As part of our mission to safeguard HUD’s programs from fraud, waste, and abuse, and to identify opportunities for HUD programs to progress and succeed, we selected New Jersey for a review of potential improper payments.   Our audit objective was to determine whether New Jersey made improper non-Federal match activity payments.  We also assessed whether the Office of Community Planning and Development’s Office of Disaster…

We audited the U.S Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) National Servicing Center’s (NSC) tracking and collection of FHA partial claims.  We initiated the audit to assess HUD’s implementation of the corrective actions from HUD OIG audit report 2016-KC-0001, HUD Did Not Collect an Estimated 1,361 Partial Claims Upon Termination of Their Related Federal Housing Administration (FHA)-Insured Mortgages; however, we…

We audited Solis Gardens Apartments’ management of its HUD-insured Section 207/223(f) multifamily property as part of our annual work plan.  The owner of Solis Garden Apartments manages 62 units in accordance with HUD requirements and its regulatory agreement which includes restrictions on the use of project funds and assets.  We selected Solis Gardens Apartments for an audit based on risk indicators, such as surplus cash…

We identified a significant increase in the amount of funds drawn by HOME Investment Partnerships Program (HOME) and HOME American Rescue Plan (ARP) grantees near the time of the January 2025, hold in Federal funds, which increased the risk that the funds may have been drawn prematurely, without support, or used improperly.  Therefore, our audit objective was to identify if HOME and HOME ARP draws made near the time of the hold in…

We assessed public housing agencies’ (PHA) management of the occupancy of public housing units.  Our audit objective was to (1) assess the occupancy of public housing units, and (2) determine whether HUD had adequate oversight of PHAs’ occupancy, particularly PHAs’ management of vacant units.We found PHAs had occupancy rates below HUD’s optimal level or a high number of long-term vacant units.  Further, although HUD monitors…

We audited the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), Federal Housing Administration (FHA) Claims Without Conveyance of Title (CWCOT) program.  We selected this review to assist HUD in recovering improper payments and to reduce the risk of losses to the FHA insurance fund. The objective of our audit was to assess whether HUD is appropriately demanding and collecting improper payments identified for CWCOT loans by…

Our office is currently conducting three audits of crime prevention and eligibility determinations at Public Housing Authorities (PHA) in Washington, DC; Chicago; and Los Angeles.  The objective of our audits is to (1) determine whether the Authority complied with HUD’s and its own requirements for verifying eligibility of individuals for HUD-assisted housing based on criminal activity, citizenship, and immigration status, and (2…

The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) Office of Inspector General (OIG) conducted an evaluation of the operational effectiveness of information technology (IT) security controls for the HUDUSER system, which is operated by HUD’s Office of Policy Development and Research (PD&R).  The OIG identified four significant weaknesses involving website security, underscoring the need to strengthen technical security…

We conducted an audit on the effectiveness of the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s (HUD) Home Equity Conversion Mortgage (HECM) program’s Life Expectancy Set Asides (LESA).  The LESA is a set aside portion of the HECM mortgage that makes property tax, hazard insurance, and flood insurance payments on behalf of certain financially vulnerable borrowers.  While not guaranteed, the LESA funds are intended to…

As part of our mission to safeguard the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s (HUD) programs from fraud, waste, and abuse, and to identify opportunities for HUD programs to progress and succeed, we selected Colorado for a review of potential improper payments.  Our audit objective was to determine whether Colorado made improper non-Federal match activity payments.  We also assessed whether the Office of Community…

We found that the photovoltaic systems (PV) and water tanks installed in participant’s homes had deficiencies.  Such deficiencies included inverters and batteries with signs of rust; water intrusion that could lead to electrical shorts; electrical conduits that were degrading due to direct exposure to the sun; electrical conduits with water; and water tanks that were leaking, overflowing, or both.  Based on statistical…

We audited the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), Office of Residential Care Facilities’ (ORCF), oversight of Section 232 residential care facilities’ mortgage insurance program.  We performed this audit because HUD-insured residential care facility loan defaults were rising.  As of June 2024, 167 of the 3,670 HUD-insured Section 232 borrowers, or nearly 5 percent, defaulted on their mortgages.  …

We audited the Government National Mortgage Association’s (Ginnie Mae) management of its portfolio of federally guaranteed mortgage-backed securities (MBS).  We initiated this audit because of our internal monitoring of the Ginnie Mae portfolio as well as the issuance of a Financial Stability Oversight Council report in 2024 on the rising risks presented by nonbank mortgage companies.  Our audit objective was to assess Ginnie…

Fraud poses a significant risk to the integrity of federal programs and erodes public trust in government.  For the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s (HUD) disaster recovery programs, fraud results in communities and individuals not receiving needed assistance to recover from and mitigate future disasters.  Departments are required by law to develop and maintain governance structures, controls, and processes…

In August 2024, we issued an audit report on the California Department of Housing and Community Development’s (HCD) fraud risk management practices, finding that HCD was not adequately prepared to prevent, detect, and respond to fraud due to the lack of focus it placed on fraud risks and establishing a robust fraud risk management framework for the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act (CARES) Act funding for the Emergency…

We recently issued an audit report on the City and County of Honolulu’s (City) fraud risk management practices, which determined the grantee did not adequately develop a fraud risk management framework for the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act funding provided for the Emergency Solutions Grant (ESG) program to prevent, detect, and respond to fraud (Audit Report No. 2024-LA-1002, issued August 6, 2024). This…

We audited the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s (HUD) oversight of the Moving to Work (MTW) demonstration program.  We also reviewed three of the 39 initial MTW public housing agencies (PHA) for compliance with the MTW program’s statutory requirements.  We selected the three PHAs for review based on our analysis of risk factors for initial MTW PHAs.  Our objective was to (1) assess HUD’s monitoring of…

We have reviewed the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s (HUD’s) Detailed Accounting Report and the related management assertions for National Drug Control Program activities for the fiscal year ended September 30, 2025. We also reviewed the Budget Formulation Compliance Report, which includes budget formulation information for fiscal year 2027, and the related management assertions for National Drug Control Program…

Beginning in 2021, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) Office of Inspector General (OIG) conducted several audits to assess HUD’s anti-fraud efforts and to develop inventories of fraud risks for several of its programs.  Our previous work found that HUD’s fraud risk management program was in its early stages of development and we recommended that HUD perform program-specific fraud risk assessments and…

We audited the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s (HUD) Office of Single Family Housing’s efforts to increase the supply of affordable housing.  Our audit objective was to determine whether HUD met its intended outcome to increase the supply of affordable housing to owner-occupants, governmental entities, and HUD-approved non-profits by expanding the exclusive listing periods for its Real Estate Owned (REO)…