The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) program offices issued departmental notices to inform public housing agencies (PHA) and owners of the Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2021’s (the Act) requirements.  In addition, HUD program offices planned to use HUD’s revised physical inspection processes to ensure that PHAs and owners complied with the Act, namely under its new National Standards for the Physical...

We audited the Philadelphia Housing Authority’s (Authority) management of lead‐based paint in its public housing program based on our assessment of the risks of lead‐based paint in public housing agencies’ (PHA) housing developments. The risk factors included the age of buildings, the number of units, household demographics, reported cases of childhood lead poisoning, and reports of missing lead‐based paint inspections in HUD’s data...

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), lead-based paint and lead-contaminated dust are some of the most widespread and hazardous sources of lead exposure for young children in the United States.  There is no safe blood lead level in children, and there is no cure for lead poisoning.  Therefore, it is important to prevent exposure to lead, especially among children. U.S. Department of Housing...

We found 13 properties with consecutive REAC scores below 60 that were missing the required flags in HUD’s Active Partners Performance System (APPS) for unacceptable physical condition.  This condition occurred because HUD did not have a quality control program to ensure that the account executives manually entered the flags into APPS and there was no automated process for flagging a property once it received the second...

HUD established procedures in the Lead Safe Housing Rule in 1999 to eliminate lead-based paint hazards, as far as practicable, in public housing.  However, it did not have a plan to manage lead-based paint and lead-based paint hazards in public housing.  Additionally, HUD generally did not monitor whether public housing agencies had implemented lead-based paint hazard reduction and documented the activities at their public...

HUD OIG is auditing oversight of the physical conditions of non-FHA insured project-based voucher (PBV) units converted under the Rental Assistance Demonstration (RAD) program. RAD was implemented to preserve and improve public housing units and address the nationwide backlog of deferred maintenance and capital needs. The objective of the audit is to assess whether HUD and PHAs have adequate oversight of the physical conditions of non-...

HUD OIG is auditing HUD's oversight of the physical conditions of project based rental assistance (PBRA) and Federal Housing Administration (FHA)‐insured project‐based voucher (PBV) units converted under the Rental Assistance Demonstration (RAD) program. RAD was implemented to preserve and improve public housing units and address the nationwide backlog of deferred maintenance and capital needs. The objective of the audit is to assess...

We audited the Housing Authority of Plainfield, NJ’s administration of its public housing programs.  We selected the Authority based on a risk analysis of public housing agencies in New Jersey that considered the size of the agency, the amount of operating and capital funds received, and previous work conducted by the Office of Inspector General.  The objective of the audit was to determine whether the Authority administered...

We audited the Buffalo Municipal Housing Authority’s management of its Commodore Perry Homes development.  We selected the Authority based on congressional interest.  Half of the development’s buildings were demolished more than 20 years ago, and the majority of the remaining buildings and units have been vacant for years without redevelopment activity.  The objective of the audit was to determine whether the Authority...

HUD OIG is conducting an audit of the Lead Based Paint program at the Philadelphia Housing Authority. Our objective is to determine whether the Philadelphia Housing Authority adequately managed lead-based paint and lead-based paint hazards in public housing.

The Office of Evaluation is initiating an evaluation of HUD’s processes for addressing cases of children residing in public housing with elevated blood lead levels (EBLL).  The objectives are to: 1. Use available information to identify HUD-assisted properties owned and managed by public housing agencies at risk of having lead-based paint hazards. 2. Determine the effectiveness of HUD’s processes for addressing cases of children...

HUD OIG is auditing HUD's oversight of lead based paint remediation.  Lead-based paint hazards present a health risk to tenants, particularly children, and the effects of lead poisoning may permanently alter the lives of those exposed.  The objective is to determine whether HUD has adequate oversight of lead-based paint remediation in public housing.

HUD OIG is reviewing an Ohio Housing Authority’s public housing program.  The Authority received more than $8.3 million in operating subsidies and more than $5.7 million in Capital Fund grants in fiscal year 2018. The audit objective is to determine whether the Authority complied with Federal and its own requirements for procuring services and disbursing program funds.