In response to an April 3, 2009, hotline request from the Kaibab Band of Paiute Indians, Pipe Spring, AZ (Kaibab), the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s (HUD) Office of Inspector General reviewed HUD’s evaluation of Kaibab’s application for an Indian Community Development Block Grant (Indian Block Grant) under HUD’s 2008 notice of funding availability. The review objective was to evaluate the merits of the complainant’s…

In accordance with our goal to review and ensure the proper administration of Neighborhood Stabilization Program (NSP) funds provided under the Housing and Economic Recovery Act of 2008 (HERA) and/or the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (ARRA), we conducted a capacity review of the operations of the State of Maine’s (State) Department of Economic and Community Development, Office of Community Development (Department). The…

We conducted a capacity review of the Navajo Housing Authority’s (Authority) operations. The objective of the review was to evaluate the Authority’s capacity to administer its American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (Recovery Act) funds and identify related potential internal control weaknesses that could impact its ability to properly administer the funds. We did not find evidence indicating that the Authority lacked the basic capacity to…

We performed a capital fund administrative capacity review of the Housing Authority of the City of Eloy (Authority) because, despite the Authority’s persistent management problems, HUD awarded the Authority a Public Housing Capital Fund grant of $113,672 under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (Recovery Act). Our objective was to determine whether the Authority had sufficient capacity to administer its Recovery Act Public…

We audited Park Lee Apartments to determine whether it complied with the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s (HUD) regulatory agreement and other federal requirements. We found that Park Lee Apartments did not use its project funds in compliance with HUD and other federal requirements. Specifically, the owner and/or management agents violated the regulatory agreement with HUD by paying $512,562 in questioned costs from the…

We audited FHA-insured loan processes at two DHI Mortgage Company, LTD (DHI Mortgage) branches in Tucson and Scottsdale, Arizona, to determine whether DHI Mortgage originated, approved, and closed FHA-insured single-family loans in accordance with HUD requirements. We chose DHI Mortgage because the Scottsdale, Arizona, branch had a default rate that was double the default rate for FHA-insured loans for the state of Arizona, and then expanded…

We audited the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s (HUD) Office of Public Housing field office in Phoenix, Arizona (Public Housing). The objective of the audit was to determine whether Public Housing’s procedures for monitoring the Nogales Housing Authority (Authority) were effective. The audit was started because Public Housing performed several monitoring reviews at the Authority; however, there were indications that some of…

We performed a corrective action verification of HUD's actions in implementing recommendation 1F from our audit of the Housing Authority of Maricopa County's Mixed Finance Development Activities (Rose Terrace and Maricopa Revitalization), Audit Report 2005-LA-1002, issued March 14, 2005. The purpose of the corrective action verification was to determine whether HUD officials appropriately closed audit recommendation 1F in accordance…

We audited Campaige Place at Jackson (Campaige Place) to determine whether it used its project funds in compliance with the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s (HUD) regulatory agreement and other federal requirements. Campaige Place did not use its project funds in compliance with HUD’s and other federal requirements. Specifically, we determined that: •Owner advances of $73,750 were repaid when the project had no surplus cash…

We performed an audit of the Orchard Court project, a Section 236 multifamily property, located in Bath, Maine. As part of our audit, we reviewed subsidy payments made to Orchard Court from Bath and Brunswick, Maine, Housing Authorities (Authorities). Our objective was to determine whether Section 8 voucher program subsidies paid to Orchard Court from the Authorities were for basic rent, rather than market rent. Basic rent is the minimum rent a…

We audited the Orchard Court project, located in Bath, Maine, in response to a referral received by the Office of Inspector General's (OIG) Office of Investigation (Region 1). The referral indicated a potential inappropriate use of project funds by the Orchard Court Housing Corporation (project owner) and/or the management agent. Our overall objective was to determine whether the project owner and/or management agents operated the project…

We audited the mortgage origination and business practices of the First Magnus Financial Corporation’s (First Magnus) corporate office in Tucson, Arizona. The objective of the audit was to determine whether First Magnus violated U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) requirements by paying builders and real estate companies marketing fees and non-competition fees in exchange for the referral of Federal Housing Administration (…

We audited the mortgage origination and business practices of First Magnus Financial Corporation’s (First Magnus) corporate office in Tucson, Arizona. The objective of the audit was to determine whether First Magnus violated U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) requirements by paying its brokers volume-based incentives for originating and processing Federal Housing Administration (FHA) mortgages. We determined that First…

We audited the City of Phoenix Housing Department’s (Housing Department) Housing Choice Voucher program. We conducted the audit as part of the Office of Inspector General’s (OIG) annual plan. The Housing Department was selected for review because it is the largest housing authority in the state of Arizona and had not previously been audited by OIG. The objective of the audit was to determine whether the Housing Department supported tenant…

We audited the Housing Authority of the City of Eloy (Authority) because the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) had rated the Authority as troubled for five years. In 2007, the Authority had significant financials problems and terminated its executive director. We determined that the Authority did not have adequate internal controls to safeguard assets and reasonably ensure that HUD funds were used in accordance with…

We audited the HOME Investment Partnerships program (HOME) administered by the Maine State Housing Authority, Augusta, Maine (Authority), as part of our annual audit plan. The Authority received more than $21 million in U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) funding for its federal HOME program from 2005 to 2007. Our audit objective was to determine whether the Authority administered its HOME program in compliance with HUD…

Kelly Ballinger wrote her name on rent payments, altered renters’ incomes to steal fundsPORTLAND, Maine: A Glenburn woman pleaded guilty in U.S. District Court in Portland to embezzling from an organization receiving federal funds and conspiring to alter money orders.According to court records, Kelly Ballinger, 57, was a former property manager for a Portland apartment complex with residences funded by the Department of Housing and Urban…

PHOENIX, Ariz. – Savannah Sandoval, 36, of Camp Verde, was sentenced last week by United States District Judge Steven P. Logan to 24 months in prison, followed by three years of supervised release. Sandoval also was ordered to pay over $650,000 in restitution. Sandoval pleaded guilty on August 9, 2023, to Embezzlement and Theft from an Indian Tribal Organization.Between August 2017 and May 2022, Sandoval, the former Comptroller and Executive…