As part of the Office of Inspector General’s (OIG) obligation to ensure accountability and transparency in the use of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (Recovery Act) funds, we performed a capacity review to assess the City of Utica, New York’s (City) administration of its lead-based paint hazard control program. The City was awarded $2.04 million under the Recovery Act to carry out lead-based paint hazard control activities in…

We audited the SFDS Development Corporation (agent), management agent for three U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) subsidized Section 202 elderly housing direct loan properties, in response to a complaint to the Office ofInspector General (OlG) Hotline that alleged misappropriation of HUD funds by the agent. The objective of our review was to assess the merits of the complaint. It was expanded to assess the agent's…

We audited the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s (HUD) annual contributions contracts (contract) for performance-based Section 8 contract administration (PBCA). We audited this contract because our prior audit of HUD payments to the PBCAs for certain performance standards indicated that HUD was not getting the best value for the dollars spent on the PBCA’s services. Our audit objective was to determine whether the performance-…

In this report, we provide additional details to supplement our Report on the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development's (HUD) Fiscal Years 2009 and 2008 Financial Statements, which is included in HUD's Fiscal Year 2009 Performance and Accountability Report. In OIG's opinion, based on our audit and the reports of other auditors, the financial statements were presented fairly, in all material respects, in conformity with…

This report presents the results of Urbach Kahn and Werlin LLP (UKW) audit of the fiscal year 2009 and 2008 financial statements of the Federal Housing Administration (FHA). The report on FHA’s financial statements, dated November 9, 2009 includes an unqualified opinion on FHA’s financial statements. The report contains four significant deficiencies in FHA’s internal controls and one reportable instance of noncompliance with laws and regulations…

We audited the U. S. Department of Housing and Urban Development's (HUD) controls over Housing Choice Voucher program payments for deceased tenants and invalid Social Security numbers as part of the regional audit plan. In previous audits of public housing agencies (agencies), we identified problems with excess housing assistance payments for deceased tenants. We wanted to determine whether HUD monitored agencies' actions in response…

This report presents the results of Carmichael, Brasher, Tuvell and Company's (CBTC) audit of the Government National Mortgage Association's (Ginnie Mae) financial statements for the fiscal years ended September 30, 2009 and 2008. In CBTC's opinion, the financial statements present fairly, in all material respects, Ginnie Mae's financial position as of September 30, 2009 and September 30, 2008 and the results of its…

We audited the management agent operations of the South Bronx Community Management Co., Inc. (agent), as they relate to the administration of the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD)-Section 202 direct loan for elderly and handicapped housing project Maria Isabel at the request of the HUD New York City Office of Multifamily Housing. The audit disclosed that the agent generally complied with HUD financial and unit maintenance…

We audited HUD's process for monitoring recipient reporting for the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (Recovery Act). The Recovery Accountability and Transparency Board (Board), created by the Recovery Act, has required the Inspector General community to evaluate Federal agencies' process for monitoring recipient reporting of Recovery Act funds for the quarter ending September 30, 2009. The audit reports are to be issued…

We reviewed the Office of Native American Programs' (ONAP) Front-End Risk Assessment (FERA) for the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (Recovery Act) funding for Native American Block Grant housing programs as part of our annual audit plan. Our objective was to determine whether the FERA complied with the Office of Management and Budget's (OMB) guidance for implementation of the Recovery Act, the Recovery Act's…

We completed the thirteenth report in our ongoing audits of the Lower Manhattan Development Corporation’s (the auditee) administration of the $2.783 billion in Community Development Block Grant 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. The auditee disbursed approximately $50.3 million of these funds during our…

The HUD Inspector General Office the management procedures, practices, and controls related to the Recovery Act Management and Reporting System (RAMPS) to assess compliance with reporting requirements under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (Recovery Act). The audit found that HUD had taken actions to comply with the reporting requirements under the Recovery Act. However, HUD’s effort to implement procedures, practices, and controls…

We audited selected controls within the Disaster Recovery Grant Reporting system (DRGR) related to Neighborhood Stabilization Program (NSP) funding because of the emergency and the transparency nature of the Housing and Economic Recovery Act and the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, respectively, and corresponding statutory timeframes. DRGR is an existing system that was modified to track close to $5.9 billion dollars of NSP funds, the…

The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development's (HUD) Office of the Inspector General reviewed HUD's Front End risk Assessment (FERA) for the Capital Fund Formula and Competitive Grant Programs funded under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (Recovery Act). Our objectives were to determine whether HUD’s front-end risk assessment of the programs complied with the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) guidance for…

In response to a congressional request, we audited the Federal Housing Administration (FHA) Title II single-family lender approval process. We wanted to know whether the application process provided effective controls and procedures to ensure approval of only those lenders meeting program requirements. Our audit found that FHA needs to improve the lender approval process. The process did not have sufficient controls and procedures to ensure…

The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s (HUD) Office of Inspector General audited HUD’s oversight of the Federal Housing Administration (FHA)-insured home equity conversion mortgages (HECM) program. We initiated the audit as part of the activities in our 2008 annual audit plan. Our audit objective was to determine whether HUD had adequate oversight of the underwriting of HECM loans. This is the second of two audit reports…

We reviewed the front-end risk assessment (assessment) for the Office of Healthy Homes and Lead Hazard Control (OHHLHC) for the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD). The Recovery Act appropriated $100 million to the lead hazard control program. Our review of the assessment for OHHLHC determined that while OHHLHC generally complied with the Recovery Act, HUD’s Streamlined FERA Process and the Departmental Management Control…

The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s (HUD) Office of Inspector General audited HUD’s process for reviewing and approving commercial rents for multifamily properties. Our objective was to determine whether HUD’s review and approval process for commercial rents ensured that multifamily properties received commercial rents that were comparable to market rate rents. HUD did not have a uniform process to ensure that commercial rent…

We performed an audit of the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s (HUD) formula-based allocations related to five programs funded in the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (Recovery Act) to satisfy the Recovery Act mandate that “every taxpayer dollar spent on economic recovery be subject to unprecedented levels of transparency and accountability.” We reviewed all five HUD programs with funds which were allocated based…