The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s (HUD) Office of Inspector General audited the Michigan State Housing Development 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’s program based upon our internal audit survey of HUD’s oversight of the program and our analysis of risk factors relating to the...

The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development's (HUD) Office of Inspector General performed an audit of Custom Closing Services, Incorporated (Custom), a contractor closing sales of HUD real estate-owned properties in the state of Michigan. The audit was conducted based on a complaint to our hotline alleging that Custom caused significant delays in the closing of HUD homes in Michigan. Our audit objective was to determine whether...

We audited the Puerto Rico Public Housing Administration’s (authority) Capital Fund Financing Program (Financing Program) as part of the Office of Inspector General’s (OIG) strategic plan goals to improve the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s (HUD) fiscal accountability. The objectives of the audit were to determine whether the authority obligated and expended the 2003 Financing Program funds in accordance with HUD requirements...

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 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...

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 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...

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 East St. Louis Housing Authority will receive $4.9 million in Recovery Act funding to carry out capital and management activities at its public housing developments. HUD's Office of Inspector General (OIG) evaluated the Authority's capacity to administer its Recovery Act funds. The OIG found several weaknesses that could adversely affect its capacity to administer these funds and recommended that HUD require corrective action on...

The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s (HUD) Office of Inspector General audited the Cincinnati Metropolitan Housing Authority’s (Authority) Section 8 Housing Choice Voucher program (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. Our objective was to determine...

We audited FHA-insured loan processes at two DHI Mortgage Company, LTD (DHI Mortgage) branches in Tucson and Scottsdale, Arizona, to determine whether DHI Mortgage originated, approved, and closed FHA-insured single-family loans in accordance with HUD requirements. We chose DHI Mortgage because the Scottsdale, Arizona, branch had a default rate that was double the default rate for FHA-insured loans for the state of Arizona, and then expanded...

We completed an audit of the U.S Department of Housing and Urban Development’s (HUD) Asset Control Area (ACA) program as a follow-up to a previous OIG audit of this program, and as a part of the Office of Inspector General’s (OIG) strategic plan goals to improve HUD’s fiscal accountability. The objective of the audit was to determine whether HUD administered the ACA program in compliance with ACA program requirements and federal regulations....

The Department of Housing and Urban Development (DHUD) Office of Inspector General has issued a memorandum on the Travis County (Texas) Housing Authority’s (Authority) capacity to administer Recovery Act funds. The memorandum reports that the Authority lacks capacity to administer ARRA public housing capital funds. The OIG recommended that HUD increase monitoring and oversight of the Authority’s financial and program activities, and either...

We audited the Housing Authority of the City of York’s (Authority) administration of its housing quality standards inspection program for its Section 8 Housing Choice Voucher program as part of our fiscal year 2009 audit plan. The audit objective 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 not ensure that its...

We initiated this audit of the City of New London, Connecticut, Housing Authority (the Authority) as part of OIG’s initiative to evaluate public housing authority’s capability to administer the capital funds provided under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (The Recovery Act). The Authority has had significant management deficiencies for more than ten years and HUD identified the Authority as “overall troubled” in May of 2004....

We performed a review of the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s (HUD) oversight of public housing agencies’ unrestricted and restricted Section 8 administrative fee reserves. We initiated this review because in our audits of two housing authorities, neither agency was able to clearly account for its administrative fee reserve funds and demonstrate that they were used appropriately. Our objective was to determine whether HUD had...