We audited the Housing Authority of the City of El Paso because it met our oversight objectives for the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009, and because our risk assessment found the Authority had more than $1.7 million to be spent within 3 months of the expenditure deadline. Our audit objectives were to determine whether the Authority properly (1) obligated and spent its formula Recovery Act grant funds, (2) obtained its formula…

We reviewed 32 Federal Housing Administration (FHA) loans that New Day Financial, LLC, underwrote as a U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) FHA direct endorsement lender. We conducted the review as a result of a risk model assessment that identified mortgage lenders that were at high risk to cause losses to the FHA insurance fund. New Day was one of the lenders identified that made insurance claims within the first 2 years of…

We audited the City of Baltimore, MD's Homelessness Prevention and Rapid Re-Housing Program grant because (1) its $9.5 million grant was the largest grant in the State of Maryland, (2) it had disbursed $6.6 million of its grant funds as of December 2011, and (3) we have a mandate to audit American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 activities. The audit objective was to determine whether the City properly obligated and expended grant…

We audited the U. S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) Neighborhood Stabilization Program (NSP1) administered by the Texas Department of Housing and Community Affairs. We selected the Department based upon the large amount of NSP1 funding that it received, more than $101 million. Our objective was to determine whether the Department complied with NSP1 requirements for obligations, expenditures, program income, monitoring, and…

In accordance with our goal to review Housing and Economic Recovery Act of 2008 grantees and because of weaknesses identified by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), the Office of the Inspector General (OIG) initiated a review of the City of San Antonio’s activities funded by its Neighborhood Stabilization Program 1 grant. The objective was to determine whether the City administered its grant in accordance with program…

We audited Prince George’s County, MD’s administration of its HOME Investment Partnerships Program as part of our annual audit plan. Our objective was to determine whether the County properly administered its Program by ensuring that its community housing development organizations were eligible and complied with Program requirements, providing rental, home ownership, and rehabilitation assistance in accordance with requirements and implementing…

We audited the City of Houston’s Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) Disaster Recovery downpayment assistance program. The program allowed the City to provide up to $45,000 in downpayment assistance for homebuyers in low to moderate income areas within the City limits. We initiated the audit as part of the U. S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), Office of Inspector General’s (OIG) annual audit plan to implement oversight…

To meet the Office of Inspector General’s (OIG) objective to review funds provided under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 and at HUD's suggestion, we reviewed the Housing Authority of the City of Mineral Wells Public Housing Capital Fund Stimulus (formula) Recovery Act funded activities. Specifically, our objectives were to determine whether the Authority followed the Recovery Act rules and regulations when obligating and…

We audited the Gonzales Housing Authority’s American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 Public Housing Capital Fund formula grant because it met the Office of Inspector General’s (OIG) most recent audit plan objective to contribute to the oversight objectives of the Recovery Act and the San Antonio Office of Public Housing recommended it for audit. Our objectives were to determine whether the Authority (1) properly obligated and spent its…

We audited the financial and procurement operations of the Housing Authority of the City of Port Arthur, TX. We conducted this audit due to deficiencies identified in a prior audit. Our objectives were to determine whether the Authority had sufficient financial and procurement controls to ensure it used U. S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) funds in accordance with laws, regulations, and policies. This review included…

We audited SWBC Mortgage Corporation, a Federal Housing Administration (FHA) direct endorsement lender in San Antonio, TX. We selected the lender for audit because as of September 30, 2011, it had 25 seriously delinquent loans. Our objective was to determine whether the lender originated single-family home loans in accordance with U. S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) and FHA requirements for loans with amortization dates…

We audited J&M Mortgage Brokers, Ltd., dba Mortgages USA, a Dallas, TX-based nonsupervised direct endorsement lender. We selected J&M because it had a high rate of defaults and claims within the first year. Our audit objectives were to determine whether J&M originated Federal Housing Administration (FHA)-insured single family mortgages in accordance with U. S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) regulations,…

We audited the U. S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s (HUD) Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) 2008 Disaster Recovery assistance for Hurricane Ike and other disasters, administered by the Texas Department of Rural Affairs (the State). Our objective was to determine whether the State administered HUD’s Disaster Recovery funds used for infrastructure and revitalization contracts in compliance with the supplemental…

We performed an audit of PrimeLending, A PlainsCaptial Company, located in Dallas, TX, a Federal Housing Administration (FHA) direct endorsement lender. We selected PrimeLending for audit because of its high default rate in the Houston, Dallas, and Fort Worth, TX, offices as compared to the average default rate for all FHA loans in those offices. Our objective was to determine whether PrimeLending complied with U. S. Department of Housing and…

We audited Healthy Neighborhoods, Inc.’s Neighborhood Stabilization Program 2 based on a complaint received by our office and as part of our annual audit plan to review activities funded by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009. The grantee received $26 million in Program funds under the Recovery Act. Our objective was to determine whether the grantee ensured that its consortium members properly awarded Program contracts and…

In accordance with our goal to review funds provided under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009, we audited the Public Housing Capital Fund Stimulus (formula) Recovery Act-funded activities of the Corpus Christi Housing Authority in Corpus Christi, TX. Our objective was to determine whether the Authority expended Recovery Act funds in accordance with Recovery Act rules and regulations and submitted timely Recovery Act performance…

We audited TXL Mortgage Corporation, a nonsupervised direct endorsement lender located in Houston, TX. We selected TXL due to one of its loan correspondents’ high default rate. Our audit objectives were to determine whether TXL acted in a prudent manner and complied with U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) regulations, procedures, and instructions in the origination and sponsoring of Federal Housing Administration (FHA)-…

Based on a referral from the Fort Worth, TX Office of Audit, HUD sought civil penalties and assessments against a former employee of the Plano Housing Authority, Plano, TX, who participated in its Housing Choice Voucher (HCV) Homeownership Option Program. As the Authority’s HCV Homeownership manager, the employee was responsible for overseeing its homeownership program; thus, she was aware of or should have been aware of program requirements.…

We audited AmericaHomeKey, Inc., a Federal Housing Administration (FHA) direct endorsement lender in Dallas, TX. We selected AmericaHomeKey for audit because during our review of Gold Financial Services (2011-FW-1002), an AmericaHomeKey branch office, we identified three loans originated by one of its underwriters that contained underwriting and valuation deficiencies. Our objective was to determine whether AmericaHomeKey originated…

In accordance with our goal to review funds provided under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (Recovery Act), we audited the Housing Authority of the City of Wichita Falls’ Public Housing Capital Fund Stimulus (formula) Recovery Act-funded activities. Specifically, our objectives were to determine whether the Authority followed Recovery Act rules and regulations when obligating and expending its Recovery Act capital funds and…