We audited the Women’s Development Center’s administration of its Supportive Housing Program (SHP) with concentration on the transitional housing grants provided by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD). Our review was initiated because of a referral from the Office of Inspector General’s (OIG) Office of Investigation due to concerns about the Center’s compliance with SHP requirements. Our overall objective was to…

We audited the operations of the City of Syracuse, NY, pertaining to its Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) program. The objectives of the audit were to determine whether the City administered its CDBG program effectively, efficiently, and economically in accordance with applicable rules and regulations. Specifically, we wanted to determine whether City officials had (1) established and implemented the necessary controls to ensure that…

We completed an audit of the City of New York, NY (City), pertaining to its administration of its Homelessness Prevention and Rapid Re-Housing Program (HPRP) funded under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009. Our audit objectives were to determine whether City officials (1) disbursed HPRP funds efficiently and effectively in accordance with HUD and other applicable requirements; (2) had a financial management system in place to…

We completed and audit of the City of Buffalo, NY (City), pertaining to its administration of its Homelessness Prevention and Rapid Re-Housing Program (HPRP) funded under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009. Our audit objectives were to determine whether the City efficiently and effectively administered its HPRP in compliance with Recovery Act and other applicable requirements. Specifically, whether City officials had adequate…

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…

We completed an audit of All American Home Mortgage Corp., a nonsupervised lender located in Brooklyn, NY. Our audit objectives were to determine whether All American officials (1) approved Federal Housing Administration (FHA)-insured loans in accordance with the requirements of the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD)-FHA, and (2) implemented a quality control plan in accordance with HUD-FHA requirements. All American…

We completed an audit of Ameritrust Mortgage Bankers, Inc., a nonsupervised lender* located in Lake Success. Our audit objectives were to determine whether Ameritrust officials (1) approved FHA-insured loans in accordance with the requirements of the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD)-FHA, and (2) implemented a quality control plan in accordance with HUD-FHA requirements. Ameritrust officials did not always approve FHA-…

We conducted a review of the City of Dunkirk, NY (City), pertaining to its Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) funds received under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (Recovery Act). We selected this auditee based on a congressional interest inquiry received by the Recovery Act Transparency and Accountability Board and forwarded to the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s (HUD) Office of Inspector General (…

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…

We completed an audit of the operations of the City of Buffalo, NY (City), pertaining to its administration of its Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) program. Our audit objectives were to determine whether the City (1) administered its CDBG program effectively, efficiently, and economically in accordance with applicable rules and regulations, and (2) expended CDBG funds for eligible activities that met a national objective of the program…

We audited Westbeth Artists Houses (auditee) in response to a complaint submitted to the Office of Inspector General (OIG) hotline alleging that project funds were used to pay an executive director in violation of U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) regulations. Our audit objectives were to assess the merits of the complaint and determine whether project operations generally complied with HUD regulations pertaining to…

We completed the fifteenth 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 provided to the State of New York in the aftermath of the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center in New York City. During the audit period, October 1, 2009 through March 31, 2010, LMDC…

We completed an audit of the operations of the City of Binghamton, NY (City), pertaining to its administration of its Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) Section 108 Loan Guarantee program. Our audit objectives were to determine whether the City (1) administered its Section 108 loan program effectively, efficiently, and economically in accordance with applicable rules and regulations; (2) used Section 108 loan proceeds on eligible…

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 conducted a review of Federal Housing Administration (FHA) loans underwritten by Sterling National Mortgage Company, Inc. (Sterling), an FHA direct endorsement lender. The review was conducted as part of the Office of Inspector General’s (OIG) Operation Watchdog initiative to review the underwriting of 15 direct endorsement lenders at the suggestion of the FHA Commissioner. The Commissioner expressed concern regarding the increasing claim…

We completed a corrective action verification review of the audit recommendations for findings 1 and 2 of Audit Report Number 2006-NY-1005, issued February 21, 2006 pertaining to the general operations of the Utica Municipal Housing Authority, Utica, New York (Authority). The purpose of the corrective action verification was to determine whether the selected audit recommendations were implemented and the deficiencies cited in the report were…