The devastating and tragic wildfires in Los Angeles, like many natural disasters, have caused hardship conditions that leave individuals, businesses, and communities vulnerable to bad actors who take advantage of those impacted by these severe weather emergencies.

Fraudsters can take advantage of older adults by pressuring or helping them obtain funding for home repairs by applying for a reverse mortgage and then stealing the funds from the reverse mortgage.  In this fraud bulletin, HUD OIG shares a recent case example where the fraudster was sentenced to more than 17 years in prison and provides tips on how senior homeowners can avoid reverse mortgage scams by purported contractors.

Be on the lookout for fraudsters who may try to take advantage of quick timeframes and difficult circumstances that individuals and communities face following a disaster. View the video.

Natural disasters affect millions of Americans each year. Homeowners who experience a temporary or permanent loss of income due to a natural disaster or an increase in expenses post-disaster may be financially vulnerable, making it difficult for them to make mortgage payments. View the video.  

The devastating and tragic wildfires on Hawaii’s Maui, like many natural disasters, have caused hardship conditions that leave individual, businesses, and communities vulnerable to bad actors who take advantage of those impacted by these severe weather emergencies.

Update HUD Handbook 1900.40, Do Not Pay policy, to clearly define the responsibilities for all parties and align it with current laws, processes, and procedures. This should include defining responsibilities for preaward and prepayment verification, and developing a process and governance structure to ensure that preaward and prepayment verification are consistently performed across HUD’s programs.StatusHUD has until August 25, 2025, to provide…

Determine whether tenants were underpaid for utility allowances and if so, reimburse the tenants from non-Federal funds.

Evaluate the training of West Warwick employees and determine what additional training is necessary..

Provide documentation to support that $18,501 in credit card charges was spent for reasonable and necessary costs. Any amount that cannot be supported should be repaid from non-Federal funds and returned to the Housing Choice Voucher and public housing programs.

Provide documentation to support that $4,530 in petty cash funds was spent for reasonable and necessary costs. Any amount that cannot be supported should be repaid from non-Federal funds and returned to the Housing Choice Voucher and public housing programs.

Develop and maintain property records and conduct an inventory in accordance with Federal regulations.

Provide adequate supporting documentation for the amount of Public Housing Capital Fund loan to verify the loan source. If another source of Federal funds is determined, repay the amount to the appropriate program from non-Federal funds.

Provide support showing the amount of predevelopment fees paid. If it is over the allowable amount, that portion should be repaid to the project-based voucher program from non-Federal funds.

Provide support showing the source and use of funds paid to the Terrace Lane, LP, and Southside Village, LP, after the RAD conversion or repay the project-based voucher program from non-Federal funds.

Develop and implement procedures to ensure that it maintains books and records that provide the source and uses of all Federal funds.

Ensure that the Authority completes all outstanding annual audits.

Enter into a repayment agreement with Community Management Corporation for the improper housing assistance payments of $5,912 to be repaid to the project-based voucher program or repay the project-based voucher program from non-Federal funds.

Establish, maintain, and follow a waiting list for each project individually.

Provide adequate supporting documentation for the $2,075,314 paid for housing assistance payments for tenant rents for 2015 and 2016 and the associated administrative fees earned or repay the project-based voucher program from non-Federal funds.

Properly certify all tenants and reimburse any overages paid and associated administrative fees for tenants housed after January 1, 2017, to the project-based voucher program from non-Federal funds.