In accordance with our regional plan to review public housing programs and because of a complaint filed by a contractor with the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s (HUD) Office of the Inspector General (OIG) and issues identified by HUD’s Office of Public Housing, we performed a review of the Hot Springs Housing Authority.  The contractor alleged that the Authority did not procure a contract in compliance with Federal…

We audited Prudential Huntoon Paige Associates, LTD’s underwriting of a $22.8 million mortgage loan to refinance Lafayette Towers Apartments, a 584-unit highrise multifamily project in Detroit, MI.  We initiated the review based on the early default, assignment, and significant amount of the project.  Our objective was to determine whether Prudential underwrote and processed the loan for Lafayette Towers according to the U.S.…

The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), Office of Inspector General audited HUD’s Office of Community Planning and Development’s (CPD) administration of the HOME Investment Partnerships Program’s matching requirements to determine whether CPD effectively reviewed participating jurisdictions’ match logs and the support for their match contributions and whether it applied the correct match reductions in fiscal year 2013.…

We completed a review of Hudson County, NJ’s administration of its Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) program based on a risk analysis performed by the Office of Inspector General (OIG).  The objective of the audit was to determine whether County officials had established and implemented controls to ensure that the County administered its CDBG program in accordance with program requirements. Our review determined that Hudson County’s…

We reviewed the City of Moore, OK, because it received $52.2 million in Community Development Block Grant Disaster Recovery (CDBG-DR) funding in response to the tornado that struck Moore on May 20, 2013.  Further, the City only recently became a CDBG entitlement grantee, and there was a substantial increase between its regular CDBG funding and its CDBG-DR funding.  Also, our annual audit plan placed a priority on reviewing entities…

The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development – Office of Inspector General audited Berkadia Commercial Mortgage, LLC’s underwriting of the loan to fund the renovation of the Temtor project in St. Louis, MO.  We initiated this audit because the project failed quickly after completion, resulting in a large loss to the Federal Housing Administration insurance fund.  Our audit objective was to determine whether Berkadia properly…

We audited the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s (HUD) oversight of its Section 203(k) Rehabilitation Loan Mortgage Insurance program as part of the activities in our fiscal year 2014 annual audit plan.  Our audit objective was to determine whether HUD had adequate oversight of its Section 203(k) program. HUD needs to improve its monitoring of lenders for compliance with the Section 203(k) program requirements because…

We audited the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s (HUD) oversight of enhanced vouchers provided under its Housing Choice Voucher program based on our annual audit plan.  We focused on vouchers administered by three New York agencies because the related subsidies represented 59 percent of the total monthly housing subsidies associated with enhanced vouchers nationwide.  Our objective was to determine whether HUD had…

We audited the State of Florida’s Community Development Block Grant Disaster Recovery (CDBG-DR) program because the State was awarded more than $107 million to recover from the 2008 natural disasters and to undertake activities and long-term strategies that focus on reducing future natural disasters.  Further, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), Office of Inspector General, had not audited the State since 2006.…

We audited the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s (HUD) public housing program.  We conducted the audit as part of our annual audit plan and a congressional request.  Specifically, Congressman David P. Roe requested that we review the number of families residing in government-subsidized housing whose income exceeded current income limits.  Our audit objective was to determine the extent to which HUD-subsidized…

We audited the State of New Jersey’s Community Development Block Grant Disaster Recovery-funded Grants and Forgivable Loans to Small Businesses program.  We conducted the audit because the program was one of the largest funded economic revitalization programs in the State’s action plan and because the State had disbursed more than 37 percent of the funds allocated for the program as of September 2014.  Our objective was to determine…

We audited the City of High Point’s lead-based paint procurement and eligibility operations.  We selected the Authority based on concerns from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s (HUD) Office of Healthy Homes and Lead Hazard Control.  Our audit objective was to determine whether the City administered its lead-based paint hazard control grants in accordance with HUD’s regulations and grant requirements for…

We audited NOVA Financial & Investment Corporation based on a referral from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s (HUD) Quality Assurance Division detailing a separate lender that originated Federal Housing Administration (FHA)-insured loans that contained ineligible downpayment assistance gifts.  The HUD Office of Inspector General’s (OIG) analysis identified NOVA as a lender with the highest origination volume in the…

We audited the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s (HUD) administration of its purchase card program in accordance with the Charge Card Abuse Prevention Act of 2012.  Our 2013 risk assessment review identified HUD’s purchase card program at medium to high risk for fraud or misuse, and our review of HUD’s Semiannual Purchase Card Violation Report (audit memorandum number 2014-FO-0801) raised concerns regarding…

We audited the Section 184 Indian Home Loan Guarantee program based on the U.S. Department Housing and Urban Development (HUD), Office of Inspector General’s (OIG) research, analysis, and information provided by the Office of Investigation, detailing potential weaknesses in the program’s controls.  Our objective was to determine whether HUD had adequate controls in place to provide oversight of the Section 184 program. The Office of Loan…

We audited Virgin Islands Community AIDS Resource & Education, Inc.’s (VICARE) Housing Opportunities for Persons With AIDS (HOPWA) program.  This audit was the result of a referral from the San Juan Office of Community Planning and Development.  The objective of the audit was to determine whether VICARE spent HOPWA funds in accordance with the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) requirements and for eligible…

The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), Office of Inspector General audited the City of Colorado Springs’ Community Initiatives and Economic Vitality Division based upon findings identified in U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), Office of Inspector General, memorandum number 2014-DE-1802.  The objectives of our audit were to determine whether the City properly committed its HOME Investment…

The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), Office of Inspector General audited the City of Colorado Springs’ Community Initiatives and Economic Vitality Division based upon findings identified in U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), Office of Inspector General, memorandum number 2014-DE-1802.  Our audit objective was to determine whether the City used its grant funds for eligible project costs and…

The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), Office of Inspector General audited Christian Care Home based on prior instances of fraud and embezzlement and low quality ratings.  Our audit objective was to determine whether Christian Care Home properly maintained the residents’ trust balances and accounts receivable. Christian Care Home’s books and accounts for its individual resident trusts and accounts receivable were…

The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), Office of Inspector General selected the Hidden Lake Care Center for review based on a news article entitled “Poorly Rated Nursing Homes Got HUD Guaranteed Mortgages Anyway,” published by the Center for Public Integrity.  The article stated that 240 facilities in 38 States and Washington, DC, received HUD-backed mortgages worth nearly $2 billion a month after receiving a low, one-…