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…

The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), Office of Inspector General (OIG), assisted the U.S. Department of Justice, Washington, DC, and the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Middle District of Florida in a civil investigation of Regions Bank.  Regions Bank has its principal place of business in Birmingham, AL, and became a Federal Housing Administration (FHA)-approved direct endorsement lender in 1985.  As a direct…

The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), Office of Inspector General (OIG), conducted a civil fraud review of an alleged loan origination fraud scheme involving borrowers purchasing a home in which the loan was insured under HUD’s Federal Housing Administration (FHA) program.  The alleged scheme involved the submission of a false loan application to obtain an FHA-insured loan on a home in San Diego, CA.  FHA…

We audited the Housing Opportunities Commission of Montgomery County’s Housing Choice Voucher program because (1) it had a large program receiving more than $82 million in fiscal year 2015, (2) it had the second largest number of housing choice vouchers of non-Moving to Work housing agencies within the jurisdiction of the Philadelphia region, and (3) we had not audited its program.  Our audit objective was to determine whether the…

We audited the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s (HUD) oversight of legal costs at housing agencies participating in the Moving to Work Demonstration program based on (1) congressional concerns, (2) concerns from a previous external audit, and (3) our initiative to focus HUD management’s attention on problem areas on which we and others have reported over the years.  Our audit objective was to determine whether HUD…

We audited Folts, Inc.’s management of the Folts Adult Home and Folts Home projects to address our concern with U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD)-assisted health care facilities.  We selected this auditee as the result of a risk assessment of nursing homes located in New York State, which considered HUD’s risk indicators and factors such as loan default; internal control issues; and financial statements not being filed…

We audited P.K. Management Group, Inc. (PKMG), a contracted field service manager in HUD’s real estate-owned Management and Marketing III program, as part of the activities included in our 2016 annual audit plan and because it was the sole contractor performing property preservation and protection services for U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD)-acquired properties located in Illinois in Region’s 5 jurisdiction.  Our…

We audited the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s (HUD) controls over its certifications of State disaster recovery grantee procurement processes.  We initiated the audit after prior audits identified issues with the procurement certification completed for the State of New Jersey.  Our objective was to determine whether HUD certifications of State disaster grantee procurement processes were accurate and supported. HUD…

The Office of Hospital Facilities (OHF) provides mortgage insurance for acute care hospitals.  The insurance it provides reduces risk to lenders and lowers borrowing costs for hospitals.  As of May 2016, the unpaid principal balance for its 105 insured mortgages was approximately $7 billion. OHF collects and generates many records to support its mission.  These records include application materials, internal reports, and…

We audited the City of Huntington Beach’s Community Development Block Grant program due to issues identified by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s (HUD) Los Angeles Office of Community Planning and Development.  In addition, Office of Inspector General (OIG) data analytics identified timeliness issues with the use of program funding.  We also selected the City because it had not been audited by OIG.  Our…

The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), Office of Inspector General audited Boulder County because it is a significant recipient of the State of Colorado’s more than $320 million Community Development Block Grant Disaster Recovery grant, having received grants of more than $6 million.  Our audit objective was to determine whether Boulder approved its grants and procured consultants in accordance with applicable Federal…

The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), Office of Inspector General, and Johnson County Audit Services, Johnson County, KS, audited the City of Olathe, KS, based on a hotline complaint.  Our audit objectives were to determine whether (1) the complainant’s allegations were substantiated, (2) the City listed the proper affordability period for the Neighborhood Stabilization Program (NSP) homes it sold, and (3) the City…

The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), Office of Inspector General (OIG), OIG referred alleged violations to HUD’s Office of Program Enforcement for action under the Program Fraud Civil Remedies Act based on an audit of Shea Mortgage that found it did not follow HUD requirements when it underwrote loans that had executed and recorded agreements containing prohibited restrictive covenants.  HUD’s Office of Program…

The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), Office of Inspector General audited the University Village, LLC in Orem Utah based on previous violations identified by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) that found ineligible withdrawals and substandard physical conditions at the property.  The objective of our audit was to determine whether University Village complied with its HUD multifamily Federal…

The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), Office of Inspector General (OIG), assisted the U.S. Department of Justice and the U.S. Attorney’s Office, Southern District of New York and Northern District of California, in conducting an investigation of Wells Fargo Bank, N.A.’s origination and underwriting of mortgage loans insured by the Federal Housing Administration (FHA). Based in part on our review, the United States alleged…

The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), Office of Inspector General audited the Wyoming Community Development Authority of Casper, WY, for calendar years 2012-2015.  The audit was initiated based on concerns received from U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) officials from the Office of Community Planning and Development program staff in Denver, CO.  The objectives of the audit were to determine…

We audited the Housing Authority of the City of Rock Island, IL’s Housing Choice Voucher program based on the activities included in our 2016 annual audit plan and our analysis of risk factors related to the public housing agencies in Region 5’s jurisdiction.  Our audit 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…

The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), Office of Inspector General, audited the City of Joplin, MO’s Community Development Block Grant Disaster Recovery (CDBG-DR) program because the City was awarded more than $45 million in CDBG-DR funds in April 2012 and received an additional $113 million in May 2013. We previously audited the City’s CDBG-DR program in 2013 and issued audit report 2014-KC- 1002. At that time, the City…

We audited the Housing Authority of the City of Annapolis’ procurement activities due to a hotline complaint.  The complaint alleged that the Authority failed to follow procurement requirements.  This is the second of two audit reports on the Authority.  Our audit objective was to determine whether the Authority procured services and products using operating and capital funds in accordance with applicable requirements. The…

We audited the Harris County Community Services Department’s Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) program based on our risk analysis and as part of our annual audit plan to review community planning and development funds.  The audit objective was to determine whether the Department properly administered and adequately documented its CDBG program activities in accordance with U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD)…