As part of the Office of Inspector General’s (OIG) obligation to ensure accountability and transparency in the use of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (Recovery Act) funds, we performed a capacity review to assess the Syracuse Housing Authority’s (Authority) administration of its capital funding program. The Authority was awarded $4.5 million in capital funds under the Recovery Act. Our objective was to evaluate the Authority…

As part of the Office of Inspector General’s (OIG) obligation to ensure accountability and transparency in the use of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (Recovery Act) funds, we performed a capacity review to assess the City of Utica, New York’s (City) administration of its lead-based paint hazard control program. The City was awarded $2.04 million under the Recovery Act to carry out lead-based paint hazard control activities in…

We audited the SFDS Development Corporation (agent), management agent for three U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) subsidized Section 202 elderly housing direct loan properties, in response to a complaint to the Office ofInspector General (OlG) Hotline that alleged misappropriation of HUD funds by the agent. The objective of our review was to assess the merits of the complaint. It was expanded to assess the agent's…

We audited the Section 8 Project-Based Voucher program operated by the State of Massachusetts, Department of Housing and Community Development (DHCD), as part of our annual audit plan. Our objective was to determine whether the DHCD properly administered its Project-Based Voucher program in compliance with U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) requirements. The DHCD generally administered its program in compliance with HUD…

We audited the HOME Investment Partnerships Program (HOME) and Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) funded housing programs administered by the City of Holyoke’s Office of Community Development (City) as part of our annual audit plan. The City was selected based upon our analysis of risk factors relating to HOME grantees in Region 1. Our objective was to determine whether the City properly administered its HOME and CDBG funded housing…

We audited the management agent operations of the South Bronx Community Management Co., Inc. (agent), as they relate to the administration of the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD)-Section 202 direct loan for elderly and handicapped housing project Maria Isabel at the request of the HUD New York City Office of Multifamily Housing. The audit disclosed that the agent generally complied with HUD financial and unit maintenance…

We completed the thirteenth report in our ongoing audits of the Lower Manhattan Development Corporation’s (the auditee) administration of the $2.783 billion in Community Development Block Grant Disaster Recovery Assistance funds provided to the State of New York in the aftermath of the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center in New York City. The auditee disbursed approximately $50.3 million of these funds during our…

We conducted a capacity review of the operations of the City of Brockton’s (City) grantee, Building a Better Brockton, Inc. (recipient), which has responsibility for administering the City’s NSP. Our objective was to determine whether the City and/or its recipient had the capacity to effectively and efficiently administer its NSP under the provisions of the Housing and Economic Recovery Act of 2008 (HERA) and the American Recovery and…

We performed an audit of the City of Boston’s (City) Department of Neighborhood Development (Department). We selected the City based upon the results of our previous audit of the City’s HOME Investment Partnerships Program (HOME) and the significance of the Neighborhood Stabilization Program (NSP) funds awarded. Our objective was to determine whether the City had the capacity to effectively and efficiently administer its NSP under the provisions…

We conducted a review of the City of Little Falls, New York’s (the City) Small Cities Community Development Block Grant (CDBG), and HOME Programs administered by its Urban Renewal Agency (URA). We selected the City for review based on a hotline complaint that alleges mismanagement of HUD funding for the CDBG and HOME programs administered by the City and its URA. The objectives of the review were to determine the merits of the hotline complaint…

We performed an audit of the City of Boston’s (City) Department of Neighborhood Development (Department). We selected the City based upon the results of our previous audit of the City’s HOME Investment Partnerships Program (HOME) and the significance of the Neighborhood Stabilization Program (NSP) funds awarded. Our objective was to determine whether the City had the capacity to effectively and efficiently administer its NSP under the provisions…

We completed an audit of the Lackawanna Municipal Housing Authority’s (Authority) administration of its capital fund program. The objectives of our audit were to determine whether the Authority disbursed capital funds and procured contracts in accordance with U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) requirements. The audit disclosed that the Authority disbursed capital funds for questionable expenditures. Further, it did not…

We are conducting an audit of the Lackawanna Municipal Housing Authority’s (Authority) administration of its capital fund program. We selected this auditee because the Authority pledged its future capital fund appropriations to perform a special project as part of the Capital Fund Financing Program. Specifically, the Authority incurred a $4.25 million long-term liability to perform lead-based paint abatement and modernization work at 90…

We completed the twelfth report in our ongoing audits of the Lower Manhattan Development Corporation's (the auditee) administration of the Community Development Block Grant Disaster Recovery Assistance funds provided to the State of New York in the aftermath of the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center in New York City. During our audit period, April 1 through September 30, 2008, the auditee disbursed approximately…

We completed an audit of the City of Rome, New York's (City), administration of its economic development activity known as General Cable under its Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) program. The objectives of our audit were to determine whether the City (1) administered this economic development activity effectively, efficiently, and economically in accordance with applicable U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD)…

We audited the North Hempstead Housing Authority's (Authority) administration of its Housing Choice Voucher and Family Self-Sufficiency to determine whether the Authority administered these programs in compliance with HUD regulations. The Authority properly determined Section 8 tenant eligibility and accurately calculated rental subsidies. However, the Authority improperly selected both units and tenants for project-based voucher assistance…

We initiated an audit of the City of Holyoke, Massachusetts, Office of Community Development's (City) award and use of HOME Investment Partnerships (HOME) program set-aside funds as part of our annual audit plan. Our objective was to determine whether the City ensured that Contemporary Apartments, Inc. (Contemporary Apartments), met community development housing organization (CHDO) qualification requirements and whether the related CHDO…