HUD OIG is  researching prior audits of HUD’s partial claims loss mitigation option.  On July 8, 2020, FHA issued Mortgagee Letter 2020-22 informing mortgagees the full suite of loss mitigations available to single family borrowers affected by the COVID-19 pandemic.  The purpose of this research is to provide HUD information regarding lessons learned and risks identified in these prior audits that HUD should act on now...

The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development Office of Inspector General assessed what information servicers of mortgage loans that the Federal Housing Administration (FHA) insures were providing on their public facing websites to borrowers regarding forbearance.  On March 27, 2020, the President signed into law the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act (CARES Act) to provide economic relief to individuals...

HUD OIG is evaluating the Offices of Public and Indian Housing and  Multifamily Housing Program’s policies for radon. Radon is the second leading cause of lung cancer after smoking, and it is the number one cause of lung cancer among non-smokers. Our objectives are to (1) describe and compare the Offices of Public and Indian Housing (PIH), Community Planning and Development (CPD), and Multifamily Housing (Multifamily)'s radon...

In 2016, we began a series of audits in accordance with our goal to review the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s (HUD) multifamily housing programs.  We issued five reports detailing violations found at Project-Based Rental Assistance (PBRA) properties in HUD’s Southwest Region.  This assignment is a rollup of those five reports.  In addition, we reviewed HUD’s controls to ensure that its housing...

We reviewed the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s (HUD) funding allotment for tenant protection assistance at the Vineville Christian Towers (project) related to a housing conversion action and its approval of the project’s Rental Assistance Demonstration Program (RAD) conversion.  The review was initiated as a result of internal issues identified during an external audit of the project’s RAD conversion. The...

We audited the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s (HUD) Federal Housing Administration, Home Affordable Modification Program’s (FHA-HAMP) policies for reporting nonincentivized loan modifications and filing partial claims.  The audit was a result of a prior Office of Inspector General (OIG) external review in which we identified delays in reporting FHA-HAMP nonincentivized loan modifications and filing...

HUD OIG is auditing HUD’s oversight of Federal Housing Administration (FHA) refunds.  FHA insures mortgages to increase homeownership opportunities.  An upfront insurance premium, paid at the time of closing, is refundable if the loan ends early, whether through sale, foreclosure, or refinancing.  We received a hotline complaint describing roadblocks to obtaining refunds.  The audit objective is to determine...

This report presents the results of our audit of FHA’s principal financial statements and notes for the fiscal years ending September 30, 2019 and 2018, including our report on FHA’s internal control and test of compliance with selected provisions of laws, regulations, contracts, and grant agreements. In our opinion, FHA’s fiscal years 2019 and 2018 financial statements were presented fairly, in all material respects, in accordance...

HUD OIG is auditing HUD’s multifamily complaint intake and resolution activities.  In July 2019, an explosion occurred a multifamily property in Jacksonville, Florida, which resulted a fire injuring several people.  There have been concerns related to health and safety issues at this complex which appear to have gone unaddressed and may have led to the fire. The objective is to determine how HUD is tracking and responding to...

The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), Office of Inspector General (OIG), assisted the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ), Washington, DC, in the civil investigation of Quicken Loans, Inc.  The investigation was of Quicken’s origination, underwriting, endorsement, and related certifications of Federal Housing Administration (FHA)-insured mortgage loans between September 1, 2007, and December 31, 2011. ...

The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), Office of Inspector General (OIG), assisted the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ), Washington, DC, and the U.S. Attorney’s Offices for the District of Kansas and the Northern District of Texas in the civil investigation of PrimeLending, a PlainsCapital company.  The investigation was of PrimeLending’s origination, underwriting, and quality control of Federal Housing...

The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), Office of Inspector General (OIG), assisted HUD’s Office of Program Enforcement in a civil investigation of Pacific Horizon Bancorp, Inc., and two former loan officers at Pacific Horizon.  Pacific Horizon has its principal place of business in La Crescenta, CA. Based on OIG’s civil investigation, on April 2, 2019, HUD notified Pacific Horizon and the two loan officers...

The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), Office of Inspector General audited Federal Housing Administration (FHA)-insured loans from fiscal year 2018.  Our audit objective was to determine whether FHA provided insurance on loans that were made to ineligible, delinquent Federal tax debtors. We found that FHA insured at least 56,376 loans worth $13 billion, which were not eligible for insurance because they were...

We audited Summit Construction and Environmental Services, LLC, because we received an anonymous complaint alleging that Summit Construction (1) did not perform lead-based paint evaluations in a timely manner, (2) did not produce adequate lead-based paint inspection reports in accordance with applicable requirements, and (3) showed favoritism toward certain contractors performing lead-paint inspections.  Our objective was to...

We audited Tuscan Homes I and II, a multifamily project located in Hartford, CT, because our risk assessment ranked the project as the highest risk multifamily project in New England.  Our audit objective was to determine whether the owner managed the project in accordance with its regulatory agreement and U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) requirements; specifically, whether (1) exigent health and safety...

We audited the Lake View Towers Apartments’ Section 8 housing assistance payments program based on our analysis of risk factors related to multifamily projects in Region 5’s jurisdiction and the activities included in our fiscal year 2019 annual audit plan.  Our audit objective was to determine whether the management agent administered the project’s program in accordance with the owner’s contract with the U.S. Department of...

We audited PK Management, LLC, based on (1) media coverage of problems associated with Essex Village, an apartment complex in Virginia that it managed, and (2) issues identified in our prior audit of PK Management in Birmingham, AL.  Our audit objective was to determine whether PK Management assisted eligible tenants and maintained documentation to support the housing assistance payments it received for residents of the...

We completed a corrective action verification (CAV) of recommendations 1A and 1C from prior OIG audit report 2015-LA-0001 (issued April 20, 2015).  The CAV was initiated based on preliminary analysis, which identified potential ineligible partial claims.  The prior audit determined that the Federal Housing Administration’s (FHA) claim payment system failed to identify two types of ineligible partial claims.  As part of...

We audited selected general and application controls over the Federal Housing Administration’s Computerized Homes Underwriting Management System as part of the internal control assessments required for the fiscal year 2018 financial statement audit under the Chief Financial Officer’s Act of 1990.  Our objective was to review the effectiveness of controls for compliance with HUD information technology policies and Federal...

HUD OIG is evaluating  HUD’s efforts to identify and mitigate resident risks for its properties on or near Superfund National Priorities List (NPL) sites and non-NPL sites with lead contamination.  We initiated this evaluation due to the lead poisoning of residents in an East Chicago, IN, public housing complex and the possibility that residents in thousands of U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD)-funded...