The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s (HUD) Office of Inspector General audited the Office of the Chief Human Capital Officer based on concerns about security risks of hard drives in multifunction devices. Our objective was to determine whether HUD had documented and implemented procedures to effectively remove sensitive data from the hard drives of multifunction devices before disposing of them. HUD did not monitor or test…

We audited Gloucester Township, NJ's administration of its Community Development Block Grant funds that it received under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009. We selected the Township for an audit because we received two complaints alleging that it misused stimulus funds and overpaid for services and because of our mandate to audit Recovery Act activities. Our audit objective was to determine whether the Township obligated,…

The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, Office of Inspector General audited the State of Wisconsin’s Department of Commerce’s Lead-Based Paint Hazard Control program under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009. The audit was part of the activities in our fiscal year 2011 annual audit plan. We selected the State for review based on a citizen’s complaint forwarded to our office from the U.S. Department of Commerce’s…

The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, Office of Inspector General audited the Office of Healthy Homes and Lead Hazard Control’s monitoring of its American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 grant recipients. The audit was part of the activities in our fiscal year 2011 annual audit plan. We selected Healthy Homes for audit based upon an internal audit suggestion regarding Healthy Homes’ monitoring of its grant recipients…

In response to a request for review from the Office of the Department Operations and Coordination, we are auditing the Office of Labor Relations (Labor Relations) wage restitution and deposit process. We found Labor Relations has weak internal controls over their Deposit account. Our objective was to gain an understanding of the deposit process and determine whether the controls used to administer and distribute restitution payments were…

We audited the Office of the Chief Procurement Officer’s (procurement office) procedures for closing out completed and expired Government National Mortgage Association (Ginnie Mae) contracts in compliance with applicable regulations. This audit was part of our audit plan for fiscal year 2010. Our objective was to determine whether the procurement office performed timely closeouts on completed and expired Ginnie Mae contracts. The procurement…

We audited the Office of the Chief Procurement Officer’s (procurement office) administration of interagency agreements (IAAs). This audit was part of our fiscal year 2010 audit plan because of congressional hearings on the use and management of IAAs throughout the Federal Government. Our objective was to determine whether the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) effectively administered its IAAs and the costs to procure these…

We audited the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s (HUD) process for hiring employees in accordance with Office of Personnel Management (OPM) guidelines. The audit was initiated due to concerns about whether HUD addressed the staffing needs of its Homeownership Centers in a timely manner to address significant increases in single family mortgage workload. Our audit objective was to determine whether HUD effectively hired…

We audited the Office of the Chief Procurement Officer’s (procurement office) procedures for administering completed and expired contracts in compliance with applicable regulations. Our objective was to determine whether the procurement office performed contract closeout procedures on completed and expired contracts in a timely manner. We expanded our objective to determine whether the contract files were complete and properly maintained. We…

We performed an audit of HUD's Office of Healthy Homes and Lead Hazard Control (OHHLHC) grant program for Lead Hazard Reduction Demonstration (LHRD). Our audit was initiated based on a complaint to the hotline alleging that the managers of OHHLHC changed the scores assigned by the application review panel to award grants to applicants that were not ranked high enough to receive funding under the 2009 NOFA. Our objective was to determine…

We performed an audit of the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s (HUD) property and equipment. We performed this audit as a result of recurring findings relating to HUD’s property and equipment reported in the fiscal years 2004 through 2008 management letters. Our objective was to determine whether HUD properly recorded and tracked the acquisition and disposal of its capitalized and other accountable property and equipment. We…

We audited the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s Office of Healthy Homes and Lead Hazard Control’s (OHHLHC) selection procedures used to award American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (Recovery Act) grants. Our objective was to determine whether OHHLHC awarded (1) Recovery Act funds in accordance with the selection criteria specified in the fiscal year 2008 notices of funding availability (notices) and the Recovery Act…

As part of the Office of Inspector General’s (OIG) obligation to ensure accountability and transparency in the use of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (Recovery Act) funds, we performed a capacity review to assess the City of Utica, New York’s (City) administration of its lead-based paint hazard control program. The City was awarded $2.04 million under the Recovery Act to carry out lead-based paint hazard control activities in…

We reviewed the front-end risk assessment (assessment) for the Office of Healthy Homes and Lead Hazard Control (OHHLHC) for the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD). The Recovery Act appropriated $100 million to the lead hazard control program. Our review of the assessment for OHHLHC determined that while OHHLHC generally complied with the Recovery Act, HUD’s Streamlined FERA Process and the Departmental Management Control…

We audited the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development's (HUD) Office of Administration's internal controls over the processing of personnel actions in response to an anonymous complaint received by our office. Our objectives were to determine why (1) human resource actions were not processed in a timely manner, (2) employee requests to waive the automatic collection of payroll overpayments were not processed before collection actions…

The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development's (HUD) Office of Inspector General reviewed HUD's management of human resources. We initiated the review based on our annual audit plan and our strategic plan to help HUD resolve its major management challenges. The review also addressed a complaint to our Hotline regarding the adequacy of HUD's Total Estimation and Allocation Mechanism (TEAM) system. Our objectives were to determine the…

The urgency in post-disaster recoveries often leads State and local officials to work to quickly restore infrastructure and public services and help make repairs. Such urgency can sometimes result in cutting corners with CDBG program requirements. However, grantees and sub-recipients that do not follow all CDBG program requirements may be forced to repay Federal funds.

The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), Office of Inspector General (OIG), and the Office of the Chief Procurement Officer have identified an ongoing fraud scheme intentionally targeting small businesses, large corporations, government vendors, and contractors for the purpose of obtaining electronic equipment such as laptops, mobile phones, hard drives, digital projectors, solar panels, and other high-value merchandise. The…

The Lead Disclosure Rule requires landlords to provide disclosures concerning lead paint to prospective tenants in “target housing,” which includes most houses constructed before 1978.