The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development's (HUD) Office of Inspector General audited the Missouri Housing Development Commission’s (Commission) Recovery Act funded Tax Credit Assistance Program (TCAP). Our audit objectives were to determine whether the Commission obtained wage reports and lobbying certifications required by Federal law and accurately reported job creation to Recovery.gov. We concluded that the Commission did…

We reviewed 12 Federal Housing Administration (FHA) loans that American Sterling Bank (American) underwrote as an FHA direct endorsement lender. Our review objective was to determine whether American underwrote the 12 loans in accordance with FHA requirements. This review is part of Operation Watchdog, an Office of Inspector General (OIG) initiative to review the underwriting of 15 direct endorsement lenders at the suggestion of the FHA…

We conducted a review of the State of Mississippi (State), a $5.5 billion Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) disaster recovery grantee. 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 objective was to determine whether the State ensured that contracts were…

We conducted a review of the State of Mississippi (State), a $5.5 billion Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) disaster recovery grantee. We initiated the review 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 objectives were to determine whether the State ensured that (1) public housing…

We reviewed Federal Housing Administration (FHA)-insured home equity conversion mortgages (HECM) loans originated by First Call Mortgage Company and sponsored by James B. Nutter & Company (J.B.Nutter) during the period of January 2007 to December 2008. We reviewed these loans because in September 2008 state banking regulators from New Hampshire and Massachusetts found that First Call used deceptive business practices and did not have the…

We audited the State of Mississippi's (State) administration of the $5.058 billion in Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) disaster recovery funds provided to the State in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. The State allocated $2.2 billion to help homeowners in southern Mississippi recover from Hurricane Katrina. Our audit objective was to determine whether the State ensured that applicants were eligible to receive disbursements under…

The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), Office of Inspector General, audited Grace Hill Neighborhood Health Centers (Grace Hill). Our audit objective was to determine whether Grace Hill properly charged payroll and support expenses to the grants. We concluded that Grace Hill charged unsupported salary and benefit costs to the grants because it did not require grant staff to properly track their time. Additionally, Grace Hill…

The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), Office of Inspector General, audited Midwest Mortgage Capital (Midwest). Our audit objectives were to determine whether Midwest followed HUD requirements for underwriting loans and performing its quality control program for single-family production. We concluded that Midwest did not properly underwrite 7 of the 29 defaulted loans reviewed. These loans had material underwriting…

We audited the State of Mississippi's (State) administration of the $5.058 billion in Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) disaster recovery funds provided to the State in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. The State allocated $2.2 billion to help homeowners in southern Mississippi recover from Hurricane Katrina. During our audit on grant eligibility, we identified a few possible duplicate payments when reviewing the State's…

The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), Office of Inspector General, audited the St. Louis Housing Authority in St. Louis, Missouri. Our objective was to determine whether the Authority took complete physical inventories and maintained adequate property records. We concluded that the Authority did not perform complete physical inventories in fiscal years 2006, 2007, or 2008 or reconcile the results of the inventories…

The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), Office of Inspector General, audited CitiMortgage, Incorporated (CitiMortgage). Our audit objectives were to determine whether CitiMortgage followed U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) requirements for underwriting loans and performing its quality control program for single-family production. We concluded that CitiMortgage did not properly underwrite 20 of the 60…

The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) Office of Inspector General reviewed the City of St. Louis' use of HOME Investment Partnerships Program (HOME) funds. Our audit objective was to determine whether the City used HOME funds for reasonable and necessary development costs. We concluded that The City used HOME funds for costs that were not reasonable and necessary to produce housing for low-income families. Additionally…

The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), Office of Inspector General, audited Heartland Funding Corporation (Heartland Funding) because of its high 30-day delinquency rate. More than 23 percent of the loans that it originated from January 2006 through December 2007 had been at least 30 days delinquent (past due). Our audit objectives were to determine whether Heartland Funding followed HUD requirements for (1) borrower…

The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), Office of Inspector General, reviewed James B. Nutter and Company's (J.B. Nutter) quality control program. Our objective was to determine whether J.B. Nutter followed HUD's quality control requirements for home equity conversion mortgages insured by the Federal Housing Administration (FHA). We concluded that for six months in 2007 and 2008, J.B. Nutter did not meet HUD's…

We audited the State of Mississippi's Development Authority's (Authority) Homeowners Assistance Program (Program), implemented by Reznick Group and Reznick Mississippi, LLC (contractor). We initiated the audit in conjunction with 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…

We audited the Homeowner's Assistance Grant Program (Program), a component of the State of Mississippi's (State) administration of the $5.058 billion in Community Development Block Grant disaster recovery funds provided to the State in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. The State allocated $3 billion to help homeowners in Southern Mississippi recover from Hurricane Katrina. The audit objectives were to determine whether the State and/…

The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development's (HUD) Office of Inspector General audited the State of Mississippi's (State) calculation of homeowners' grant amounts and monitoring of the implementation of its Homeowner's Assistance Grant Program. Our audit was part of the activities in our annual audit plan. Our objectives were to determine whether the State appropriately calculated the homeowners' grant amounts and monitored the…

James B. Nutter & Company, a former mortgage lender located in Kansas City, Missouri, has agreed to pay $2.4 million to resolve allegations that it violated the False Claims Act and the Financial Institutions Reform, Recovery and Enforcement Act of 1989 by knowingly underwriting Home Equity Conversion Mortgages (HECM) insured by the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD)’s Federal Housing Administration (FHA) that did not meet…

Sold Stolen Rental Equipment, Real Estate He Didn’t Own KANSAS CITY, Mo. – An Independence, Mo., man was sentenced in federal court today for two fraud schemes in which he sold unwitting victims rental equipment and real estate that did not belong to him. Jeremy Ace Woods, 46, was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Howard F. Sachs to 17 years in federal prison without parole. The court also ordered Woods to pay $798,021 in restitution to 48…