We conducted a limited review of the Cambridge Housing Authority’s Moving to Work Housing Choice Voucher Program’s use of exception payment standards.   This program allows public housing authorities to use exception payment standards to set rental payments in excess of the payment standard established for an authority’s rents . The review was initiated as a result of a concern raised by a member of Congress about whether public…

The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), Office of Inspector General (OIG) assisted in an investigation into alleged violations of Federal Housing Administration (FHA) regulations by Taylor, Bean & Whitaker Mortgage Corporation and Home America Mortgage, Inc.  The investigation included a qui tam action filed under the False Claims Act in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Georgia.  The False…

We audited St. Francis Hospital, Inc. because the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), Office of Hospital Facilities, requested immediate assistance from HUD’s Office of Inspector General (OIG) to review suspected violations of the hospital’s regulatory agreement and rider (including covenants).  Our objective was to determine whether the hospital complied with the executed regulatory agreement and HUD requirements for…

We audited the Housing Authority of the City of Comer’s financial and procurement operations.  We selected the Authority based on concerns from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s (HUD) Georgia State Office of Public Housing regarding significant deficiencies identified during its August 2013 management review.  HUD’s Office of Public Housing identified findings regarding the misuse of funds, a lack of governance…

We audited the Housing Authority of the City of Meridian’s Queen City apartments at the request of the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s (HUD) Single Family Office of Asset Management.  Our objectives were to determine whether the Authority acquired, financed, and managed the purchase of the apartments in accordance with applicable regulations and determine the cause of the Queen City apartments’ Federal Housing…

We audited the Chelsea, MA, Housing Authority based on a request from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), Boston Office of Public and Indian Housing, which was concerned about financial controls at the Authority.  Our audit objectives were to determine whether Authority officials properly implemented financial controls over the allocation of costs, and reasonableness of salaries. Authority officials did not design…

We audited the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s (HUD) Boston Office of Public Housing as part of a nationwide audit of HUD’s oversight of environmental reviews.  We selected the Boston Office based on our risk assessment.  Our audit objectives were to determine whether the Boston Office’s oversight of public housing environmental reviews within its jurisdiction ensured that (1) the responsible entities performed the…

We completed a review of the Lowell Housing Authority’s Public Housing and Recovery Act Capital Fund programs, including its force account activities.  We selected this auditee based on a news articles identifying concerns with the Authority’s use of force account labor.  The objectives of the audit were to determine whether the Authority (1) administered its force account modernization program in accordance with U.S. Department of…

We audited the City of Worcester’s administration of its Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) program.  We selected the City for review based on a request from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), Boston, MA, Office of Community Planning and Development.  The objectives of the audit were to determine whether the City established adequate controls to ensure that the CDBG activities were eligible and supported…

We completed an audit of the Lawrence Housing Authority, Lawrence, MA, (Authority) pertaining to its administration of U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) programs. The objective of this audit was to determine whether the Authority had acceptable management and financial practices to efficiently and effectively administer the use of Section 8 and public housing program funds in compliance with its annual contributions…

We audited the Housing Choice Voucher and Federal public housing programs at the Medford Housing Authority due to a complaint received by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD). Our overall audit objective was to determine whether the Authority had acceptable management practices to efficiently and effectively administer its housing programs while providing decent, safe, and sanitary housing in compliance HUD requirements and…

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 audited the Housing Choice Voucher program at the Fall River Housing Authority as part of our annual audit plan. The overall objective of the audit was to determine whether the Authority efficiently and effectively administered its Voucher program in compliance with its annual contributions contracts and U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) regulations. Our specific subobjectives were to determine whether (1) the Authority…

We reviewed the administration expenses charged to the City of Brockton’s Community Development Block Grant in response to a complaint alleging that the City was charging the Community Development Block Grant program for City expenses. The objectives of our review were to determine whether the City (1) properly accounted for and reported its planning and administrative expenses for its Community Development Block Grant and (2) prepared accurate…

We audited the Housing Choice Voucher program and Federal public housing programs at the Weymouth Housing Authority as part of our annual audit plan. The overall objective of the audit was to determine whether the Authority had acceptable management practices to efficiently and effectively administer its Housing Choice Voucher program while providing decent, safe, and sanitary housing in compliance with U.S. Department of Housing and Urban…

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…

We audited the monitoring conducted by the Office of Public Housing (PIH), in Region 1 of their Recovery Act Capital Fund Grantees, for compliance with the Recovery Act and applicable U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) regulations, policies and procedures. Our objective was to determine whether PIH in Region 1 (1) monitored Recovery Act grantees identified by the risk assessment process HUD established and implemented for…

We reviewed The Community Builders, a nonprofit development and asset management firm that received a $78.6 million grant from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD). Through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009, Congress established the Neighborhood Stabilization Program 2 to grant funds to States, local governments, nonprofits, and a consortium of nonprofit entities for the purpose of stabilizing communities…

We audited the New Bedford Housing Authority’s (Authority) $9.9 million of the Public Housing Capital Fund Stimulus Formula and Competitive Grants (Recovery Act Funded). Our objective was to determine whether the Authority obligated and disbursed capital funds received under the Recovery Act according to the requirements of the act and applicable U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) rules and regulations. The Authority…