We audited the State of Texas’ Community Development Block Grant Disaster Recovery Program based on a hotline complaint, which alleged mismanagement of the Lower Rio Grande Valley Development Council’s Disaster Recovery housing program.  The complainant also made allegations concerning excessive home costs and ineligible homeowners.  Our audit objectives were to determine whether the State (1) ensured that the contractor limited the…

In accordance with our regional plan to review public housing programs and because of a complaint received by our office, we reviewed the Housing Authority of the City of Nixon, Nixon, TX.  Our objective was to determine whether the Authority operated its public housing and related grant programs in accordance with the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s (HUD) requirements.  Specifically, we wanted to determine whether…

We investigated allegations that Thomas Bechtel, a real estate broker, violated U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) real estate-owned owner occupancy program requirements.  The Cincinnati HUD office referred the complaint to HUD OIG.  Our investigation revealed that a bidder, using Thomas Bechtel as his real estate broker, made a false statement when the bidder purchased a HUD-owned single-family home.  The…

We investigated allegations that Tracie Hoker, a real estate agent, violated U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) real estate-owned owner occupancy program requirements.  The Cincinnati HUD office referred the complaint to our office.  Our investigation revealed that a bidder, using Ms. Tracie Hoker as his real estate agent, made a false statement in 2012 to purchase a HUD-owned single-family home, by submitting a…

We investigated allegations that John Sherman violated U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) real estate-owned (REO) owner occupancy program requirements.  The Cincinnati HUD Office referred the complaint to our office.  Our investigation revealed that John Sherman failed to comply with the HUD REO program requirement that an individual who purchased a REO home during its initial offering period must be the owner-…

We audited the City of Toledo’s Community Development Block Grant funded under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 as part of the activities in our fiscal year 2013 annual audit plan.  We selected the City’s Block Grant based upon recent media attention regarding the City’s programs, a request by the Honorable Marcy Kaptur, and a referral from the Office of Inspector General’s Office of Investigation.  Our objective was…

In accordance with our regional plan to review public housing programs and because of weaknesses identified by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s (HUD) Office of Public Housing, we reviewed the Malakoff Housing Authority, Malakoff, TX.  Our objective was to determine whether the Authority’s controls were sufficient to ensure that it administered its HUD Public Housing programs in accordance with regulations and guidance…

In accordance with our regional plan to review public housing programs and because of weaknesses identified by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s (HUD) Office of Public Housing, we reviewed the City of Brackettville Housing Authority, Brackettville, TX.  Our objective was to determine whether the Authority operated its public housing and related grant programs in accordance with HUD requirements.  The Authority’s…

We audited the Warren Metropolitan Housing Authority’s Section 8 Housing Choice Voucher program as part of the activities in our fiscal year 2013 annual audit plan.  We selected the Authority based on a citizen’s complaint to our office.  Our objective was to determine whether the Authority administered its program in accordance with the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s (HUD) requirements. The Authority did not…

We completed an audit of the City of Eagle Pass Housing Authority’s (Authority) American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (Recovery Act) grant activities. The Authority was selected based on the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s (HUD), Office of the Inspector General’s (OIG)  annual plan to conduct oversight of the Recovery Act funds provided to public housing agencies and our regional risk evaluation.  Our audit…

We audited the Stark Metropolitan Housing Authority’s public housing program as part of the activities in our fiscal year 2012 annual audit plan.  We selected the Authority based upon our previous audit of the Authority and an anonymous complaint received by the Office of Inspector General’s hotline.  Our objective was to determine whether the Authority followed the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s (HUD) requirements…

We audited the Harris County Housing Authority, Houston, TX, at the request of the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s (HUD) Fort Worth Office Director of Public and Indian Housing.  The request followed a series of news articles alleging mismanagement and extravagant spending at the Authority, the removal or replacement of various former managers and board of commissioners members, and concerns expressed by the new managers…

We audited the City of Toledo’s Community Development Block Grant-funded Code Violation Abatement Program as part of the activities in our fiscal year 2013 annual audit plan.  We selected the City’s Program based upon recent media attention regarding the City’s programs, a request by the Honorable Marcy Kaptur, and a referral from the Office of Inspector General’s Office of Investigation.  Our objectives were to determine whether the…

We conducted a limited review of Federal Housing Administration (FHA) loans underwritten by CTX Mortgage Company LLC. We selected the lender based on the results of an auditability survey, which determined that CTX Mortgage allowed prohibited restrictive covenants to be filed against Federal Housing Administration (FHA)-insured properties. The objective of our review was to determine the extent to which CTX Mortgage failed to prevent the…

We audited the Housing Authority of the City of El Paso because it met our oversight objectives for the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009, and because our risk assessment found the Authority had more than $1.7 million to be spent within 3 months of the expenditure deadline.  Our audit objectives were to determine whether the Authority properly (1) obligated and spent its formula Recovery Act grant funds, (2) obtained its…

We audited the Housing Authority of the City of El Paso because it met our oversight objectives for the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009, and because our risk assessment found the Authority had more than $1.7 million to be spent within 3 months of the expenditure deadline. Our audit objectives were to determine whether the Authority properly (1) obligated and spent its formula Recovery Act grant funds, (2) obtained its formula…

The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s Office of Inspector General audited the City of Cleveland’s HOME Investment Partnerships Program. We selected the City based upon our analysis of risk factors related to Program grantees in Region 5’s jurisdiction, recent media coverage regarding the City’s Program, and a request from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s (HUD) Columbus Office of Community Planning and…

The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), Office of the Inspector General (OIG) audited the Stark Metropolitan Housing Authority’s American Recovery and Reinvestment Act Public Housing Capital Fund stimulus formula grant as part of the activities in our fiscal year 2012 annual audit plan. We selected the Authority based upon risk factors related to the housing agencies in Region 5’s Region 5 includes the States of Illinois,…

We audited the U. S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) Neighborhood Stabilization Program (NSP1) administered by the Texas Department of Housing and Community Affairs. We selected the Department based upon the large amount of NSP1 funding that it received, more than $101 million. Our objective was to determine whether the Department complied with NSP1 requirements for obligations, expenditures, program income, monitoring, and…

In accordance with our goal to review Housing and Economic Recovery Act of 2008 grantees and because of weaknesses identified by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), the Office of the Inspector General (OIG) initiated a review of the City of San Antonio’s activities funded by its Neighborhood Stabilization Program 1 grant. The objective was to determine whether the City administered its grant in accordance with program…