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…

We completed an audit of the Lackawanna Municipal Housing Authority’s (Authority) administration of its capital fund program. The objectives of our audit were to determine whether the Authority disbursed capital funds and procured contracts in accordance with U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) requirements. The audit disclosed that the Authority disbursed capital funds for questionable expenditures. Further, it did not…

We audited the Wilmington 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 2009 audit plan. The audit objective was to determine whether the Authority adequately administered its Section 8 housing quality standards inspection program to ensure that its program units met housing quality standards in accordance with U.S.…

We reviewed Bank of America's (servicer) home equity conversion mortgage (HECM) servicing division located in Seattle, Washington. Bank of America is one of the largest lenders of HECM mortgages for properties located in the five southwest states in the U. S. Department of Housing and Urban Development's (HUD) Region VI jurisdiction. Our objective was to determine whether the servicer complied with HUD regulations, specifically, whether it…

We audited the Newark, Delaware, branch office (branch office) of J.P. Morgan Chase bank (J.P. Morgan Chase), a supervised direct endorsement lender approved to originate Federal Housing Administration (FHA) single-family mortgage loans. We selected the branch office because its default rate was above the state’s average default rate. Our objective was to determine whether J.P. Morgan Chase complied with U.S. Department of Housing and Urban…

We are conducting an audit of the Lackawanna Municipal Housing Authority’s (Authority) administration of its capital fund program. We selected this auditee because the Authority pledged its future capital fund appropriations to perform a special project as part of the Capital Fund Financing Program. Specifically, the Authority incurred a $4.25 million long-term liability to perform lead-based paint abatement and modernization work at 90…

We audited single-family loan originations at Eagle Home Mortgage (Eagle Mortgage), located in Kirkland, Washington, to determine whether it originated Federal Housing Administration (FHA)-insured loans in accordance with U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) requirements. Eagle Mortgage did not always originate FHA insured loans in accordance with HUD requirements. Specifically, Eagle Mortgage did not follow HUD's underwriting…

We audited Financial Freedom Senior Funding Corporation (Financial Freedom) as part of our annual audit plan objective of improving the integrity of single-family insurance programs. Our objective was to determine whether Financial Freedom complied with U. S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) origination requirements for the Home Equity Conversion Mortgage program, commonly known as a reverse mortgage. Financial Freedom…

We audited the Richmond Redevelopment and Housing Authority (Authority) administration of its housing assistance payments for leased housing. This is the last of three audit reports we plan to issue on the Authority's program. The audit objective addressed in this report was to determine whether the Authority properly maintained documentation to support housing assistance payments and accurately calculated them. The Authority did not properly…

The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), Office of Inspector General, audited Midwest Mortgage Capital (Midwest). Our audit objectives were to determine whether Midwest followed HUD requirements for underwriting loans and performing its quality control program for single-family production. We concluded that Midwest did not properly underwrite 7 of the 29 defaulted loans reviewed. These loans had material underwriting…

We audited the Culver City Housing Agency’s (Agency) administration of its Section 8 Housing Choice Voucher program waiting list and housing assistance payment calculations. We initiated this review based upon information we received regarding waiting list administration and potential tenant eligibility issues. The Agency’s ongoing lease-up deficiency and lack of monitoring visits by the U. S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD…

We audited the City of Reading's (City) asset control area program as part of a nationwide audit of the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development's (HUD) monitoring of program participants. Our objective was to determine whether the City administered its asset control area program in compliance with HUD requirements. We focused our review on whether the City complied with specific requirements in its asset control area agreement (…

The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development's (HUD) Office of Inspector General audited the Chicago Housing Authority's (Authority) Section 8 Housing Choice Voucher program (program) under its Moving to Work Demonstration program. The audit was part of the activities in our fiscal year 2008 annual audit plan. We selected the Authority based upon our analysis of risk factors relating to the housing agencies in Region V's jurisdiction.…

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 2008 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 the North Hempstead Housing Authority's (Authority) administration of its Housing Choice Voucher and Family Self-Sufficiency to determine whether the Authority administered these programs in compliance with HUD regulations. The Authority properly determined Section 8 tenant eligibility and accurately calculated rental subsidies. However, the Authority improperly selected both units and tenants for project-based voucher assistance,…

We reviewed lenders in the State of Connecticut that had Federal Housing Administration (FHA) loans with secondary financing from the Connecticut Housing Finance Authority as part of our annual audit plan. The objective was to determine whether the lenders inappropriately gave borrowers using secondary financing from the Connecticut Housing Finance Authority cash back at closing in excess of their total cash deposit and other closing costs paid…

The Authority's program administration regarding housing assistance payment calculations and zero-income households was inadequate. The Authority did not effectively manage its housing assistance calculation and payment process in accordance with HUD requirements, resulting in nearly $57,000 in overpayment, more than $21,000 in unsupported payments and nearly $22,000 in underpayment for the period January 1, 2007, through August 31, 2008. In…

The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development's (HUD) Office of Inspector General audited SecurityNational Mortgage Company (SecurityNational), a Federal Housing Administration (FHA)-approved direct endorsement lender, to determine whether it properly underwrote insured loans and whether its quality control function met requirements. SecurityNational did not follow HUD regulations when underwriting 18 FHA-insured loans. One of the loans…

We completed a financial review of the Housing Authority of the County of Los Angeles' (Authority) Section 8 program. We initiated the review in response to several citizen complaints alleging mismanagement, waste, and abuse of U. S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) Section 8 funding, including the use of Section 8 funds to pay the costs of non-Section 8 programs. Our objective was to determine the validity of the above…