We audited the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s (HUD) Federal Housing Administration’s (FHA) preforeclosure sale claim process based on an internal Office of Inspector General audit suggestion noting that existing regulations may allow excessive preforeclosure claim interest costs.  Our audit objective was to determine the amount of unnecessary preforeclosure claim interest and other costs that resulted from lender…

We audited the City of Erie, PA’s Community Development Block Grant program because we received a complaint regarding its code enforcement program and we had not audited the City’s program since 1997.  The complaint alleged that the City targeted low- to middle-income residents in certain neighborhoods requiring expensive repairs to their homes and properties, which could result in legal actions and liens if the homeowners did not make…

We audited HUD’s oversight of Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) funds used for Section 108 repayments.  This audit was part of our annual audit plan.  The objective of this audit was to determine whether HUD effectively monitored the use of CDBG funds in repaying Section 108 loans and whether it was feasible to enact a threshold or maximum amount of CDBG funds that grantees may use to repay loans. HUD’s oversight of the use of…

We performed a review of the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s (HUD) Housing Counseling Program, located within the Office of Housing Counseling.  We selected this program based on an audit suggestion that was included in our annual audit plan to help address HUD’s strategic goal to strengthen the housing market to bolster the economy and protect consumers.  Our objective was to determine whether HUD adequately…

We audited the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s (HUD) tracking of partial claim notes.  The audit was initiated in response to an Office of Inspector General preaudit analysis of HUD’s Single Family Data Warehouse (SFDW) data, which determined that partial claim notes may not have been properly tracked in HUD’s Single Family Mortgage Asset Recovery Technology (SMART) system (see Scope & Methodology section for…

The U.S. Department of Housing Urban Development (HUD), Office of Inspector General audited HUD to determine whether it identified and collected outstanding partial claims out of surplus proceeds from nonconveyance foreclosures.  We initiated this audit because we learned while doing unrelated audit work that a trustee attorney held surplus proceeds from two nonconveyance foreclosures and HUD had not claimed these funds to offset earlier…

We audited the Adams County Housing Authority because (1) a news article reported that the executive director received an excessive salary and practiced nepotism, (2) we received a complaint alleging nepotism and potential misuse of Federal funds, and (3) we had never audited the Authority.  Our audit objective was to determine whether the Authority administered its program according to applicable U.S. Department of Housing and Urban…

We audited the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s (HUD) monitoring of the financial performance of Section 232 nursing homes based on the size of their program, the inherent risks in the program, the length of time since our last audit, and the inclusion of this review in the annual audit plan.  Our audit objective was to determine whether HUD had sufficient financial information and used this information to adequately…

We conducted this evaluation to determine the effectiveness of the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s (HUD) privacy program   We assessed the adequacy of agency strategies, plans, controls and practices at the enterprise and program levels.  We also examined the level of progress achieved since we last evaluated the program in 2014. We found that HUD had updated its privacy impact assessment processes, and took a…

We audited the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s (HUD) oversight of its Family Self-Sufficiency (FSS) program.  We conducted the audit as part of our annual audit plan.  Our objective was to determine whether HUD provided adequate oversight of its program. HUD did not provide adequate oversight of its FSS program.  Specifically, HUD did not ensure that grantees (1) always had action plans that complied with…

The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s (HUD) Office of Inspector General audited HUD’s single-family note sales program.  This is the third in a series of audits on the note sales program.  The first audit, 2017-KC-0006, reported that HUD did not conduct rulemaking or develop formal procedures for its single-family note sales program.  The second audit, 2017-KC-0010, reported that HUD generally ensured that…

We audited the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s (HUD) Real Estate Assessment Center’s (REAC) inspections process.  We initiated this audit in accordance with our annual audit plan.  Our objective was to determine whether REAC had adequate processes for and controls over the certification and monitoring of contracted inspectors and its public housing units’ physical inspections processes. We found that REAC could…

We audited the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), Section 184 Indian Home Loan Guarantee program based on a Senate Appropriations Committee request to review the management and oversight of the program.  OIG had previously audited the Section 184 program in 2015 (audit report 2015-LA-0002) and determined that the Office of Loan Guarantee (OLG) did not provide adequate oversight of the program.  The objective of…

We audited the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s (HUD) Office of Native American Programs’ Indian Housing Block Grant program.  We selected the program based on concerns as to whether grantees invested, obligated, and spent program funds within the required period.  Our audit objective was to determine whether HUD’s Office of Native American Programs ensured that grantees invested, obligated, and spent program funds…

This report reviewed the Office of Native American Programs – Office of Loan Guarantee’s (OLG) Section 184 program to determine whether its IT systems enabled effective management and oversight of the program. We found HUD had not successfully deployed an information technology (IT) system that enabled effective management and appropriate oversight of all Indian Home Loan Guarantee Program (Section 184 program) processes.  Multiple IT…

We audited the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s (HUD) approval of Section 232 Federal Housing Administration (FHA)-insured loans based on our initiative to focus HUD management’s attention on problems areas with the Section 232 program.  Our audit objective was to determine whether HUD approved Section 232 FHA-insured loans for projects that qualified for mortgage insurance in accordance with HUD requirements. HUD…

We audited the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s (HUD) Community Compass and Technical Assistance and Capacity Building program due to a complaint specific to the Continuum of Care (CoC) and homeless portion of the program.  The complaint alleged that the Office of Special Needs Assistance Programs had been steering technical assistance notice of funding availability applicants toward coordinating or subcontracting with a…

The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), Office of Inspector General audited HUD because we learned while doing unrelated audit work that funds HUD was entitled to would be turned over to a State as unclaimed property if they were not claimed.  This information led us to conduct searches on several States’ unclaimed property websites and find thousands of unclaimed funds listed in HUD’s name or other similar names.…

HUD had been aware of negative conditions at Alexander County Housing Authority (ACHA) since at least 2010.  HUD identified issues with ACHA’s governance, including the misuse of funds, conflicts of interest, and a failure to comply with HUD policies and Federal civil rights laws.  Further, about 200 children and their families lived in units with peeling paint; graffiti; pest infestations; and other health and safety hazards, such as…

As part of our annual risk and internal planning process, we audited the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), Office of Block Grant Assistance’s (OBGA) Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) Disaster Recovery program.  Our analysis noted that Congress had historically provided disaster funding through supplemental appropriations, yet OBGA had not created a formal codified program.  Instead, it had issued multiple…