This inaugural disaster recovery biannual report and subsequent reports will provide curated information regarding the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) and its grantees’ use of the more than $109 billion in disaster recovery funds approved by Congress since the 2001 World Trade Center attack, as well as information on new or completed HUD OIG oversight work related to HUD’s disaster recovery program.HUD’s grantees use these…

To determine whether all the unexpended obligations of HUD are valid and meet funding guidelines, the Office of the Chief Financial Officer (OCFO) coordinates annually an Open Obligation Review (OOR) of all program and administrative funds. This review determines which funds are still needed and certifies to Treasury that the funds remaining in its obligation balance at the end of the fiscal year represent future obligations for the department.…

The Office of National Drug Control Policy (ONDCP) leads and coordinates the Nation’s drug policy to improve the health and lives of the American people, including the development and implementation of the National Drug Control Strategy (the Strategy).  ONDCP evaluates the effectiveness of national drug control policy efforts, the Strategy’s goals and objectives, and each National Drug Control Program Agency’s program-level measures. …

The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) administers billions in presidentially declared disaster recovery grants through its Community Development Block Grant Disaster Recovery program.  We audited five non-State grantees to assess whether they are on track to spend their remaining grant funds on eligible activities that benefit program participants within a reasonable amount of time.  We also wanted to determine…

In an effort to increase transparency and accountability in the use of Federal funding in program activities, Federal law and guidance requires the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) and its prime recipients to ensure that complete and accurate subaward data is posted on USASpending.gov.  We audited HUD to determine whether the prime award recipients of HUD funding met all of the Federal Funding Accountability and…

The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), Office of Inspector General (OIG) is auditing the use of Community Development Block Grant Disaster Recovery (CDBG-DR) funds as non-Federal match for the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s (FEMA)Public Assistance Program.  Our objectives are to determine whether four CDBG-DR grantees made improper payments and whether the Office of Community Planning and Development’s…

We audited the project activity status for 12 grantees that received funds under the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s (HUD) Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) National Disaster Resilience (NDR) grant to determine whether the grantees have accomplished or are on track to accomplish the goals of the activities outlined in their action plans. We found that NDR grantees should be able to accomplish their program goals by…

The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s (HUD) development of requirements documents is a collaboration across HUD program offices.  The Office of the Chief Procurement Officer (OCPO) is responsible for obtaining all goods and services required by HUD efficiently and in the most cost-effective manner possible, while program offices are responsible for preparing the requirements documents and submitting an actionable…

We obtained the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s (HUD) two nondisclosure policies and two nondisclosure forms applicable to HUD employees.  We also obtained 13 nondisclosure agreements between HUD and HUD employees.  The nondisclosure policies, forms, and agreements did not include the anti-gag provision as required by the Whistleblower Protection Enhancement Act (WPEA) of 2012.  HUD had not ensured that these…

The OIG evaluated the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s (HUD) progress in applying zero trust security principles to protect personally identifiable information (PII).  HUD maintained a significant number of records that contain PII with limited zero trust controls in place to secure these data.  In FY 2022, HUD established a zero trust implementation plan to help the agency address the five zero trust pillars…

To promote equal opportunity and identify and eliminate discriminatory practices, Federal regulation mandates that agencies review and respond to all employment-related discrimination complaints.  At the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), the Office of Departmental Equal Employment Opportunity (ODEEO) is responsible for the enforcement of Federal laws related to eliminating all forms of discrimination in HUD’s…

We contracted with the independent public accounting firm of Sikich CPA LLC to audit the financial statements of HUD as of and for the fiscal years ending September 30, 2024 and 2023, and to provide reports on HUD’s (1) internal control over financial reporting and (2) compliance with laws, regulations, contracts, and grant agreements and other matters, including whether financial management systems complied substantially with the requirements…

We contracted with the independent public accounting firm of Sikich CPA LLC to audit the financial statements of FHA as of and for the fiscal years ending September 30, 2024 and 2023, and to provide reports on FHA’s (1) internal control over financial reporting and (2) compliance with laws, regulations, contracts, and grant agreements and other matters.  Our contract with Sikich required that the audit be performed in accordance with U.S.…

We contracted with the independent public accounting firm Sikich CPA LLC to audit the financial statements of Ginnie Mae as of and for the years ending September 30, 2024 and 2023, and to provide reports on Ginnie Mae’s (1) internal control over financial reporting and (2) compliance with laws, regulations, contracts, and grant agreements and other matters.  Our contract with Sikich required that the audit be performed in accordance with U.…

The OIG evaluated the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) Office of Housing’s (Housing) progress in applying zero trust security principles to protect personally identifiable information (PII) within the Federal Housing Administration (FHA) Catalyst system.HUD was in the beginning stages of implementing zero trust requirements for the data and identity pillars. HUD Office of Housing systems, including FHA Catalyst, are largely…

The Federal Information Security Modernization Act of 2014 (FISMA) directs Inspectors General to conduct an annual evaluation of the agency information security program. FISMA, Department of Homeland Security (DHS), Office of Management and Budget (OMB) and National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) establish information technology (IT) security guidance and standards for Federal agencies. We conducted this evaluation to assess the…

As of January 2024, 85 percent of HUD employees had approved telework agreements, and 9 percent had approved remote work agreements.  HUD estimated that 31 percent of remote employees were remote as a reasonable accommodation.  Most of HUD’s remote workers served in a limited number of occupations.  We evaluated the Office of the Chief Human Capital Officer’s (OCHCO) controls over the quality of data related to remote work…

 The Geospatial Data of 2018 (the Act) governs the collection, production, acquisition, maintenance, distribution, use, and preservation of geospatial data of covered agencies, including the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD).  We audited the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s (HUD) efforts to meet the geospatial data requirements stated in the Act.  The Act requires the Inspector General of a…

We reviewed the Puerto Rico Department of Housing’s (PRDOH) Electrical Power System Enhancements and Improvements programs to provide (1) background and funding information, (2) an update on the status of the programs and their progress, and (3) other relevant program information for interested stakeholders including Congress and the public. The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) provided its grantee, PRDOH, $1.93…

HUD did not comply with PIIA because it did not report improper and unknown payment estimates for the Office of Public and Indian Housing’s Tenant-Based Rental Assistance (PIH-TBRA) program and the Office of Multifamily Housing Programs’ Project-Based Rental Assistance (PBRA) program, HUD’s largest rental assistance programs.  This noncompliance is significant because this is the seventh consecutive year in which HUD has been unable to…