We audited DeKalb County’s HOME Investment Partnerships Program because it received more than $8 million in HOME funding since 2008. Our objective was to determine whether the County accurately entered commitments and project completion data into HUD’s Integrated Disbursement and Information System. The County did not require that the signatures of all parties who signed written agreements be dated to support whether the commitments were made…

The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, Office of Inspector General audited Pioneer Civic Services, Inc’s Supportive Housing Program and Housing Opportunities for Persons with AIDS (HOPWA) competitive grants. We selected Pioneer based on a request by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s (HUD) Office of Community Planning and Development. Our audit objective was to determine whether Pioneer effectively…

We reviewed alleged violations of U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) real estate-owned (REO) owner-occupancy program requirements by the subject (name withheld for privacy reasons). We concluded that the subject failed to comply with the HUD REO program requirement that an individual who purchases a REO home during its initial offering period must be the owner-occupant of the purchased home for one full year. In April 2011…

We audited the Rockford Housing Authority’s (Authority) American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (Recovery Act) Public Housing Capital Fund Stimulus Formula and Competitive grants. The audit was part of the activities in our fiscal year 2011 annual audit plan. We selected the Authority based on a citizen complaint. Our objective was to determine whether the Authority administered its grants in accordance with Recovery Act and U.S.…

HUD OIG performed an audit of the Homelessness Prevention and Rapid Re-Housing Program at the Georgia Department of Community Affairs. The audit was part of the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), Office of Inspector General’s (OIG) national mandate to oversee and audit grant activities funded by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (Recovery Act). We selected the Georgia Department of Community Affairs…

The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s (HUD) Office of Inspector General audited the DuPage Housing Authority’s (Authority) Section 8 Housing Choice Voucher program (program). The audit was part of the activities in our fiscal year 2010 annual audit plan. We selected the Authority based on the results of our audits of its Project-Based Voucher program. Our objective was to determine whether the Authority effectively…

The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s (HUD) Office of Inspector General audited the East St. Louis Housing Authority’s (Authority) Public Housing Capital Fund program. Our audit objective was to determine whether the Authority had proper support for its capital fund draws. We concluded that the Authority drew down grant funds for ineligible items and without adequate support. Specifically, it made unsupported draws, excessive…

The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), Office of Inspector General audited the City of East St. Louis, Illinois’ (City) Community Development Block Grant (Block Grant) program. Our objective was to determine whether the City properly managed Block Grant-funded housing rehabilitation contracts. We found that the City awarded more than $1 million in Block Grant funds for 124 of the 147 rehabilitation contracts reviewed…

We audited the Housing Authority of the County of Cook’s (Authority) nonprofit development activities. The audit was part of the activities in our fiscal year 2010 annual audit plan. We selected the Authority’s nonprofit development activities based on a citizen’s complaint forwarded to our office from the County of Cook, IL’s Office of the Independent Inspector General. Our objective was to determine whether the Authority administered its…

The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development's (HUD) Office of Inspector General conducted a review of the City of Columbus, GA’s (City) Neighborhood Stabilization Program (NSP1) to determine whether the City had demonstrated the capacity to properly obligate all NSP1 grant funds and at least 25 percent of the grant toward occupants with incomes below 50 percent of the median income in the locality (LH25) set-aside by the September…

HUD OIG performed an audit of the East Point Housing Authority (Authority) Housing Choice Voucher program. We selected the Authority due to the lack of onsite monitoring performed by the Office of Public Housing, Georgia State Office, over the past 10 years and the fact that the number of program tenants had more than doubled over the past few years. The purpose of the audit was to determine (1) whether the Authority established procedures to…

The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), Office of Inspector General (OIG), completed a review of loan origination practices of Anchor Mortgage Corporation (Anchor), Chicago, IL. Our objective was to identify violations of Federal Housing Administration (FHA) requirements and the related losses incurred by HUD. Based on our review, HUD sued the lender and its owner under the False Claims Act. In August 2010, the court…

We conducted a review of 20 Federal Housing Administration (FHA) loans underwritten by Pine State Mortgage Corporation (Pine State), an FHA direct endorsement lender. This review was conducted as part of our “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 rates against the FHA insurance fund for…

The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), Office of Inspector General audited the City of East St. Louis, Illinois’ (City) Community Development Block Grant (Block Grant) program. Our objective was to determine whether the City properly verified the eligibility of Block Grant-funded housing rehabilitation recipients. We found that the City awarded Block Grant funds to 143 recipients without adequately verifying their…

The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development's (HUD) Office of Inspector General conducted a review of the City of Augusta, GA’s (City) Neighborhood Stabilization Program (NSP1) to determine whether the City had demonstrated the capacity to properly obligate all NSP1 grant funds and at least 25 percent of the grant toward occupants with incomes below 50 percent of the median income in the locality (LH25) set-aside by the September 5…

HUD OIG performed an audit of the Housing Authority of DeKalb County’s use of its net restricted assets based on a request from the Atlanta Office of Public Housing. The request indicated that a significant amount of net restricted assets was used to pay for items other than the required housing assistance payments. The purpose of the audit was to determine how the Authority expended its net restricted assets and what controls were in place to…

The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s (HUD) Office of Inspector General audited the State of Illinois’ (State) Neighborhood Stabilization Program (Program). The audit was part of the activities in our fiscal year 2010 annual audit plan. We selected the State based upon citizens’ complaints to our office. Our objectives were to determine whether the State (1) had the capacity to effectively and efficiently administer its Program…