We audited the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s (HUD)’s plans and procedures for data conversion of the HUD Integrated Core Financial System (ICFS). Our audit objective was to review HUD’s readiness to fully implement ICFS and determine whether HUD had properly managed the payments related to data conversion activities. We determined that OCFO incorrectly paid the Integrated Financial Management Improvement Project contractor…

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 2012 and 2011 Financial Statements, which is included in HUD's Fiscal Year 2012 Agency Financial 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 accounting principles…

In accordance with the Government Corporation Control Act as amended (31 U.S.C. 9105), the Office of Inspector General engaged the independent certified public accounting firms of CliftonLarsonAllen LLP (CLA) to audit the fiscal year 2012 and Clifton Gunderson LLP[1] to audit the fiscal year 2011 financial statements of the Federal Housing Administration (FHA). The contracts required that the audit be performed according to Generally Accepted…

In accordance with the Government Corporation Control Act as amended (31 U.S.C. 9105), the Office of Inspector General engaged the independent certified public accounting firm of CliftonLarsonAllen LLP (CLA) to audit the fiscal years 2012 and 2011 financial statements of the Government National Mortgage Association (Ginnie Mae). The contract required that the audit be performed according to Generally Accepted Government Auditing Standards (U.S…

We have completed a review to determine whether HUD followed proper policies and procedures in responding to a breach of personally identifiable information which occurred on September 21, 2012. Specifically, for this incident, we identified what actions were taken and any deficiencies within HUD policies, plans, or current practices. We determined that HUD responded to the incident properly, following United States Computer Emergency…

We audited Luzerne County, PA’s $6 million loan of Community Development Block Grant funds to CityVest that was expected to be used to revitalize the historic Hotel Sterling and surrounding properties. We did the audit because HUD Office of Inspector General audit report 2012-PH-0001 identified this long standing open Block Grant activity and because we received a citizen complaint alleging possible misappropriation of these funds. Our…

We reviewed HUD’s monitoring of the Homelessness Prevention and Rapid Re-Housing Program (HPRP) in support of HUD OIG’s audit plan goals to oversee Recovery Act-funded activity and improve HUD’s execution of and accountability for fiscal responsibilities. The objective of the audit was to determine whether HUD had established adequate controls to (1) ensure that grantees complied with Recovery Act expenditure and performance reporting…

In response to a request from the Recovery Accountability and Transparency Board, we gathered and documented information from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) regarding its lessons learned from the implementation of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009. This initiative was led by the U.S. Department of Interior, Office of Inspector General (OIG). The objective of the initiative was to identify which…

The U. S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), Office of Inspector General audited HUD’s Real Estate Assessment Center (REAC) to determine whether it ensured that independent auditors followed Statement on Auditing Standards (SAS) 99 audit requirements. REAC did not always ensure that independent auditors followed SAS 99 requirements. It did not identify deficiencies in 10 of the 11 deficient engagements we reviewed. For the one…

We completed a review of the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s (HUD) Office of Native American Programs’ (ONAP) annual audit reporting process primarily in response to complaints that ONAP did not take appropriate enforcement action for two grantees that failed to submit required annual audits. Our objective was to determine whether ONAP provided adequate oversight of its grantees nationwide to ensure grantee compliance with…

The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), Office of Inspector General (OIG) completed its nationwide effort to review the foreclosure practices of the five largest Federal Housing Administration (FHA) mortgage servicers (Ally Financial, Incorporated, Bank of America, CitiMortgage, JPMorgan Chase, and Wells Fargo Bank). We performed these reviews due to reported allegations made in the fall of 2010 that national mortgage…

We reviewed the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s (HUD) technical assistance for the HOME Investment Partnerships Program. The review was part of the activities in our fiscal year 2012 annual audit plan. We initiated the review based upon a congressional request. Our objective was to determine whether HUD’s Office of Community Planning and Development sufficiently tracked Program technical assistance activities, including…

We audited the Allegheny County Housing Authority’s Housing Choice Voucher program because (1) the Authority received more than $27.3 million in Housing Choice Voucher funding in fiscal year 2011, (2) an article in the October 22, 2011, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette described housing quality standards problems with a housing unit participating in the Authority’s program, and (3) we had never audited the Authority’s Housing Choice Voucher program. The…

The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), Office of the Inspector General (OIG) audited HUD’s Public Housing Capital Fund program and American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (Recovery Act) Capital Fund program monitoring procedures because it was included in our annual audit plan and was prompted by a prior external audit (OIG audit report 2011-LA-1802, issued May 5, 2011). Our objective was to determine whether HUD’s Capital…

The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s (HUD), Office of Inspector General reviewed the Federal Housing Administration (FHA) Preforeclosure Sale Program. Our objective was to determine whether FHA paid claims for only preforeclosure sales that met the criteria for participation in the program. We found that 61 of 80 statistically selected claims from September 1, 2010, through August 31, 2011 did not meet the criteria for…

The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), Office of Inspector General (OIG) audited HUD’s oversight of its real estate-owned (REO) Management and Marketing (M&M) III program in response to a HUD OIG auditability survey on REO contract administration. Our audit objective was to determine whether HUD’s policies and procedures provided for efficient and effective oversight of asset managers and field service managers under…

The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s (HUD), Office of Inspector General reviewed HUD’s receivership of the East St. Louis Housing Authority based on the length of receivership and issues identified during recent external audits. Our objective was to determine whether HUD effectively oversaw and managed the recovery and turnaround of the Authority during the three-year period ending in September 2011. HUD did not effectively…

The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, Office of Inspector General audited the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s (HUD) oversight of Federal Housing Administration (FHA)-insured loans. We initiated the audit as part of the activities in our 2011 annual audit plan and strategic plan. Our audit objective was to determine whether HUD had adequate oversight of lenders’ compliance with FHA’s underwriting requirements…

As part of the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), Office of Inspector General’s (OIG) annual plan, we audited HUD’s controls over the Section Eight Management Assessment Program (SEMAP). Our objective was to determine whether HUD had adequate controls to ensure that SEMAP effectively assessed public housing agencies’ Section 8 administration. HUD had not developed adequate controls to ensure that SEMAP would be effective…

We performed an audit of the National Foundation for Credit Counseling based on a citizen’s complaint alleging that it misused Federal funds. Our objective was to determine whether the Foundation complied with U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) requirements when administering its housing counseling program. The complaint alleging that the Foundation misused Federal funds could not be substantiated. The Foundation generally…