We audited the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s (HUD) oversight of its Home Equity Conversion Mortgage (HECM) program and found that 33 borrowers had more than 1 loan under the program.  Having multiple loans violated program requirements because HUD requires borrowers to reside in the mortgaged residence as their principal residence and borrowers may not have more than one principal residence at a time.  We referred…

We reviewed the general and application controls over the Federal Housing Administration’s (FHA) Single Family Insurance System (SFIS) and Single Family Insurance Claims Subsystem (Claims) as part of the internal control assessments required for the fiscal year 2015 financial statement audit under the Chief Financial Officer’s Act of 1990. Our objective was to assess the general and application controls over SFIS and Claims for compliance with…

We reviewed Sun West Mortgage Company’s loan underwriting activities, including quality controls, based on a citizen complaint alleging that the mortgage company was deficient in underwriting its loans.  The complaint further alleged that the mortgage company used unauthorized staff in another country and shared user identification numbers to “pre-underwrite” Federal Housing Administration (FHA)-insured loans.  Our objective was to…

We audited the Dolores Frances Affordable Housing project, based on a citizen complaint and a suggestion from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s (HUD) Departmental Enforcement Center.  The complaint alleged nonpayment of HUD utility allowances and security deposits, mismanagement of the maintenance department, related parties hired in supervisory positions, and conflict-of-interest vendor contracts by the related party…

We audited the Dolores Frances Affordable Housing project, based on a citizen complaint and a suggestion from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s (HUD) Departmental Enforcement Center.  The complaint alleged nonpayment of HUD utility allowances and security deposits, mismanagement of the maintenance department, related parties hired in supervisory positions, and conflict-of-interest vendor contracts by the related party…

The Digital Accountability and Transparency Act of 2014 (DATA Act), and implementing guidance provided in the Office of Management and Budget Memorandum M-15-12, is a mandate that Federal agencies must follow to report their financial, budgetary and programmatic information to the USASpending.gov web site.  We have reviewed the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s (HUD) compliance efforts as of July 15, 2016.  To…

We audited the City of Pasadena’s Community Development Block Grant program due to performance issues identified by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s (HUD) Los Angeles Office of Community Planning and Development.  Our objective was to determine whether the City administered its program in accordance with applicable HUD rules and requirements.  Specifically, we wanted to determine whether its projects complied…

The U.S. Department of Housing Urban Development (HUD), Office of Inspector General audited the HUD to determine whether it collected partial claims upon termination of their related Federal Housing Administration (FHA)-insured mortgages.  We initiated this audit because of our concern that FHA partial claims could go uncollected. HUD did not collect an estimated 1,361 partial claims that became due in fiscal year 2015.  As a result,…

We audited the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s (HUD) oversight of Federal Housing Administration (FHA)-insured loans in Flint, MI.  We conducted the audit based on recent news reports that identified high levels of lead contamination and because HUD had insured loans on properties in Flint that closed after the City of Flint began using the Flint River as its water source in April 2014, including 144 loans with unpaid…

We audited the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s (HUD) oversight of the Government National Mortgage Association’s (Ginnie Mae) contract for financial industry and media marketing services with public relations and communications firm Burson-Marsteller.  We initiated the audit after we became aware of potential issues regarding the amount of funds used for services, which may not have been reasonable or necessary. …

We audited the Richmond Housing Authority due to a complaint alleging that the Authority submitted falsified documentation to the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) and allowed the City of Richmond to use the Authority’s HUD funds and the Authority’s assets and that the City charged the Authority for rent and services at an unreasonable price.  Our audit objective was to validate complaint allegations regarding whether…

We audited the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s (HUD) multifamily accelerated processing (MAP) program administered by its Office of Multifamily Production.  We initiated the audit under our annual audit plan.  Our objectives were to determine whether (1) HUD adequately reviewed and approved loans underwritten by MAP-approved lenders for Federal Housing Administration (FHA) insurance and (2) the 2016 MAP Guide was…

We audited the Orange County Housing Authority’s monitoring of its contractors’ performance of housing quality standards inspections of its mobility out units due to inadequacies identified in another review of the Authority’s Housing Choice Voucher program’s housing quality standards.  The Authority contracted out the administration and housing quality standards inspections for its mobility out housing units, Housing Choice Voucher…

This report presents the results of our audit of the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s (HUD) fiscal year 2015 compliance with the Improper Payments Elimination and Recovery Act of 2010 (IPERA). For the third consecutive fiscal year,  we determined that HUD did not comply with IPERA.  Out of the six requirements, In fiscal year 2015, HUD complied with four (compliance determinations a, c, d, and f) and did not comply…

We audited the Richmond Housing Authority due to a complaint alleging that the Authority violated procurement requirements related to legal and accounting services and wrote off tenant debts improperly.  The objective of the audit was to determine whether the Authority procured goods and services and managed tenant rents for its public housing program in accordance with U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) requirements.…

We audited the Orange County Housing Authority’s Housing Choice Voucher program’s housing quality standards primarily due to the Orange County district attorney’s investigation into allegations that Authority inspectors conducted personal business during the work day.  These allegations resulted in concerns that inspections may not have been thorough to ensure housing units met HUD standards.  Our objective was to determine whether…

We conducted a review of the District of Columbia Housing Authority’s payments for outside legal services in conjunction with an ongoing internal audit of the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s (HUD) oversight of public housing agencies’ expenditures for outside legal services.  Our review objective was to determine whether the Authority made payments for outside legal services in compliance with applicable requirements. We…

Due to deficiencies found in prior reviews of two Intergovernmental Personnel Act (IPA or Act) assignments, we audited the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s (HUD) implementation and oversight of the IPA mobility program. The audit objectives were to determine whether (1) HUD’s use of IPA agreements met the purpose and intent of the IPA mobility program, (2) HUD’s policies and procedures related to IPA agreements were adequate…

Contractors comprise around half of HUD’s workforce. We reviewed progress HUD had made in addressing previously identified background investigation issues. Personnel Security Division (PSD) had reduced the backlog of suitability adjudication cases, but on average it took about four times longer than the Office of Personnel Management standard of 90 days to complete a case—resulting in several hundred contractor employees working at HUD without…

The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development – Office of Inspector General audited HUD’s Federal Housing Administrations rules and requirements pertaining to nonprofits purchasing real estate-owned (REO) homes during the exclusive listing period.  We initiated this review based on information found during an audit of a nonprofit that purchased homes during the exclusive listing period in memorandum 2015-DE-1801.  Our objective…