We audited the Homelessness Prevention and Rapid Re-Housing Program (HPRP) of Special Services for Groups (Special Services) based on the results of a separate audit of the City of Los Angeles Housing Department (Department). Special Services is a subrecipient of the Department’s HPRP. HPRP is part of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (Recovery Act), and auditing Recovery Act programs is one of the U.S. Department of Housing…

We completed a review of the Hawthorne Housing Authority’s (Authority) Section 8 program. We performed the audit based on a recommendation from the Los Angeles U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) Office of Public Housing indicating missing and/or inadequate financial records, and because Section 8 reviews are a part of the Office of the Inspector General’s (OIG) annual audit plan. Our objective was to determine whether the…

We audited Westbeth Artists Houses (auditee) in response to a complaint submitted to the Office of Inspector General (OIG) hotline alleging that project funds were used to pay an executive director in violation of U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) regulations. Our audit objectives were to assess the merits of the complaint and determine whether project operations generally complied with HUD regulations pertaining to…

We audited Lutheran Social Services of Northern California (auditee) in response to a hotline complaint. The complaint alleged that the auditee misused Homelessness Prevention and Rapid Re-Housing Program (HPRP) funds. The specific allegations included (1) ineligible purchases using employee credit cards, (2) unreasonable rental of storage units, (3) caseworkers qualifying family and friends for HPRP who were not eligible, (4) diversion of…

We completed the fifteenth 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 provided 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. During the audit period, October 1, 2009 through March 31, 2010, LMDC…

We completed an audit of the operations of the City of Binghamton, NY (City), pertaining to its administration of its Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) Section 108 Loan Guarantee program. Our audit objectives were to determine whether the City (1) administered its Section 108 loan program effectively, efficiently, and economically in accordance with applicable rules and regulations; (2) used Section 108 loan proceeds on eligible…

We audited the City and County of San Francisco (City) because its grant of more than $8.7 million was one of the largest Homelessness Prevention and Rapid Re-Housing Program (HPRP) grants in the State of California. Our objective was to determine whether the City disbursed HPRP funding in accordance with program requirements. The City paid for HPRP services for ineligible participants and participants whose eligibility was not supported. It…

We audited the Naomi Gardens housing project (project) in response to a congressional request from Representative David Dreier of the 26th District of California. The request to review the project was based on a constituent’s complaint that alleged the possible misuse of U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) funds, including the award of work to the family members of project employees without seeking proposals from other…

We completed a capacity review of the Housing Authority of the City of Los Angeles’ (Authority) capital fund grant awarded under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (Recovery Act) program. We performed the audit because Recovery Act reviews are part of the Office of Inspector General’s (OIG) annual plan and the Authority was awarded a significant amount of program funds. Our objective was to evaluate the Authority’s capacity in…

We audited the Homelessness Prevention and Rapid Re-Housing Program (program) at the City of Los Angeles Housing Department (Department) because it was the second largest single program grant awarded within California under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (Recovery Act). In addition, our audit is part of the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), Office of Inspector General’s (OIG) national mandate to monitor…

We conducted a review of Federal Housing Administration (FHA) loans underwritten by Sterling National Mortgage Company, Inc. (Sterling), an FHA direct endorsement lender. The review was conducted as part of the Office of Inspector General’s (OIG) Operation Watchdog initiative to review the underwriting of 15 direct endorsement lenders at the suggestion of the FHA Commissioner. The Commissioner expressed concern regarding the increasing claim…

We audited the Compton Housing Authority’s (Authority) Section 8 program as the result of the Los Angeles Office of Public Housing’s concerns regarding its program administration. Our objective was to determine whether the Authority used Section 8 program funds in accordance with HUD rules and regulations. The Authority did not use Section 8 program funds in accordance with HUD rules and regulations as it did not fully comply with portability…

While performing an internal audit of the U. S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s (HUD) Home Equity Conversion Mortgage (HECM) program, we noted one HECM loan underwritten by Financial Freedom Senior Funding Corporation, (Financial Freedom) of Irvine, CA, that was improperly insured as the property had several years of deferred property taxes, which is a violation of the HECM regulations. Neither Financial Freedom’s loan…

We completed a corrective action verification review of the audit recommendations for findings 1 and 2 of Audit Report Number 2006-NY-1005, issued February 21, 2006 pertaining to the general operations of the Utica Municipal Housing Authority, Utica, New York (Authority). The purpose of the corrective action verification was to determine whether the selected audit recommendations were implemented and the deficiencies cited in the report were…

We audited the Housing Authority of the City and County of San Francisco’s (Authority) Section 8 housing quality standards inspections of Housing Choice Voucher program (voucher)-funded housing units. Our objective was to determine whether the Authority conducted its housing quality standards inspections in accordance with HUD rules and regulations. We found that the Authority did not conduct its housing quality standards inspections of…

We reviewed the City of Montebello’s (City) HOME Investment Partnerships Program (HOME) at the request of the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s (HUD) Los Angeles Office of Community Planning and Development (CPD). The request was based on findings contained in a 2008 single audit report and 2009 HUD CPD technical assistance report, which stated that the City did not fully comply with HOME program requirements in the ongoing…

We performed a capacity review to assess the Rochester Housing Authority’s (Authority) administration of its capital funding program. The Authority was awarded $5.9 million in capital funds under the Recovery Act. Our review determined that the Authority had weaknesses in its financial controls that if left unaddressed could lead to its having a diminished capacity to effectively administer its supplemental Recovery Act funds. Specifically,…

We audited the Sacramento Housing Redevelopment Agency (Agency) as a result of a hotline complaint, which alleged violations of Neighborhood Stabilization Program (program) funds provided through the Housing and Economic Recovery Act of 2008. Our objective was to determine whether the alleged violations had merit. The complaint alleged several instances where the Agency did not follow program rules and regulations, including but not limited to…