The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), Office of Inspector General (OIG), assisted the Office of the United States Attorney, Civil Division, of the Eastern District of North Carolina with a review of loans allegedly improperly originated by Numerica Mortgage, LLC.  Numerica was a Federal Housing Administration (FHA) direct endorsement mortgagee.  The allegations originated with the office of the North Carolina...

The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), Office of Inspector General (OIG), assisted the Office of the United States Attorney, Civil Division, of the Eastern District of North Carolina with a review of loans allegedly improperly originated by Numerica Mortgage, LLC.  Numerica was a Federal Housing Administration (FHA) direct endorsement mortgagee.  The allegations originated with the office of the North Carolina...

We initiated a review of the Housing Authority of the City of Lumberton, NC, at the request of the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s (HUD) Greensboro, NC, Office of Public Housing.  HUD staff described many areas of concern, including cash management, procurement, and inventory controls.  Our objective was to determine whether the Authority operated its public housing program in accordance with HUD and other Federal...

We audited the City of Rocky Mount, NC’s HOME Investment Partnerships program based on a request from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s (HUD) Greensboro, NC, Office of Community Planning and Development.  The request expressed several concerns regarding the City’s administration of its HOME program.  Our objective was to determine whether HUD’s concerns had merit and whether the City operated its HOME program in...

We audited the West Village Expansion Project in Durham, NC, a U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) Section 220-insured property, due to a citizen’s hotline complaint. The anonymous complainant alleged that the managing member of the project’s ownership entity spent an excessive amount of project funds on legal fees, transferred more than $500,000 to another entity owned by it, and failed to keep the mortgage current. Our...

The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), Office of Inspector General (OIG), conducted a review of loans underwritten by Countrywide Home Loans Inc., and its divisions Countrywide Bank FSB and Countrywide Mortgage Ventures, LLC. The objective of the review was to determine whether Countrywide underwrote Federal Housing Administration (FHA) loans in accordance with HUD-FHA regulations. Countrywide is a subsidiary of Bank of...

We audited the public housing program of the Housing Authority of the City of Hickory, NC, due to a citizen’s hotline complaint. Our objectives were to evaluate the merits of the complaint allegations and determine whether the Authority complied with U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) requirements for procurement, cash disbursements, a 2004 Resident Opportunity and Self-Sufficiency (ROSS) grant, and inventory control. The...

HUD OIG performed an audit of the State of Alabama Department of Economic and Community Affairs, Neighborhood Stabilization Program (NSP1) in Montgomery, AL, to assess issues raised in a hotline complaint. The complaint alleged that the State of Alabama misused its NSP1 funds by not following the regulations and statutes governing the NSP1 program to ensure that it used program funds for eligible and supported purposes. The State was awarded a...

As part of the Office of Inspector General’s (OIG) nationwide effort to review the foreclosure practices of the five largest Federal Housing Administration (FHA) mortgage servicers (Bank of America, Wells Fargo Bank, CitiMortgage, JP Morgan Chase, and Ally Financial, Incorporated) we reviewed Bank of America’s foreclosure and claims processes. In addition to this memorandum, OIG issued separate memorandums for each of the other four reviews....

We selected the tribe for audit because it received a $4.7 million formula grant and a $4 million competitive grant, the largest Native American Housing Block Grants awarded in North Carolina under the Recovery Act. Our objective was to determine whether the tribe administered its Native American Housing Block Grants in compliance with Recovery Act and other applicable requirements, specifically, whether it had (1) expended funds on a timely...

HUD OIG performed an audit of the State of Alabama Department of Economic and Community Affairs, Homelessness Prevention and Rapid Re-Housing Program in Montgomery, Alabama. The audit was part of the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), Office of Inspector General’s (OIG) annual audit plan to review grant activities funded by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (Recovery Act). We selected the grantee because...

We audited the Greensboro Housing Authority (Authority) as part of our annual plan to review public housing capital funds awarded under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (Recovery Act). The Authority received a $5.6 million Public Housing Capital Fund Stimulus (formula) Recovery Act Funded grant, the second highest in the State. It also received a Recovery Act funded $1.05 million capital fund competitive grant for addressing...

At the request of the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s (HUD) Greensboro, NC, Director of Community Planning and Development, we reviewed Mecklenburg County’s (County) administration of its Shelter Plus Care program (program). Our objectives were to determine whether the County paid for only eligible program administrative expenses; housed its participants in decent, safe, and sanitary units; and properly documented its program...

HUD OIG audited the Housing Authority of the City of Wilson’s (Authority) Section 8 Housing Choice Voucher program. We elected to perform the audit after finding indicators of Section 8 deficiencies during our review of the Authority’s capacity to administer capital funds awarded under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (Audit Report 2010-AT-1007). Our objectives were to determine whether the Authority complied with U.S....

We audited the State of Alabama, Department of Economic and Community Affairs' (State), Hurricane Katrina Community Development Block Grant Disaster Funds program (program), administered by the State's subrecipient, the City of Bayou La Batre (Bayou La Batre). Our objective was to determine whether the State and Bayou La Batre administered the program in accordance with the requirements of their grant agreements. We initiated the audit...

We audited the State of Alabama, Department of Economic and Community Affairs' (State), Hurricane Katrina Community Development Block Grant Disaster Funds program (program), administered by the State's subrecipient, Mobile County Commission (Mobile). Our objective was to determine whether the State and Mobile administered the program in accordance with the requirements of the State's grant agreements (agreements). We initiated the...

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...

HUD OIG performed a review of selected transactions at the Wilmington Housing Authority (Authority) in conjunction with our review of a citizen’s hotline complaint. Among other concerns, the complainant alleged that the Authority misused U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) funds in conjunction with its purchase of Eastbrook Apartments in September 2005. Our objective was to determine whether the Authority misused HUD funds...

HUD OIG performed an audit of the Mobile Housing Board, which serves as both the public housing agency and the administering agency for the City of Mobile, AL’s HOME Investment Partnerships Program(HOME) and Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) program. We performed the audit based on a request from the Assistant Secretary, Community Planning and Development. The Assistant Secretary, along with the Director of the Office of Affordable...