The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development's (HUD) Office of the Inspector General reviewed HUD's Front End risk Assessment (FERA) for the Capital Fund Formula and Competitive Grant Programs funded under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (Recovery Act). Our objectives were to determine whether HUD’s front-end risk assessment of the programs complied with the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) guidance for…

In response to a congressional request, we audited the Federal Housing Administration (FHA) Title II single-family lender approval process. We wanted to know whether the application process provided effective controls and procedures to ensure approval of only those lenders meeting program requirements. Our audit found that FHA needs to improve the lender approval process. The process did not have sufficient controls and procedures to ensure…

The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s (HUD) Office of Inspector General audited HUD’s oversight of the Federal Housing Administration (FHA)-insured home equity conversion mortgages (HECM) program. We initiated the audit as part of the activities in our 2008 annual audit plan. Our audit objective was to determine whether HUD had adequate oversight of the underwriting of HECM loans. This is the second of two audit reports…

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.

The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s (HUD) Office of Inspector General audited the Chicago Housing Authority’s (Authority) Section 8 Housing Choice Voucher program (program) under its Moving to Work Demonstration program. The audit was part of the activities in our fiscal year 2009 annual audit plan. We selected the Authority based upon our analysis of risk factors relating to the housing agencies in Region V’s jurisdiction.…

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, Indiana’s (Authority) Turnkey III Homeownership program (program). We selected the Authority for review based on the results of our audit of the Authority’s nonprofit development activities (see Office of Inspector General audit report #2009-CH-1011, issued on July 31, 2009). The audit was a part of…

The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) awarded the Housing Authority of the City of Winston-Salem (Authority) $3.9 million in formula-based capital funds under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (ARRA). HUD’s Office of Inspector General evaluated the Authority’s capacity to administer these funds. We found that the Authority generally has the capacity to administer these funds but needed to improve some…

We reviewed Federal Housing Administration (FHA)-insured home equity conversion mortgages (HECM) loans originated by First Call Mortgage Company and sponsored by James B. Nutter & Company (J.B.Nutter) during the period of January 2007 to December 2008. We reviewed these loans because in September 2008 state banking regulators from New Hampshire and Massachusetts found that First Call used deceptive business practices and did not have the…

We audited the City of Atlanta’s (City) HOME Investment Partnerships Program (HOME) because it has received more than $17 million in HOME funding since 2005. Our objective was to determine whether the City accurately entered commitments into the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s (HUD) Integrated Disbursement and Information System (information system) for HOME-funded activities. The City did not comply with HUD requirements…

The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s (HUD) Office of Inspector General audited the DuPage Housing Authority’s (Authority) Section 8 Project-Based Voucher program (program). The audit was part of the activities in our fiscal year 2009 annual audit plan. We selected the Authority based on our internal audit survey of HUD’s oversight of the program and our analysis of risk factors relating to the housing authorities in Region V’s…

We conducted a capacity review of the operations of the City of Brockton’s (City) grantee, Building a Better Brockton, Inc. (recipient), which has responsibility for administering the City’s NSP. Our objective was to determine whether the City and/or its recipient had the capacity to effectively and efficiently administer its NSP under the provisions of the Housing and Economic Recovery Act of 2008 (HERA) and the American Recovery and…

We reviewed the front-end risk assessment (assessment) for the Office of Healthy Homes and Lead Hazard Control (OHHLHC) for the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD). The Recovery Act appropriated $100 million to the lead hazard control program. Our review of the assessment for OHHLHC determined that while OHHLHC generally complied with the Recovery Act, HUD’s Streamlined FERA Process and the Departmental Management Control…

We audited the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s (HUD) HOME Investment Partnerships Program (HOME) as part of our fiscal year 2009 annual audit plan. Our audit objectives were to assess the adequacy of HUD’s monitoring and implementation of requirements to recapture HOME funds not committed within two years and spent within five years, assess the adequacy of HUD’s monitoring and use of its Integrated Disbursement and…

We performed a capital fund administrative capacity review of the Housing Authority of the City of Eloy (Authority) because, despite the Authority’s persistent management problems, HUD awarded the Authority a Public Housing Capital Fund grant of $113,672 under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (Recovery Act). Our objective was to determine whether the Authority had sufficient capacity to administer its Recovery Act Public…

The Miami-Dade Public Housing Agency (Agency) was awarded a $19.3 million capital fund formula grant under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009. HUD's Office of Inspector General (OIG) evaluated the Agency's capacity to administer its Recovery Act funds. The OIG found the Agency’s procurement procedures had weaknesses, staffing levels may be inadequate, and the Agency had not properly prioritized its ARRA funded…

The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s (HUD) Office of Inspector General audited the Public Housing Agency of the City of Saint Paul’s (Agency) Section 8 Project-Based Voucher program (program). The audit was part of the activities in our fiscal year 2009 annual audit plan. We selected the Agency’s program based upon our internal audit survey of HUD’s oversight of the program and our analysis of risk factors relating to the…

We audited the Municipality of Rio Grande’s (Municipality) Community Development Block Grant (Block Grant) program. We selected the Municipality for review as part of our strategic plan. The objectives of the audit were to determine whether the Municipality complied with U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) regulations, procedures, and instructions related to the administration of the Block Grant program and whether the…

The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s (HUD) Office of Inspector General audited HUD’s process for reviewing and approving commercial rents for multifamily properties. Our objective was to determine whether HUD’s review and approval process for commercial rents ensured that multifamily properties received commercial rents that were comparable to market rate rents. HUD did not have a uniform process to ensure that commercial rent…

We performed an audit of the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s (HUD) formula-based allocations related to five programs funded in the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (Recovery Act) to satisfy the Recovery Act mandate that “every taxpayer dollar spent on economic recovery be subject to unprecedented levels of transparency and accountability.” We reviewed all five HUD programs with funds which were allocated based…

The Miami-Dade Public Housing Agency (Agency) was awarded a $19.3 million capital fund formula grant under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009. HUD's Office of Inspector General (OIG) evaluated the Agency's capacity to administer its Recovery Act funds. The OIG found the Agency’s procurement procedures had weaknesses, staffing levels may be inadequate, and the Agency had not properly prioritized its ARRA funded…