recovery Act funds. The OIG did not find evidence to indicate that the City lacked the capacity…

Adams County, Colorado will receive more than $1.3 million in Recovery Act funding to carry out its Homelessness Prevention and Rapid Re-Housing Program and to provide additional funding to its Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) program. HUD's Office of Inspector General (OIG) evaluated the County's capacity to administer its Recovery Act funds. The OIG found weaknesses that could significantly affect the County’s capacity to…

The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), Office of Inspector General, audited Adams County, Colorado’s Community Development Block Grant (Block Grant) program to determine whether Adams County’s Community and Economic Opportunity Department (Department) had adequate controls over the administration of its Block Grant funds. The Department did not have adequate controls over its Block Grant funds. Specifically, it did not (1)…

The U. S. Department of Housing and Urban Development Office of Inspector General audited the City of Thornton (City) to determine whether it used its Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) funds for projects that met a national objective. The City did not maintain sufficient records demonstrating that each CDBG activity met a national objective. Of the 10 CDBG projects reviewed, the City sufficiently documented that five of the projects…

The U. S. Department of Housing and Urban Development's (HUD) Office of Inspector General audited the Housing Authority of the City of Brush, Colorado (Authority) because we received information indicating there were irregularities in the Authority's procurement process. Our audit objective was to determine whether the Authority performed contracting activities in accordance with federal procurement requirements. The Authority did not…

The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), Office of Inspector General, audited Adams County, Colorado's HOME Investment Partnerships Program (HOME) to determine whether Adams County appropriately spent and accounted for HOME funds and maintained supporting documentation for its matching contributions reported to HUD. Adams County inappropriately spent or could not support more than $2.1 million in HOME funds. Specifically…

We audited the Fort Smith Housing Authority (Authority) in response to a request from the U. S. Department of Housing and Urban Development's (HUD) Office of Public Housing. The objectives were to determine whether the Authority and its instrumentality, North Pointe Limited Partnership (Partnership), spent HUD-provided funds in compliance with HUD's rules and regulations for costs related to North Pointe Development (the development),…