We audited the State of Louisiana, Office of Community Development’s (State), Orleans Parish Long Term Community Recovery Program (Program), administered by the State’s subrecipient, the City of New Orleans (City). Our objective was to determine whether the City, as the State’s subrecipient, met the requirements of its cooperative endeavor agreement (agreement) with the State during its administration of the New Orleans Redevelopment…

The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development's Office of Inspector General (OIG) reviewed 15 Federal Housing Administration (FHA) loans that D & R Mortgage Corporation (D & R) underwrote as an FHA direct endorsement lender. Our review objective was to determine whether D & R underwrote the 15 loans in accordance with FHA requirements. This review is part of Operation Watchdog, an OIG initiative to review the…

We audited New England Regional Mortgage Corporation (Corporation), a Federal Housing Administration (FHA) lender approved to underwrite and close mortgage loans without prior FHA review or approval. We selected the Corporation because its early payment default rate for insured single-family loans originated between January 1, 2008, and December 31, 2009, was significantly higher than the default rate in the local area in which it…

In response to a request from Congresswoman Mary Jo Kilroy, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development's Office of Inspector General conducted a review of the allegations that Columbus Properties Limited Partnership (Columbus Properties) did not renovate six apartment complexes in Ohio for which it obtained HUD-insured mortgages. Congresswoman Kilroy asked for a review based on local newspaper articles that alleged waste and…

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,…

We conducted the audit of the Retreat at Santa Rita Springs (community), a Federal Housing Administration-insured multifamily property under the Section 231 of the National Housing Act, in response to a congressional request from Representative Gabrielle Giffords of the 8th Congressional District of Arizona. In November 2009, the owners of the community defaulted on its $29.9 million U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (…

We reviewed 20 Federal Housing Administration (FHA) loans that Dell Franklin Financial, LLC (Dell), underwrote as an FHA direct endorsement lender. Our review objective was to determine whether Dell underwrote the 20 loans in accordance with FHA requirements. This review is part of Operation Watchdog, an Office of Inspector General (OIG) initiative to review the underwriting of 15 direct endorsement lenders at the suggestion of the…

We conducted this audit as part of the Office of Inspector General’s (OIG) annual goals for audits of the Section 8 Housing Choice Voucher (Voucher) and low-income public housing (low-income) programs. Our audit objective was to determine whether the Waltham Housing Authority (Authority) employed acceptable management and financial practices to efficiently and effectively administer the use of Voucher and low-income program funds in…

The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s (HUD) Office of Inspector General (OIG) audited the Housing Authority of the City of Terre Haute, IN’s (Authority) Public Housing Capital Fund program (program). We selected the Authority based on our audits of its nonprofit development activities (see OIG audit report #2009-CH-1011, issued July 2009) and as part of OIG’s initiative to evaluate public housing authorities’ capacity…

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…

We audited the Harrisburg Housing Authority’s (Authority) procurement function. We audited the Authority because a previous audit conducted in 2007 indicated that there was weakness in its purchasing process. Our objective was to determine whether the Authority procured goods and services in accordance with U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) regulations and other applicable requirements. We found that the…

We reviewed 20 Federal Housing Administration (FHA) loans that Alacrity Lending Company (Alacrity) underwrote as an FHA direct endorsement lender. Our review objective was to determine whether Alacrity underwrote the 20 loans in accordance with FHA requirements. This review is part of Operation Watchdog, an Office of Inspector General (OIG) initiative to review the underwriting of 15 direct endorsement lenders at the suggestion of…

The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s (HUD) Office of Inspector General audited National Home Management Solutions (National Home), HUD’s management and marketing contractor for HUD real estate-owned properties in Ohio. We selected National Home based on a citizen’s complaint received by our office. Our objective was to determine whether National Home complied with HUD’s requirements regarding the sale of HUD single-…

The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development's (HUD) Office of Inspector General (OIG) reviewed 20 Federal Housing Administration (FHA) loans that Mac-Clair Mortgage Corporation (Mac-Clair) underwrote as an FHA direct endorsement lender. Our review objective was to determine whether Mac-Clair underwrote the 20 loans in accordance with FHA requirements. This review is part of “Operation Watchdog”, an OIG initiative to review…

We audited the Hartford Housing Authority (Authority) because it was awarded a $5 million Public Housing Capital Fund grant under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (Recovery Act) and obligated the majority of the grant just before the required obligation deadline. Our objectives were to determine whether the Authority (1) had adequate management controls over its obligation process, (2) maintained support for…

The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development's (HUD) Office of Inspector General (OIG) reviewed 20 Federal Housing Administration (FHA) loans that Birmingham Bancorp Mortgage Corporation (Birmingham) underwrote as an FHA direct endorsement lender. Our review objective was to determine whether Birmingham underwrote the 20 loans in accordance with FHA requirements. This review is part of “Operation Watchdog,” an OIG initiative…

We audited the U. S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) Community Development Block Grant (CDBG), Supplemental II Disaster Recovery program, funds, administered by the Texas Department of Housing and Community Affairs (TDHCA). Specifically, we wanted to determine whether TDHCA followed Federal and State of Texas (State) regulations in procuring the program management firm to administer the Housing Assistance and Sabine…

The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development's Office of Inspector General reviewed 20 Federal Housing Administration (FHA) loans that 1st Advantage Mortgage, LLC (1st Advantage), underwrote as an FHA direct endorsement lender. Our review objective was to determine whether 1st Advantage underwrote the 20 loans in accordance with FHA requirements. This review was conducted as part of our Operation Watchdog initiative to review…

We audited the Philadelphia Housing Authority’s (Authority) administration of its housing quality standards inspection program for its Section 8 Housing Choice Voucher program as part of our fiscal year 2010 audit plan. The audit objective addressed in this report 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…

We reviewed the City of Montebello’s (City) HOME Investment Partnerships Program (HOME) at the request of the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s (HUD) Los Angeles Office of Community Planning and Development (CPD). The request was based on findings contained in a 2008 single audit report and 2009 HUD CPD technical assistance report, which stated that the City did not fully comply with HOME program requirements in the…