The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), Office of Inspector General (OIG), assisted the Office of the United States Attorney, Civil Division, of the Eastern District of North Carolina with a review of loans allegedly improperly originated by Numerica Mortgage, LLC.  Numerica was a Federal Housing Administration (FHA) direct endorsement mortgagee.  The allegations originated with the office of the North Carolina…

We audited the Housing Authority of the City of Paterson, Paterson, NJ’s Housing Choice Voucher program based on a risk assessment of authorities administered by the HUD Newark, NJ, field office that considered funding, HUD’s 2012 risk score, and prior OIG audits. The audit objectives were to determine whether Authority officials implemented adequate controls to ensure that the program was administered in accordance with HUD regulations and its…

We initiated a review of the Housing Authority of the City of Lumberton, NC, at the request of the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s (HUD) Greensboro, NC, Office of Public Housing.  HUD staff described many areas of concern, including cash management, procurement, and inventory controls.  Our objective was to determine whether the Authority operated its public housing program in accordance with HUD and other Federal…

We audited Essex County, NJ’s HOME Investment Partnerships Program based on a risk assessment that considered grantee funding, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s (HUD) risk analysis, and prior audit coverage.  The objective of the audit was to determine whether County officials established and implemented adequate controls to ensure that the HOME program was administered in compliance with program requirements. The…

We audited the Housing Authority of the City of New Brunswick’s American Recovery and Reinvestment Act Capital Fund Program based upon a risk analysis of authorities administered through the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) Newark, NJ field office, which considered the funding received and HUD’s assigned risk score. The objectives of the audit were to determine whether Authority officials (1) obligated and expended their…

We audited the City of Rocky Mount, NC’s HOME Investment Partnerships program based on a request from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s (HUD) Greensboro, NC, Office of Community Planning and Development.  The request expressed several concerns regarding the City’s administration of its HOME program.  Our objective was to determine whether HUD’s concerns had merit and whether the City operated its HOME program in…

We audited the West New York Housing Authority’s American Recovery and Reinvestment Act Capital Fund program in support of the Office of Inspector General’s audit plan goal to oversee Recovery Act-funded activities. We selected the Authority based upon a risk analysis of authorities receiving Recovery Act capital funds administered through the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s (HUD) Newark, NJ, field office, which considered…

We audited the City of Paterson, NJ’s Housing Opportunities for Persons With AIDS (HOPWA) program in support of the Office of Inspector General’s (OIG) goal to contribute to improving HUD’s execution of its fiscal responsibilities. We selected the City after a risk analysis of HOPWA grantees administered by the HUD Newark, NJ, field office that considered funding, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s (HUD) 2011 risk…

We audited Morris County, NJ’s Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) program based on a risk assessment, which considered the size of the program, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s (HUD) risk analysis, and prior audit coverage. The objectives of the audit were to determine whether County officials established adequate controls to ensure that CDBG funds were expended for eligible activities and that the program was…

We audited the Hoboken, NJ, Housing Authority’s administration of its Recovery Act Capital Fund program in support of HUD OIG’s audit plan goals to oversee Recovery Act-funded activity and improve HUD’s execution of and accountability for its fiscal responsibilities. We selected the Authority based on a risk assessment, which considered the Authority’s funding, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s (HUD) risk analysis, and…

The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), Office of Inspector General audited Mortgage Now Inc., a Federal Housing Administration (FHA)-approved nonsupervised direct endorsement lender approved to originate, underwrite, and submit mortgages for insurance. We selected Mortgage Now based on its compare ratio of 223 percent for a 2-year FHA performance period. Its average compare ratio for the loans originated in our…

We audited the City of Elizabeth, NJ’s Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) program in support of the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), Office of Inspector General’s (OIG) goal to contribute to improving HUD’s execution of and accountability for its fiscal responsibilities. We selected the City after completing a risk analysis of CDBG grantees administered by the HUD Newark, NJ, field office. This assessment considered…

We audited the West Village Expansion Project in Durham, NC, a U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) Section 220-insured property, due to a citizen’s hotline complaint. The anonymous complainant alleged that the managing member of the project’s ownership entity spent an excessive amount of project funds on legal fees, transferred more than $500,000 to another entity owned by it, and failed to keep the mortgage current. Our…

We audited the City of Newark, NJ’s administration of its Neighborhood Stabilization Program (NSP1), funded under Title III of Division B of the Housing and Economic Recovery Act of 2008, in support of the Office of Inspector General’s (OIG) goal to improve the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s (HUD) execution of and accountability for its fiscal responsibilities. We selected the City based upon a risk assessment that…

The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), Office of Inspector General (OIG), conducted a review of loans underwritten by Countrywide Home Loans Inc., and its divisions Countrywide Bank FSB and Countrywide Mortgage Ventures, LLC. The objective of the review was to determine whether Countrywide underwrote Federal Housing Administration (FHA) loans in accordance with HUD-FHA regulations. Countrywide is a subsidiary of Bank of…

We audited the public housing program of the Housing Authority of the City of Hickory, NC, due to a citizen’s hotline complaint. Our objectives were to evaluate the merits of the complaint allegations and determine whether the Authority complied with U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) requirements for procurement, cash disbursements, a 2004 Resident Opportunity and Self-Sufficiency (ROSS) grant, and inventory control. The…

We audited the Housing Authority of the City of Perth Amboy’s transactions with its nonprofit subsidiary, the Perth Amboy Redevelopment Team for Neighborhood Enterprise and Revitalization (PARTNER), in response to a hotline complaint. The audit objectives were to assess the merits of this complaint and determine whether Authority officials complied with provisions of the Authority’s regulatory agreement and other U.S. Department of Housing and…

We audited Gloucester Township, NJ's administration of its Community Development Block Grant funds that it received under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009. We selected the Township for an audit because we received two complaints alleging that it misused stimulus funds and overpaid for services and because of our mandate to audit Recovery Act activities. Our audit objective was to determine whether the Township obligated…

As part of the Office of Inspector General’s (OIG) nationwide effort to review the foreclosure practices of the five largest Federal Housing Administration (FHA) mortgage servicers (Bank of America, Wells Fargo Bank, CitiMortgage, JP Morgan Chase, and Ally Financial, Incorporated) we reviewed Bank of America’s foreclosure and claims processes. In addition to this memorandum, OIG issued separate memorandums for each of the other four reviews.…