We audited the Federal Housing Administration (FHA)-insured loan process at Universal American Mortgage Company (lender) to determine whether the lender complied with U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) regulations, procedures, and instructions in the origination and quality control review of FHA-insured loans. The review was part of our efforts to improve the integrity of the single-family insurance programs. We selected…

In accordance with our goal to review funds provided under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009, we audited the Housing Authority of the City of Las Cruces Public Housing Capital Fund Stimulus (formula) Recovery Act-funded activities. Specifically, our objectives were to determine whether the Authority (1) properly followed Recovery Act rules and regulations when obligating and expending its Recovery Act formula grant funds, (2)…

We audited the City of Las Vegas Homelessness Prevention and Rapid Re-Housing Program (HPRP) established by the American Reinvestment and Recovery Act of 2009 (Recovery Act). Our review of the City of Las Vegas (City) was in response to the Recovery Act, which mandates that OIG take the responsibility to oversee and audit programs and activities funded by the Recovery Act. The City received a grant of $2.1 million. Our objective was to…

In accordance with our goal to review funds provided under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (Recovery Act), we audited Albuquerque Housing Services’ (Housing Services) Public Housing Capital Fund Stimulus (formula) Recovery Act-funded activities. Our audit objectives were to determine whether Housing Services (1) properly obligated and expended its Recovery Act formula grant in accordance with requirements, (2) followed the…

We completed a review of the Community Development Programs Center of Nevada’s (Center) Neighborhood Stabilization Program (program). We performed the review because of the OIG’s mandate to provide oversight of Housing and Economic Recovery Act of 2008 (HERA) programs. We selected the Center because it received more than $4.9 million in program funds from Clark County and the City of Henderson. In addition, the Center has an agreement with…

We completed a review of Clark County’s (grantee) Neighborhood Stabilization Program (Program). The grantee includes Clark County and the City of North Las Vegas. We performed the review because Housing and Economic Recovery Act of 2008 (Act) reviews are part of the OIG’s audit plan, and the Program was identified as high risk. In addition, the grantee was awarded more than $29.6 million in Program funding. Our objectives were to determine…

We performed a limited review of the Washoe County HOME Consortium (Consortium) because it received an allocation of more than $4.6 million in Neighborhood Stabilization Program (NSP) funding as a subgrantee of the State of Nevada. Our objective was to determine whether the Consortium had sufficient capacity and had established adequate methodologies to implement the NSP requirements in accordance with U.S. Department of Housing and Urban…

We completed a review of First Source Financial USA (First Source), a former nonsupervised loan correspondent approved to originate FHA-insured loans. The objective was to determine whether First Source originated FHA loans and had a quality control plan that complied with HUD rules and regulations. We reviewed 20 loans amounting to more than $2.5 million that were in claim status. Our review disclosed that First Source: (1) allowed…

LAS VEGAS – The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Nevada, the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division, and the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s Office of Inspector General hosted a roundtable yesterday for community members and organizations on Sexual Harassment in Housing.“Tenants should feel safe and not live in fear of sexual harassment, sexual assault or sexual exploitation by their landlord or other people who…

The Justice Department filed a lawsuit today against Ariel Solis Veleta, of Albuquerque, New Mexico, for sexually harassing female tenants in violation of the Fair Housing Act (FHA). Solis was employed as a leasing agent and property manager at St. Anthony Plaza Apartments in Albuquerque between 2010 and 2022.The lawsuit, filed in the U.S. District Court for the District of New Mexico, alleges that between 2010 and 2022, Solis requested sex acts…

ALBUQUERQUE – Alexander M.M. Uballez, United States Attorney for the District of New Mexico, and Bertrand Nelson, Special Agent in Charge of the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, Office of Inspector General, Southcentral Region, announced today that landlords for properties located in Roswell and Albuquerque paid $30,000 and $12,000, respectively to settle allegations that they violated the anti-fraud False Claims Act by charging…

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. – U.S. Attorney for the District of New Mexico Fred J. Federici today announced a settlement agreement with the Santa Fe Boys and Girls Club to resolve issues involving two special project grants awarded to the Club. According to the settlement agreement, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) awarded two grants to the Club to purchase land for construction of a new facility. HUD granted the Club $268,245…

Club to pay $1.4 million to resolve allegations of False Claims Act violations ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. – U.S. Attorney for the District of New Mexico Fred J. Federici today announced a settlement agreement with the Santa Fe Boys and Girls Club to resolve issues involving two special project grants awarded to the Club. According to the settlement agreement, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) awarded two grants to the Club to…

LAS VEGAS, Nev. – A former regional director of community development for the National Community Stabilization Trust — formed in 2008 in response to the national mortgage-housing foreclosure crisis — was sentenced Tuesday to one year and one day in prison for conspiracy to commit bribery concerning programs receiving federal funds. “The U. S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) entrusts non-profit organizations to administer HUD…