We audited New Image Emergency Shelter’s Housing Opportunities for Persons With AIDS (HOPWA) program based on a referral from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, Office of Inspector General’s (HUD OIG) Office of Investigation and a citizen complaint, alleging that New Image lacked adequate documentation to support program expenditures and employee salaries. Our objective was to determine whether New Image administered and…

We completed a review of the Freeport Housing Authority’s administration of its low-rent housing and homeownership programs.  We selected the Authority due to a request from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s (HUD) New York Office of Public and Indian Housing officials.  The objective of the audit was to determine whether the Authority administered its low-rent housing and homeownership programs in accordance with…

We completed a review of the City of New York, Office of Management and Budget’s administration of the Community Development Block Grant Disaster Recovery Assistance (CDBG-DR) funds awarded to the City as a result of damages caused by Hurricane Sandy.  This review was related to the disbursement of $183 million as reimbursement to the Health and Hospitals Corporation under the City’s Public Service activity.  The objectives of the…

We completed the 18th audit report in our ongoing review of the Lower Manhattan Development Corporation’s (LMDC) administration of the $2.783 billion in Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) Disaster Recovery Assistance funds awarded to the State of New York in the aftermath of the September 11, 2011, terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center in New York City.  During the audit period, April 1, 2012 through March 31, 2013, LMDC…

We initiated a review of the City of Los Angeles’ Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) program due to concerns that CDBG-funded assets may be at risk.  We performed our review to address questionable costs identified during a prior Office of Inspector General review (audit report 2014-LA-0001).  Our objective was to determine whether the City maintained the required documentation for its CDBG-funded projects to support its vested…

We audited the City of Pomona’s Neighborhood Stabilization Programs (NSP1 and NSP3).  We initiated the audit because of a hotline complaint with concerns regarding the administration of program funds.  Our objective was to determine whether the City administered its NSP funds in accordance with applicable U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) rules and requirements.  Specifically, we wanted to determine whether…

We assisted the U.S. Attorney’s Office of the Northern District of California in the civil investigation of Reunion Mortgage, Inc. (Reunion).  Reunion is a former Federal Housing Administration (FHA)-approved mortgage lender, with its principal place of business located in Milpitas, CA.  Based in large part on our review of loans underwritten by Reunion between December 2007 through October 2009, the U.S. Attorney’s Office filed a…

We conducted a civil fraud review of an alleged loan origination fraud scheme involving a loan officer that assisted a borrower to purchase a home under the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), Federal Housing Administration (FHA) program.  The alleged scheme involved submitting a false loan application and other documentation to obtain an FHA-insured loan on a home in Brentwood, CA.  Based in part on OIG’s review,…

We assisted the U.S. Attorney’s Office, Southern District of New York, in conducting an investigation of JPMorgan Chase Bank, N.A., and JPMorgan Chase & Co. (Chase).  The investigation began due to a qui tam filing in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York.  The False Claims Act allows private persons to file suit for violations of the False Claims Act on behalf of the Government.  A suit filed by an…

We audited the City of Richmond’s Neighborhood Stabilization Program 1 (NSP1) in response to HUD Office of Community Planning and Development’s concerns over the City’s management of its NSP1.  Our objective was to determine whether the City administered its NSP1 in accordance with requirements related to procurement and cost eligibility. The City did not administer its NSP1 in accordance with requirements related to procurement and cost…

We reviewed an alleged loan origination fraud scheme involving a borrower purchasing a home in which the loan was insured under the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), Federal Housing Administration (FHA) program.  The alleged scheme involved submitting a false loan application to obtain an FHA-insured loan on a home in Brentwood, CA.  Based in part on our review, HUD filed a complaint against the borrower under…

We completed a review of Palladia, Inc.’s administration of its Supportive Housing Program.  We selected Palladia for review based on a request from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s (HUD) New York City Office of Community Planning and Development.  The objectives of the audit were to determine whether Palladia officials (1) carried out program-assisted activities with the appropriate beneficiaries, (2) expended…

We audited the Niagara Falls Housing Authority’s HOPE VI grant program based on an Office of Inspector General risk analysis and the amount of funding the Authority received.  The objectives of the audit were to determine whether the Authority administered its HOPE VI grant program and activities in accordance with U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) and HOPE VI grant program requirements. The Authority did not always…

We reviewed the developer fees the County of San Bernardino paid to its Neighborhood Stabilization Program (NSP) developers.  Our objective was to determine whether the County adequately ensured that NSP developer fees paid to its developers met HUD requirements.  We performed our review to address questionable costs identified during a prior Office of Inspector General (OIG) review (audit report 2014-LA-0002).  During that…

We audited the City of Elmira, NY’s administration of its Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) program based on our risk analysis and funding received by the City.  The objectives of the audit were to determine whether the City (1) ensured that program activities were adequately documented and administered in accordance with U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) regulations, and (2) expended CDBG funds for eligible…

We completed a review of the New York City Housing Authority’s administration of its Section 8 Housing Choice Voucher program.  We selected the Authority based on indicators from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s (HUD) monitoring reports.  The objectives of the audit were to determine whether the Authority administered its Section 8 Housing Choice Voucher program in accordance with HUD regulations and made housing…

We completed a review of the New York City Housing Authority’s administration of its Section 8 Housing Choice Voucher program to ensure that its units met the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s (HUD) housing quality standards.  We selected the Authority based on indicators from HUD monitoring reports, such as the Authority’s overall Section 8 Management Assessment Program performance rating modified to standard for fiscal…

We audited the City of Auburn, NY’s Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) program based on an Office of Inspector General risk analysis that considered the amount of funding the City had available to expend.  The objectives of the audit were to determine whether the City had (1) established and implemented the necessary controls to ensure that program activities were adequately documented and administered in accordance with U.S.…

The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), Office of Inspector General (OIG), conducted a limited review of HUD’s oversight of loans underwritten by HUD-approved Federal Housing Administration (FHA) lenders.  We conducted the internal review as part of OIG’s annual audit plan, prompted by four recent OIG external lender audits reporting that the lenders allowed prohibited restrictive covenant agreements.  The…

We initiated a review of the City of Hawthorne’s Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) and CDBG-Recovery Act (CDBG-R) program, based on a request by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s (HUD) Los Angeles Office of Community Planning and Development.  Our objective was to determine whether the City adequately supported its salary and program administrative cost allocations to the CDBG and CDBG-R programs in accordance…