We audited The Lending Company, Inc., based on a hotline complaint, previous U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) reviews, and our goal to improve the integrity of the Federal Housing Administration (FHA) single-family insurance programs.  Our objectives were to determine whether The Lending Company complied with HUD requirements when it used gift programs, originated and underwrote FHA loans, and implemented its quality...

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...

The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, Office of Inspector General audited Allen Mortgage, Limited Liability Company, a Federal Housing Administration (FHA) nonsupervised lender. We selected Allen Mortgage for audit based on its high default and claim rate for the FHA-insured loans sponsored in Region 5. Our objectives were to determine whether (1) Allen Mortgage complied with HUD’s regulations, procedures, and instructions 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...

We completed a review of the City of Phoenix’s (City) Neighborhood Stabilization Program (NSP) grants NSP1 and NSP2. We performed the review because it supports the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), Office of Inspector General’s strategic plan to contribute to the oversight objectives of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 and the City received a $60 million grant as one of 56 NSP2 grantees. Our objective...

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...

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 audited the Federal Housing Administration (FHA)-insured loan process at MetLife Bank’s (lender) branch in Scottsdale, AZ, to determine whether the lender underwrote FHA-insured loans and implemented a quality control plan in accordance with U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) requirements. We selected the lender because it had an FHA default rate of 7.41 percent for loans underwritten in Arizona between April 1, 2009, and...

We audited Housing Our Communities’ (subrecipient) Neighborhood Stabilization Program (NSP1) subgrant from the City of Avondale. The audit was started primarily because the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, Office of Inspector General’s (HUD OIG) audit plan includes objectives to review Housing and Economic Recovery Act grantees and because a previous HUD OIG audit of the City of Mesa found indications that the subrecipient did...

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...

We audited Chicanos Por La Causa, Inc.’s (grantee) Neighborhood Stabilization Program 2 (NSP2) grant to determine whether the grantee administered its NSP2 grant in accordance with HUD’s program requirements. We conducted the audit as part of the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), Office of Inspector General’s (OIG) fiscal year 2011 annual audit plan and to support HUD OIG’s fiscal year 2011 strategic goal to contribute to...

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...

We reviewed Federal Housing Administration (FHA)-insured loan settlement documents from two branches of DHI Mortgage Company, LTD (DHI Mortgage), in Arizona. During a previous audit of loan origination by the same branches (audit report number 2009-LA-1018), there was information indicating that the Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act (Act) might have been violated; however, we were unable to report on the issue at the time. Our review...

We audited the City of Mesa’s (grantee) Neighborhood Stabilization Program (NSP1) grant to determine whether the grantee administered the grant in accordance with HUD’s program requirements. The audit was started primarily because the Office of Inspector General’s (OIG) audit plan includes objectives to review Housing and Economic Recovery Act grantees and because staff from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s (HUD) Office of...

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 completed a review of the Retreat at Santa Rita Springs (community), a Federal Housing Administration (FHA)-insured multifamily project under Section 231 of the National Housing Act. Our audit was in response to a request for audit from Representative Gabrielle Giffords of the 8th District of Arizona. The owner defaulted on the $29.9 million U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD)-insured mortgage in November 2009, the month...

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...