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…

We reviewed the Louisville-Jefferson County Metropolitan Government’s administration of its Homelessness Prevention and Rapid Re-Housing Program (HPRP) and Community Development Block Grant-Recovery (CDBG-R) program. We selected Louisville Metro for review because it received the largest grants in Kentucky with the exception of the State of Kentucky, and the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) had not conducted monitoring of…

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 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…

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'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 reviewed the Louisville/Jefferson County Metropolitan Government’s (Louisville Metro) Neighborhood Stabilization Program (program). We selected Louisville Metro for review based on its low percentage of obligations and the approaching September 20, 2010, deadline for obligating funds. Our objective was to evaluate Louisville Metro’s use of program funding, including the propriety of its activities, obligations, expenditures, and…

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…

We audited the Housing Authority of Whitesburg, Kentucky (Authority) pursuant to a request by the director of the Office of Public Housing, Kentucky State Office. Our objective was to determine whether the Authority properly accounted for cash receipts and disbursements, and made procurements in accordance with federal requirements. The Authority badly mismanaged its operations. It did not properly account for rental receipts of about $134,…

HUD OIG performed an audit of Mortgage Counseling Services, Inc., a Federal Housing Administration approved non-supervised lender. The review was performed based on the lender’s high default rates. The purpose of the audit was to determine whether the lender followed the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s (HUD) requirements for (1) borrower eligibility and creditworthiness and property eligibility when underwriting loans and (2…

The City of Atlanta (City) received a $12.3 million Neighborhood Stabilization Program (NSP) grant from HUD that was authorized under Title III of the Housing and Economic Recovery Act. Also, the City applied for an additional $57.9 million in NSP funds under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009. We selected the City for review due to the amount of its NSP funding and because of performance concerns identified during our previous…

HUD OIG performed an audit of the Housing Authority of the City of Conyers' administration of its disbursements and procurement procedures. The Georgia State Office of Public Housing requested the audit due to concerns regarding the use of its funds and violation of its procurement procedures The purpose of the audit was to determine whether the Authority used its federal funds in compliance with HUD regulations and other requirements. The…

HUD OIG performed an audit of the Housing Authority of the City of Conyers' administration of its disbursements and procurement procedures. The Georgia State Office of Public Housing requested the audit due to concerns regarding the use of its funds and violation of its procurement procedures The purpose of the audit was to determine whether the Authority used its federal funds in compliance with HUD regulations and other requirements. The…

We audited the City of Atlanta’s (City) HOME Investment Partnerships Program (HOME) because it has received more than $17 million in HOME funding since 2005. Our objective was to determine whether the City accurately entered commitments into the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s (HUD) Integrated Disbursement and Information System (information system) for HOME-funded activities. The City did not comply with HUD requirements…

We audited the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s (HUD) HOME Investment Partnerships Program (HOME) as part of our fiscal year 2009 annual audit plan. Our audit objectives were to assess the adequacy of HUD’s monitoring and implementation of requirements to recapture HOME funds not committed within two years and spent within five years, assess the adequacy of HUD’s monitoring and use of its Integrated Disbursement and…

HUD OIG performed an audit of the Housing Authority of the City of Newnan’s activities with its related nonprofit organization, the Newnan Housing Development Corporation. The review was performed based on concerns that the Authority encumbered its assets, used its federal funds to support nonprofit development activities, and had a conflict-of-interest transaction. The purpose of the audit was to determine whether the Authority…