We audited the City and County of Honolulu’s Department of Budget and Fiscal Services’ and Department of Community Services’ (City) fraud risk management practices for its Emergency Solutions Grants Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act (ESG CARES Act) program with the objective of assessing the maturity of the City’s fraud risk management framework that encompasses control activities to prevent, detect, and respond to fraud. …

We audited the Public Housing Capital Fund program at the Housing Authority of the City of Woonsocket, RI, based on a request by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) and because we have not audited the Authority in more than 10 years.  We also received a complaint regarding a property purchase and later demolition next to one of the Authority’s developments.  The audit objective was to determine whether the…

We audited the City of Providence RI’s HOME Investment Partnerships program based on an OIG risk assessment, which ranked the City as the highest risk HOME grantee in New England.  The objective of the audit was to determine whether the City properly committed and disbursed HOME funds in accordance with Federal and U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) rules and regulations. City officials did not properly administer their…

We audited the Housing Choice Voucher and public housing programs at the West Warwick Housing Authority as a result of concerns from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) and a hotline complaint.  The audit objectives were to determine whether (1) procurements were executed in accordance with Federal regulations, (2) West Warwick officials established adequate controls over the Housing Choice Voucher and public housing…

We audited Health Concepts Ltd., a management agent that administers six Federal Housing Administration (FHA)-insured nursing homes.  We conducted this audit based on our review of the Pine Grove Health Center.  The review found that Pine Grove’s owners paid salaries for onsite staff that were covered under the management agreement and charged for services that should have been included in the management fee.  Our objectives for…

We audited the Federal Housing Administration-insured Burrillville Nursing Home, Incorporated, doing business as Pine Grove Health Center, based on a U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), Office of Inspector General risk assessment.  Additionally, HUD identified Pine Grove as a high financial risk and a potentially troubled facility, and Pine Grove’s auditors reported substantial doubt regarding its ability to continue as…

We audited the City and County of Honolulu’s (City) Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) program.  We conducted the audit because the City was the largest Pacific island recipient of CDBG funds, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) had identified problems with the City’s CDBG program, and the Office of Inspector General had never audited the City.  Our objective was to determine whether the City administered…

We audited the Community Development Block Grant Disaster Recovery (CDBG-DR) assistance grant provided to the State of Rhode Island by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) to assist in disaster recovery and rebuilding efforts resulting from damages caused by Hurricane Sandy.  The audit objective was to determine whether State officials obligated and disbursed the grant funds in a timely manner in accordance with HUD…

We audited the State of Rhode Island’s Neighborhood Stabilization Program (NSP) based on a risk assessment that considered the amount of funding, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s (HUD) risk assessment, and HUD findings related to one of the State’s subrecipients.  Our overall audit objective was to determine whether the State properly administered the NSP and ensured that costs incurred were in accordance with HUD…

We completed a review of the Rhode Island Housing’s HOME Investment Partnerships Program based on an Office of Inspector General risk assessment of New England HOME recipients that considered the amount of funding provided and prior audit and monitoring findings.  Our audit objectives were to determine whether Rhode Island Housing officials awarded HOME funds to grantees in a reasonable and supported manner and whether HOME funds were…

We audited the City of Cedar Rapids, IA Property Acquisition Program. We selected the City for review based on a citizen’s hotline complaint and the amount of disaster funding received by the City. During fiscal years 2008 through 2011, the City’s property acquisition program was awarded more than $125 million in disaster funding. Our audit objective was to determine whether the City (1) expended its CDBG disaster recovery grant funds for…

We audited Semper Home Loans, Inc. (Semper), a Federal Housing Administration (FHA) lender approved to underwrite and close mortgage loans without prior FHA review or approval. We selected Semper because its early payment default rate was higher than the default rate in the local area in which it does business. Our audit objectives were to determine (1) whether Semper acted in a prudent manner and complied with U.S. Department of Housing and…

The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), Office of Inspector General audited the State of Iowa’s (State) business rental assistance program (program) funded by Community Development Block Grant disaster funds. Our objective was to determine whether the State ensured that the City of Cedar Rapids (City) provided rental assistance to eligible businesses based on appropriate leases. The State did not implement adequate controls…

The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), Office of Inspector General audited the State of Iowa’s (State) Community Development Block Grant Disaster Assistance Funds. Our audit objective was to determine whether the State ensured that the City of Cedar Rapids provided disaster assistance funds to only eligible businesses and that these businesses did not receive duplicate Federal benefits. The State misspent more than $10.5…

As part of the Office of Inspector General’s annual audit plan, we completed a capacity review of the Department of Hawaiian Home Lands’ (Department) American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (Recovery Act) funding. Our objective was to determine whether the Department had sufficient capacity to manage and administer its Recovery Act funding. Specifically, we reviewed and assessed the Department’s capacity in the following areas:…

We audited the Housing Choice Voucher (Voucher) and public housing programs at the Woonsocket Housing Authority (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 and public housing programs in compliance with its annual contributions contracts and U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) regulations. In…

The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development's (HUD) Office of Inspector General audited the Housing Choice Voucher program of the Des Moines Municipal Housing Agency (Agency) to determine whether the Agency (1) properly considered family composition and reasonable accommodation requests when applying payment standards and (2) took appropriate action when the tenants' files had indications of unreported income. We found that…

The Justice Department announced today that it has filed a lawsuit against Kurt Williams and Gearhead Properties LC, of Davenport, Iowa, for sexually harassing female tenants in violation of the Fair Housing Act (FHA). Williams has managed residential rental properties in Davenport since at least 2010.The lawsuit, filed in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Iowa, alleges that, since at least 2010, Williams subjected female…

PROVIDENCE – A North Providence woman convicted of defrauding multiple publicly-funded programs was sentenced on Tuesday to eighteen months in federal prison for making false statements when applying for a Federal Housing Administration (FHA)-backed mortgage, a Small Business Association (SBA) loan, and for fraudulently applying for government-funded COVID unemployment benefits, announced United States Attorney Zachary A. Cunha. In March 2022,…

PROVIDENCE – A North Providence woman today admitted in federal court that she provided false information to a mortgage lender when applying for a Federal Housing Administration (FHA)-backed mortgage, and that she fraudulently applied for a COVID Economic Injury Disaster Loan (EIDL) and unemployment insurance benefits under both the Families First Coronavirus Response Act (FFCRA) and the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act…