We completed a review of the Retreat at Santa Rita Springs (community), a Federal Housing Administration (FHA)-insured multifamily project under Section 231 of the National Housing Act. Our audit was in response to a request for audit from Representative Gabrielle Giffords of the 8th District of Arizona. The owner defaulted on the $29.9 million U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD)-insured mortgage in November 2009, the month…

We reviewed 20 Federal Housing Administration (FHA) loans that Dell Franklin Financial, LLC (Dell), underwrote as an FHA direct endorsement lender. Our review objective was to determine whether Dell underwrote the 20 loans in accordance with FHA requirements. This review is part of Operation Watchdog, an Office of Inspector General (OIG) initiative to review the underwriting of 15 direct endorsement lenders at the suggestion of the FHA…

The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s (HUD) Office of Inspector General (OIG) audited the Housing Authority of the City of Terre Haute, IN’s (Authority) Public Housing Capital Fund program (program). We selected the Authority based on our audits of its nonprofit development activities (see OIG audit report #2009-CH-1011, issued July 2009) and as part of OIG’s initiative to evaluate public housing authorities’ capacity to…

We conducted this audit as part of the Office of Inspector General’s (OIG) annual goals for audits of the Section 8 Housing Choice Voucher (Voucher) and low-income public housing (low-income) programs. Our audit objective was to determine whether the Waltham Housing Authority (Authority) employed acceptable management and financial practices to efficiently and effectively administer the use of Voucher and low-income program funds in compliance…

We reviewed the Housing Authority of the City of Wilson (Authority) because it was granted $9.2 million for Public Housing Capital Fund projects (capital funds) under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (Recovery Act). In addition, we received a citizen’s complaint alleging that the Authority used unethical procurement practices and did not plan to use Recovery Act funds effectively. Our objectives were to evaluate the Authority…

We audited the Harrisburg Housing Authority’s (Authority) procurement function. We audited the Authority because a previous audit conducted in 2007 indicated that there was weakness in its purchasing process. Our objective was to determine whether the Authority procured goods and services in accordance with U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) regulations and other applicable requirements. We found that the Authority did not…

We reviewed 20 Federal Housing Administration (FHA) loans that Alacrity Lending Company (Alacrity) underwrote as an FHA direct endorsement lender. Our review objective was to determine whether Alacrity underwrote the 20 loans in accordance with FHA requirements. This review is part of Operation Watchdog, an Office of Inspector General (OIG) initiative to review the underwriting of 15 direct endorsement lenders at the suggestion of the FHA…

The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development's (HUD) Office of Inspector General (OIG) reviewed 20 Federal Housing Administration (FHA) loans that Mac-Clair Mortgage Corporation (Mac-Clair) underwrote as an FHA direct endorsement lender. Our review objective was to determine whether Mac-Clair underwrote the 20 loans in accordance with FHA requirements. This review is part of “Operation Watchdog”, an OIG initiative to review the…

The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s (HUD) Office of Inspector General audited National Home Management Solutions (National Home), HUD’s management and marketing contractor for HUD real estate-owned properties in Ohio. We selected National Home based on a citizen’s complaint received by our office. Our objective was to determine whether National Home complied with HUD’s requirements regarding the sale of HUD single-family real…

The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development's (HUD) Office of Inspector General (OIG) reviewed 20 Federal Housing Administration (FHA) loans that Birmingham Bancorp Mortgage Corporation (Birmingham) underwrote as an FHA direct endorsement lender. Our review objective was to determine whether Birmingham underwrote the 20 loans in accordance with FHA requirements. This review is part of “Operation Watchdog,” an OIG initiative to…

We audited the Hartford Housing Authority (Authority) because it was awarded a $5 million Public Housing Capital Fund grant under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (Recovery Act) and obligated the majority of the grant just before the required obligation deadline. Our objectives were to determine whether the Authority (1) had adequate management controls over its obligation process, (2) maintained support for obligations, and (…

We audited the U. S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) Community Development Block Grant (CDBG), Supplemental II Disaster Recovery program, funds, administered by the Texas Department of Housing and Community Affairs (TDHCA). Specifically, we wanted to determine whether TDHCA followed Federal and State of Texas (State) regulations in procuring the program management firm to administer the Housing Assistance and Sabine Pass…

The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development's Office of Inspector General reviewed 20 Federal Housing Administration (FHA) loans that 1st Advantage Mortgage, LLC (1st Advantage), underwrote as an FHA direct endorsement lender. Our review objective was to determine whether 1st Advantage underwrote the 20 loans in accordance with FHA requirements. This review was conducted as part of our Operation Watchdog initiative to review the…

We audited the Philadelphia Housing Authority’s (Authority) administration of its housing quality standards inspection program for its Section 8 Housing Choice Voucher program as part of our fiscal year 2010 audit plan. The audit objective addressed in this report was to determine whether the Authority ensured that its program units met the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s (HUD) housing quality standards. The Authority did…

We reviewed the City of Montebello’s (City) HOME Investment Partnerships Program (HOME) at the request of the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s (HUD) Los Angeles Office of Community Planning and Development (CPD). The request was based on findings contained in a 2008 single audit report and 2009 HUD CPD technical assistance report, which stated that the City did not fully comply with HOME program requirements in the ongoing…

The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s (HUD) Office of Inspector General audited Access National Mortgage Corporation (Access National) to determine whether it complied with HUD regulations, procedures, and instructions in originating, underwriting, and submitting for endorsement the FHA-insured loans selected for review. Access National generally complied with HUD regulations, procedures, and instructions in the origination and…

We completed an audit of the City of Jersey City’s (City) Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) float loan activity. Our audit objective was to determine whether the City ensured that CDBG funds used for the float loan complied with applicable rules and regulations. The City did not comply with applicable regulations and failed to take timely action when the float loan defaulted. Specifically, it did not (1) make a good faith effort to…

We evaluated the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s (HUD) award process for the Neighborhood Stabilization Program 2 (NSP2). We initiated the review as part of the activities in our fiscal year 2010 annual audit plan. Our primary objective was to determine whether HUD’s methodology and controls for the evaluation and selection of applications for the $1.93 billion in NSP2 funds were in accordance with applicable requirements. We…

We conducted a review of the State of Mississippi (State), a $5.5 billion Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) disaster recovery grantee. We initiated the audit as part of the Office of Inspector General (OIG) Gulf Coast Region’s audit plan and examination of relief efforts provided by the Federal Government in the aftermath of Hurricanes Katrina and Rita. Our objective was to determine whether the State ensured that contracts were…

We conducted a review of the State of Mississippi (State), a $5.5 billion Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) disaster recovery grantee. We initiated the review as part of the Office of Inspector General (OIG) Gulf Coast Region’s audit plan and examination of relief efforts provided by the federal government in the aftermath of Hurricanes Katrina and Rita. Our objectives were to determine whether the State ensured that (1) public housing…