We audited the City of San Diego's (City) Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) program in response to a hotline complaint alleging that the City and its Redevelopment Agency (Agency) were violating U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) rules and regulations. Our main objective was to address the citizen complaint and determine whether the City administered CDBG loans issued to the Agency in accordance with HUD rules and…

We reviewed the Alameda County HOME Investment Partnership Consortium's use of HOME Investment Partnerships Program (HOME) funds to determine whether it used its allocation of HOME funds in accordance with U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) rules and regulations. We performed the review because there was a high risk for noncompliance due to a lack of HUD monitoring since 2003. We found that the consortium used $5.6…

We audited the Area Housing Authority of the County of Ventura based on concerns over the Authority's compliance with its annual contributions contract. Our audit objective was to determine whether the Authority fulfilled its Payment-in-Lieu-of-Taxes obligations for its Low Rent Public Housing program and if not, whether applicable funds were used in accordance with HUD requirements. We found that the Authority disregarded its Low Rent…

We audited the Housing Authority of the City of Los Angeles' (Authority) Section 8 housing quality standards inspections for its Section 8 Housing Choice Voucher program. The objective of the audit was to determine whether the Authority adequately enforced HUD's housing quality standards. Using a statistical sample of 68 units, we determined 19 units (28 percent) were in material noncompliance with HUD's housing quality standards…

We audited the Housing Authority of the County of Marin's (Authority) Section 8 funds transfer and public housing program (program) tenant rent calculations. Our objectives were to determine (1) whether the transfer of Section 8 operating reserve funds to the public housing program in fiscal year 2006 was made in compliance with HUD regulations and (2) whether the Authority calculated public housing tenant rents in accordance with HUD…

We audited the City of Los Angeles Housing Department (Department) as a result of an earlier audit of its HOME Investment Partnerships Program (HOME) rehabilitation program, which detected problems with the Department's monitoring of HOME-assisted rental units. Our audit objective was to determine whether the Department complied with HOME affordability monitoring and inspection requirements regarding HOME-assisted rental units. We found the…

We audited the Housing Authority of the City of Los Angeles' (Authority) Section 8 Housing Choice Voucher program's financial transactions. Our audit objective was to determine whether the Authority properly used Section 8 Housing Choice Voucher program funds in accordance with HUD rules and regulations for the benefit of its program participants. During the audit, we expanded our scope to include a review of its other HUD programs to…

We audited the Newark, Delaware, branch office (branch office) of Wells Fargo Home Mortgage (Wells Fargo). The branch office is mainly responsible for underwriting loans for 22 Wells Fargo sales branch offices in Pennsylvania. We selected the branch office because of its relatively high default rate, compared with the average default rate for the state of Pennsylvania. Our objective was to determine whether the branch office complied with U.S.…

We audited the Housing Authority of the City of Calexico (Authority) in response to a request from our Office of Investigation and the FBI. Our objective was to determine whether the Authority complied with HUD's rules and regulations with respect to its public housing program. We found the Authority improperly used Section 5(h) program funds for the acquisition and operation of the Second Street Apartments. In addition, it (1) did not…

We audited the Housing Authority of the City of San Buenaventura (Authority) in response to a hotline complaint alleging mismanagement and misuse of U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) funding. Our objective was to determine whether the Authority's financial activities, operations, and controls complied with HUD requirements. We found that the Authority did not use program funds in accordance with the requirements of its…

We reviewed the Housing Authority of the County of San Joaquin's (the Authority) capital fund program to determine whether it used capital funds in accordance with U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) rules and regulations. The Authority did not use capital funds in accordance with requirements. Specifically, the Authority used $175,775 to absorb shared administrative costs of other housing programs, improperly charged $…

We audited the Housing Authority of the County of Los Angeles’ (Authority) Section 8 Housing Choice Voucher program. Our objective was to determine whether the Authority determined tenant eligibility and performed annual reexaminations in accordance with HUD rules and regulations. Although we did not identify any tenants that were not eligible for the program, the Authority did not comply with HUD’s requirements or its own administrative plan…

Based on a hotline complaint, we reviewed whether the Phoenix Apartments multifamily project located in Concord, California, used its project funds in accordance with HUD rules and regulations. We found that the project did not use project funds in accordance with the requirements of its regulatory agreement and applicable HUD rules and regulations. Specifically, during fiscal years 2004, 2005, and 2006, the project used $89,751 of its funds…

We audited the Anaheim Housing Authority’s (Authority) tenant eligibility and reexamination policies and procedures for its Section 8 Housing Choice Voucher program (program). The objective of the audit was to determine whether the Authority followed HUD rules and regulations in determining tenant eligibility, rent calculations, and rent reasonableness. Although we did not identify any tenants that were not eligible for the Authority’s program…

We audited the City of Los Angeles Housing Department’s (Department) single-family and small multifamily property rehabilitation programs funded by the HOME Investment Partnerships Program (HOME program) as part of our annual audit plan. The objectives of our audit were to determine whether the Department (1) effectively monitored construction bids, costs, and quality; (2) ensured that borrowers and properties met eligibility requirements for…

We audited Homes for Life Foundation (Foundation) as a result of on-site audit work performed as part of a separate audit of the Los Angeles Homeless Services Authority's (Authority) administration of Supportive Housing Program funds. Our audit objective was to determine whether the Foundation applied and tracked its HUD Supportive Housing Program cash match in accordance with applicable requirements. The Foundation did not administer its…

In response to a hotline complaint, we reviewed the Housing Authority of the City of Napa's (the Authority) Section 8 program. The purpose was to determine whether concerns raised in the complaint relating to misappropriation of Section 8 funds had merit and whether allegations of improper rent increases for the Section 8 Moderate Rehabilitation Single Room Occupancy (Mod Rehab) and Section 8 Housing Choice Voucher programs were valid. We…

We audited the Los Angeles Multifamily Hub's monitoring of its annual contributions contract with its performance-based contract administrator (contractor), Los Angeles LOMOD (LOMOD). Our overall audit objective was to determine whether the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) appropriately monitored LOMOD with respect to the annual contributions contract. The Los Angeles Multifamily Hub did not properly monitor its…