We audited Marina Village Apartments as a result of the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), Office of Inspector General’s (OIG) internal audit of HUD’s servicing of multifamily HUD-held mortgages and a risk analysis.  The objectives were to determine whether project funds were used in compliance with the regulatory agreement and HUD requirements and whether the project operated in compliance with its use agreement. The…

We audited the City of Auburn, NY’s Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) program based on an Office of Inspector General risk analysis that considered the amount of funding the City had available to expend.  The objectives of the audit were to determine whether the City had (1) established and implemented the necessary controls to ensure that program activities were adequately documented and administered in accordance with U.S.…

We completed the 17th audit report in our ongoing review of the Lower Manhattan Development Corporation’s (LMDC) administration of the $2.783 billion in Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) Disaster Recovery Assistance funds awarded to the State of New York in the aftermath of the September 11, 2011, terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center in New York City.  During the audit period, April 1, 2011 through March 31, 2012, LMDC…

We reviewed alleged violations of U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) requirements.  The alleged violations related to fraudulent expense reimbursements sought and received by a contractor from CDBG funds.  The Department of Justice filed a complaint under the False Claims Act and in February 2013 reached a settlement with the subject.  The subject acknowledged and…

We audited the Federal Housing Administration (FHA)-insured loan process at All Western Mortgage’s Las Vegas, NV, home office as part of our efforts to improve the integrity of the single-family insurance programs. We selected All Western Mortgage because it is one of the top 10 originators in Nevada and the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s (HUD) Quality Assurance Division had not performed a review since 2005. The…

We completed a review of Nassau County, NY Office of Community Development’s administration of its HOME Investment Partnerships Program. We selected this auditee based on a risk assessment conducted by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s (HUD) New York City Office of Community Planning and Development. The objectives of the audit were to determine whether the County committed and obligated HOME funds in a timely…

We audited the City of Albany, NY’s administration of its supplemental Community Development Block Grant program funded under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (CDBG-R). The objectives were to determine whether the City administered its CDBG-R program effectively, efficiently, and economically in accordance with applicable rules and regulations, including the Recovery Act, and other U.S. Department of Housing and Urban…

We audited the Southern Nevada Regional Housing Authority’s American Recovery and Reinvestment Act Public Housing Capital Fund grants as part of our objective to review funds provided under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009. We selected the Authority because it is a newly formed entity, created January 1, 2010, and the Authority and the entities that formed it received more than $21 million in Recovery Act Capital Fund grants…

We completed a review of Deutsche Bank’s Job Creation and Retention Program (JCRP) grant. We selected this auditee based on a hotline complaint, case number HL-2012-0199, that was referred from the United States Government Accountability, FraudNet control number 58392, received on November 23, 2011. The complaint alleged that Deutsche Bank officials fraudulently received a $34.5 million JCRP grant under the guise that they would maintain 5,500…

In conjunction with our external audit of Innotion Enterprises, Inc. (Audit Report #2012-LA-1010), we reviewed termite inspection passthrough costs that it submitted to the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) for payment as part of its real estate-owned (REO) Management and Marketing III (M&M III) program field service manager contract. We selected Innotion’s Las Vegas, NV, branch based on the size and scope of its…

We completed a review of the Village of Spring Valley, NY, a subrecipient of Rockland County, NY. We selected this auditee based on a hotline complaint that was referred from the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) OIG, Complaint Number Z-12-0445-1, received on February 14, 2012. The complaint alleged that the Village (1) used eminent domain and Federal funds to seize property, (2) transferred ownership of properties to a developer to be…

We completed a corrective action verification of the recommendations made to the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s (HUD) Office of Community Planning and Development (CPD) pertaining to our review of The City of Newburgh, NY’s Section 108 Loan Guarantee program, Audit Report 2009-NY-1001, which was issued November 7, 2008. The purpose of the corrective action verification was to determine whether the audit recommendations…

We audited the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) real estate-owned (REO) Management and Marketing (M&M) III program at Innotion Enterprises, Inc., to determine whether Innotion performed property preservation and protection services according to contract requirements. The review was part of our efforts to improve the integrity of the single-family insurance programs. We selected Innotion’s Las Vegas, NV, branch based…

We audited the Buffalo Municipal Housing Authority’s Public Housing Capital Fund Stimulus (Formula) program funded under the Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 based on an Office of Inspector General risk analysis and the amount of funding the Authority received. The objectives of the audit were to determine whether Authority officials (1) procured contracts in accordance with U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD)…

We completed the 16th audit report in our ongoing review of the Lower Manhattan Development Corporation’s administration of the $2.783 billion in Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) Disaster Recovery Assistance funds awarded to the State of New York in the aftermath of the September 11, 2011, terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center in New York City. During the audit period, April 1, 2010 through March 31, 2011, LMDC disbursed…

The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), Office of Inspector General (OIG), assisted the U.S. Attorney’s Office, Southern District of New York, in conducting a review of MortgageIT, Inc. MortgageIT is a residential mortgage banking company headquartered in New York City, NY. Originally founded in 1988, MortgageIT was acquired by Deutsche Bank in 2007, and was a HUD-approved Title II nonsupervised mortgage company. Its home…

We completed a review of the New York City Housing Authority’s use of Federal funds. We selected this auditee based on a hotline complaint, case number HL-2011-0705, which alleged a pattern of waste, overspending, and abuse by the Authority. Specifically, the complaint alleged that the Authority (1) froze its Section 8 vouchers due to lack of available funds, (2) overpaid at least one housing manager with an annual salary of $187,000, (3) paid…

We audited the City of Syracuse, NY, pertaining to its Economic Development Initiative (EDI)-Special Project grants. The audit objective was to determine whether City officials were administering EDI Special Project grants effectively, efficiently, and economically in accordance with applicable rules and regulations. Specifically, we wanted to determine whether City officials expended EDI funds for eligible activities that were fully supported…

We completed an audit of the City of Buffalo, NY (City) pertaining to its administration of its supplemental Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) program funded under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009. We selected the City based on concerns identified in our completed audit of the City’s CDBG program, Audit Report Number 2011-NY-1010 issued April 15, 2011. Our audit objectives were to determine whether the City…