We audited the Puerto Rico Department of Housing’s multifamily special escrow funds.  This audit was the result of a referral from the San Juan Office of Multifamily Housing Programs.  The objectives of the audit were to determine whether the Department administered and disbursed its escrow funds in accordance with its memorandum of understanding with the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) and whether funded…

The Office of Inspector General (OIG) assisted the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of New Jersey in the investigation of Finance of America Mortgage LLC.  The investigation began due to a qui tam filing in the U.S. District Court for the District of New Jersey.  The relator alleged that Finance of America, through its acquisition of Gateway Funding Diversified Mortgage Services LLP, knowingly participated in a mortgage fraud…

We audited the Municipality of Bayamon’s Emergency Shelter Grants and Emergency Solutions Grants programs.  We selected this auditee based on congressional and hotline complaints alleging that the Municipality improperly used Emergency funds to transport people from Puerto Rico to mainland U.S. cities to receive rehabilitation treatment.  Our main audit objectives were to determine whether allegations included in the complaints had…

We audited Luzerne County, PA’s Community Development Block Grant Disaster Recovery grant provided through the Disaster Relief Appropriations Act of 2013.  We selected the County for review because (1) it had obligated the most disaster funds of the three Pennsylvania grantees that received funds through the Act and (2) the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) had disbursed approximately $2.1 million to the County as of…

We audited the Westmoreland County Housing Authority’s Housing Choice Voucher program because the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) authorized it more than $8.7 million in program funding per year in fiscal years 2013 and 2014 and we had not audited its program.  This is the second of two audit reports on the Authority’s program.  Our objectives in this audit were to determine whether the Authority ensured that…

We audited the Puerto Rico Department of Housing’s Section 8 Housing Choice Voucher program’s housing quality standards as part of the activities in our fiscal year 2014 audit plan.  We selected the Department because it had a large program receiving more than $54 million in 2014.  Our main audit objective was to determine whether the Department’s inspection process adequately ensured that its units complied with the U.S. Department…

We audited the Westmoreland County Housing Authority’s Housing Choice Voucher program.  We selected the Authority for audit because the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) authorized it more than $8.7 million in program funding per year for fiscal years 2013 and 2014 and we had not audited its program.  Our audit objective was to determine whether the Authority managed its waiting list and selected families in…

We audited the Municipality of Toa Alta’s Section 108 Loan Guarantee program.  This audit was the result of a referral from the San Juan Office of Community Planning and Development.  The objectives of the audit were to determine whether program funds were effectively used to meet a Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) program national objective and provide the intended benefits and whether the Municipality complied with loan…

We conducted a review of the Housing Authority of the City of Pittsburgh’s payments for outside legal services in conjunction with an ongoing internal audit of the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s (HUD) oversight of public housing agencies’ expenditures for outside legal services.  Our review objective was to determine whether the Authority made payments for outside legal services in compliance with applicable…

We audited the Pennsylvania Housing Finance Agency’s implementation of the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s (HUD) Loss Mitigation program for loans insured by the Federal Housing Administration (FHA).  We conducted the audit because the Agency had the largest active portfolio and the largest number of delinquent loans for servicers located in Pennsylvania as of October 2014.  Our objectives were to determine whether…

We audited the Bucks County Housing Authority’s Housing Choice Voucher program because the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) authorized it more than $15 million per year in fiscal years 2012 to 2014 and we had not audited its housing quality standards inspection program.  Our audit objective was to determine whether the Authority ensured that its Housing Choice Voucher program units met HUD’s housing quality standards…

We conducted a review of the Philadelphia Housing Authority’s compliance with Federal lobbying disclosure requirements and restrictions.  We found that the Authority engaged in the prohibited practice of using Federal funds for lobbying and a former executive director certified to the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) that it did not do so.  In addition, the former executive director falsely certified to HUD that…

We audited the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s (HUD) oversight of its Home Equity Conversion Mortgage (HECM) program and found that contrary to program residency requirements, 37 borrowers were not living in the property associated with the loan and were renting the property to participants in HUD’s Section 8 Housing Choice Voucher program.  Renting the properties to Section 8 program participants violated program…

We audited the County of Beaver, Beaver Falls, PA’s administration of the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s (HUD) HOME Investment Partnerships Program funds.  We audited the County because we received a complaint alleging misuse of Federal funds resulting from a potential conflict of interest involving a County employee.  Our audit objective was to determine whether the County administered its HOME program in…

We audited the Office of the Commissioner for Municipal Affairs’ Section 108 Loan Guarantee program as part of our strategic plan and based on the deficiencies noted during our recent review of Municipal Affairs’ Section 108 Loan Guarantee program, concerning the slow progress of the Vieques Sports Complex project (Audit memorandum number 2014-AT-1801, issued March 20, 2014).  The objectives of the audit were to determine whether Section…

We reviewed HUD’s San Juan, PR, Office of Community Planning and Development’s monitoring of the Vieques, PR, Sports City Complex project.  The review was performed based on indicators identified in the audit of the Vieques Sports City Complex, Office of the Commissioner for Municipal Affairs’ (OCMA) Puerto Rico State Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) Section 108 Loan Guarantee program.  More than 11 years had elapsed since HUD…

We audited the Municipality of Carolina’s HOME Investment Partnerships Program as part of our strategic plan, based on the amount of HOME funds approved.  The objectives of the audit were to determine whether HOME-funded activities met program objectives, home buyers complied with HOME’s primary residency requirement for the duration of the period of affordability, and the Municipality maintained a financial management system in compliance…

We audited the Housing Authority of the County of Lackawanna’s Housing Choice Voucher program because we received an anonymous complaint alleging incompetent leadership and poor quality of life at the Authority.  This is the second of two audit reports on the Authority.  Our objectives in this audit were to determine whether the Authority ensured that its Housing Choice Voucher program units met U.S. Department of Housing and Urban…

We audited the Catholic Social Services of the Diocese of Scranton’s (grantee) use of the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s (HUD) Supportive Housing and HOME Investment Partnerships Program funds used for the renovation of St. Hedwig’s Veterans Village.  We audited the grantee because we received a complaint alleging misuse of HUD funds and a potential conflict of interest involving the construction management company.…

We conducted a review of the Housing Authority of the City of Pittsburgh’s compliance with Federal lobbying disclosure requirements and restrictions based on concerns noted during our ongoing internal audit of the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s (HUD) oversight of public housing authorities’ compliance with Federal lobbying disclosure requirements.  Our review objective was to determine whether the Authority complied…