We performed a review of the State of Louisiana, Office of Community Development’s (State), Louisiana Tourism Marketing Program (Program), administered by the State’s subrecipient, the Department of Culture, Recreation and Tourism (DCRT). We initiated the review as part of the Office of Inspector General (OIG) Gulf Coast Region’s audit plan and examination of activities related to Gulf Coast hurricane disaster relief efforts. Our objective was…

In accordance with our goal to review funds provided under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (Recovery Act), the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development's Office of Inspector General conducted a capacity review of the Benton Harbor Housing Commission’s (Commission) operations. We selected the Commission based upon the results of our audit of the Commission’s Public Housing Capital Fund (Capital Fund) program (see…

The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development's Office of Inspector General reviewed the City of Saginaw’s (City) Community Development Block Grant (Block Grant) program under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (Act). The review was part of the activities in our fiscal year 2010 annual audit plan. We selected the City based upon the results of our prior audit of the City’s Block Grant-funded demolition activities. Our…

We completed an inspection of the State of Louisiana’s (State) Road Home Elevation Incentive (elevation grant) program funded by HUD Community Development Block Grant disaster recovery funds.  We wanted to know whether homeowners used the funds to elevate their homes as set forth in their grant agreements.  Our inspection covered 199 (about 10 percent) of the 1,906 property owners who received more than $44.4 million in elevation…

The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s (HUD) Office of Inspector General reviewed Wayne County’s (County) Neighborhood Stabilization Program (Program). The review was part of the activities in our fiscal year 2009 annual audit plan. We selected the County based upon a request from HUD’s Detroit Office of Community Planning and Development. Our objective was to determine whether the County had the capacity to effectively and…

We performed an audit of the State of Louisiana, Office of Community Development (State), Recovery Workforce Training Program (Program) administered by the State’s subrecipient, Louisiana Workforce Commission (LWC). We initiated the audit as part of the Office of Inspector General (OIG) Gulf Coast Region’s audit plan and examination of relief efforts provided by the Federal Government in the aftermath of Hurricanes Katrina and Rita. Our audit…

As part of the Housing and Urban Development (HUD) Office of Inspector General's obligation to ensure accountability and transparency in use of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (ARRA) funds, we performed a review to assess the Housing Authority of New Orleans' (Authority) capacity to administer $34.5 million in ARRA funding. Our objective was to evaluate the Authority's capacity and risks in the following areas:…

The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s (HUD) Office of Inspector General audited the Grand Rapids Housing Commission’s (Commission) Section 8 Project-Based Voucher program (program). The audit was part of the activities in our fiscal year 2009 annual audit plan. We selected the Commission’s program based upon our internal audit survey of HUD’s oversight of the program and our analysis of risk factors relating to the housing…

The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s (HUD) Office of Inspector General audited the City of Saginaw’s (City) Community Development Block Grant (Block Grant) program-funded demolition activities. The audit was part of the activities in our fiscal year 2009 annual audit plan. We selected the City based upon a request from HUD’s Detroit Office of Community Planning and Development. Our audit objective was to determine whether the…

The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s (HUD) Office of Inspector General audited the Michigan State Housing Development Authority’s (Authority) Section 8 Project-Based Voucher program (program). The audit was part of the activities in our fiscal year 2009 annual audit plan. We selected the Authority’s program based upon our internal audit survey of HUD’s oversight of the program and our analysis of risk factors relating to the…

The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s (HUD) Office of Inspector General audited the City of Flint’s (City) HOME Investment Partnerships Program (Program). The audit was part of the activities in our fiscal year 2009 annual audit plan. We selected the City based upon our analysis of risk factors relating to Program grantees in Region V’s jurisdiction and a citizen complaint to our office. Our audit objectives were to determine…

The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development's (HUD) Office of Inspector General performed an audit of Custom Closing Services, Incorporated (Custom), a contractor closing sales of HUD real estate-owned properties in the state of Michigan. The audit was conducted based on a complaint to our hotline alleging that Custom caused significant delays in the closing of HUD homes in Michigan. Our audit objective was to determine whether…

We audited the Louisiana Land Trust (LLT), a $29 million Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) disaster recovery subrecipient of the State of Louisiana, Office of Community Development (State). We initiated the audit as part of the Office of Inspector General (OIG) Gulf Coast Region’s audit plan and examination of relief efforts provided by the federal government in the aftermath of Hurricanes Katrina and Rita. Our audit objective was to…

Due to a citizen's complaint, we audited the State of Louisiana's (State) Road Home homeowner assistance program managed by the State's contractor, ICF Emergency Management Services, LLC. The complaint raised a potential issue with Road Home employees improperly obtaining grants. During our audit on employee eligibility for additional compensation grants, we identified possible program eligibility issues through a review of the…

Due to a citizen's complaint, we audited the State of Louisiana's (State) Road Home homeowner assistance program managed by the State's contractor, ICF Emergency Management Services, LLC. The complaint raised a potential issue with Road Home employees improperly obtaining grants. During our audit on employee eligibility for additional compensation grants, we identified possible program eligibility issues through a review of the…

At the request of two United States senators, we initiated an audit of the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development's (HUD) administration of the Housing Authority of New Orleans (Authority) to determine the effect of HUD's receivership on the Authority's performance. Specifically, we wanted to determine whether HUD had taken action to improve the Authority's post-Hurricane Katrina performance while under HUD…

At the request of two United States senators, we initiated an audit of the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development's (HUD) administration of the Housing Authority of New Orleans (Authority) to determine the effect of HUD's receivership on the Authority's performance in its contracting activities and financial functions. Specifically, we wanted to determine whether HUD's receivership ensured that the Authority…

We completed an inspection of HUD funds drawn from the Line of Credit Control System (LOCCS) to pay for construction at Savoy Place, the last phase of the Desire Development at The Housing Authority of New Orleans (HANO).  The Desire Development is a three-phase HOPE VI development, comprising of Abundance, Treasure, and Savoy Place.   We compared progress payments HANO made to the developer, Michaels Development Company, with…

The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development's (HUD) Office of Inspector General audited the Lansing Housing Commission's (Commission) nonprofit development activities. The review of public housing authorities' development activities is set forth in our fiscal year 2007 annual audit plan. We selected the Commission because it was identified as having high-risk indicators of nonprofit development activity. Our objective was…

The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development's (HUD) Office of Inspector General audited the Highland Park Housing Commission's (Commission) Public Housing program (program). The audit was part of the activities in our annual audit plan. We selected the Commission based upon its fiscal year 2005 independent auditor's report that identified it as having a high-risk program. Our objectives were to determine whether the…