We audited the Disaster Housing Assistance Program (DHAP)-Ike as part of our ongoing commitment to the U. S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) to implement oversight of Disaster Recovery funds to prevent fraud, waste, and abuse. HUD used local public housing agencies (housing agencies) to administer DHAP-Ike rental assistance and provide case management services to families affected by Hurricanes Ike and Gustav. Our audit…

We audited the State of Alabama, Department of Economic and Community Affairs' (State), Hurricane Katrina Community Development Block Grant Disaster Funds program (program), administered by the State's subrecipient, the City of Bayou La Batre (Bayou La Batre). Our objective was to determine whether the State and Bayou La Batre administered the program in accordance with the requirements of their grant agreements. We initiated the audit…

We audited the State of Alabama, Department of Economic and Community Affairs' (State), Hurricane Katrina Community Development Block Grant Disaster Funds program (program), administered by the State's subrecipient, Mobile County Commission (Mobile). Our objective was to determine whether the State and Mobile administered the program in accordance with the requirements of the State's grant agreements (agreements). We initiated the…

We audited the Office of the Chief Procurement Officer’s (procurement office) procedures for administering completed and expired contracts in compliance with applicable regulations. Our objective was to determine whether the procurement office performed contract closeout procedures on completed and expired contracts in a timely manner. We expanded our objective to determine whether the contract files were complete and properly maintained. We…

The Inspector General Act of 1978 requires the Inspector General to prepare semiannual reports summarizing the activities of the Office of Inspector General for the preceding six month periods. The semiannual reports are intended to keep the Secretary and the Congress fully informed of significant findings, progress the Agency has made and recommendations for improvement.

We conducted a review of 20 Federal Housing Administration (FHA) loans underwritten by Pine State Mortgage Corporation (Pine State), an FHA direct endorsement lender. This review was conducted as part of our “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 rates against the FHA insurance fund for…

The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s (HUD) Office of Inspector General audited the Housing Authority of the City of Terre Haute’s (Authority) Section 8 Housing Choice Voucher program (program). The audit was part of the activities in our fiscal year 2010 annual audit plan. We selected the Authority based upon our analysis of risk factors relating to the housing agencies in Region V’s jurisdiction and our audits of the…

HUD OIG audited the Community Development Block Grant program (program) administered by the City of Deerfield Beach, FL (City). The objective of the audit was to determine whether the City administered its program in accordance with applicable U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD requirements. We selected the City for review because it had come under increased scrutiny when various newspaper articles and reviews highlighted…

We performed an audit of HUD's Office of Healthy Homes and Lead Hazard Control (OHHLHC) grant program for Lead Hazard Reduction Demonstration (LHRD). Our audit was initiated based on a complaint to the hotline alleging that the managers of OHHLHC changed the scores assigned by the application review panel to award grants to applicants that were not ranked high enough to receive funding under the 2009 NOFA. Our objective was to determine…

HUD OIG audited the Community Development Block Grant program (program) administered by the City of Deerfield Beach, FL (City). The objective of the audit was to determine whether the City administered its program in accordance with applicable U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD requirements. We selected the City for review because it had come under increased scrutiny when various newspaper articles and reviews highlighted…

We evaluated HUD’s Credit Watch Termination Initiative (Credit Watch) to determine whether it was used effectively to deter deficiencies and substandard performance in Federal Housing Administration (FHA) single-family lending.  We also sought to determine whether Credit Watch could be manipulated, allowing lenders to avoid HUD’s scrutiny and program sanctions.  While we noted a past instance in which a lender manipulated the Credit…

The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), Office of Inspector General audited the City of East St. Louis, Illinois’ (City) Community Development Block Grant (Block Grant) program. Our objective was to determine whether the City properly verified the eligibility of Block Grant-funded housing rehabilitation recipients. We found that the City awarded Block Grant funds to 143 recipients without adequately verifying their…

The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development's (HUD) Office of Inspector General audited HUD’s Office of Lender Activities and Program Compliance, Quality Assurance Division. We did this review because during a prior audit, we saw instances in which indemnification agreements were not obtained from lenders under certain circumstances. Our objective was to determine whether the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD…

We audited the Compton Housing Authority’s (Authority) Section 8 program as the result of the Los Angeles Office of Public Housing’s concerns regarding its program administration. Our objective was to determine whether the Authority used Section 8 program funds in accordance with HUD rules and regulations. The Authority did not use Section 8 program funds in accordance with HUD rules and regulations as it did not fully comply with portability…

HUD OIG conducted this audit based on a confidential complaint submitted through the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) Office of Inspector General (OIG) hotline. The complaint alleged several improprieties involving the County’s NSP and HOME programs. Our objectives were to determine whether the County (1) complied with requirements in the procurement, award, and execution of its NSP administrative contract and (2)…

We audited the Boston, MA, Housing Authority (Authority) because it was awarded more than $33 million in Capital Fund Recovery Grant funds under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (Recovery Act) and obligated the majority of the grant shortly before the required obligation deadline. Our objectives were to determine whether the Authority (1) obligated the capital fund grant funds it received under the Recovery Act for eligible…

We conducted a review of Federal Housing Administration (FHA) loans underwritten by First Tennessee Bank, N.A. (First Tennessee), an FHA direct endorsement lender. This review was conducted as part of our 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 rates against the FHA insurance fund for…

The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development's (HUD) Office of Inspector General audited the Housing Choice Voucher (HCV) program of the Alaska Housing Finance Corporation (AHFC). We wanted to determine whether AHFC admitted and housed tenants properly, calculated tenant rents correctly, and maintained an effective quality control program. We also wanted to determine whether AHFC properly administered its HUD Veterans Affairs…

The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development's (HUD) Office of Inspector General conducted a review of the City of Augusta, GA’s (City) Neighborhood Stabilization Program (NSP1) to determine whether the City had demonstrated the capacity to properly obligate all NSP1 grant funds and at least 25 percent of the grant toward occupants with incomes below 50 percent of the median income in the locality (LH25) set-aside by the September 5…