WASHINGTON DC— Today, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) Office of Inspector General (OIG) released a report examining the Boston Housing Authority’s (Authority) compliance with HUD and local requirements for maintaining Public Housing units in decent, safe, sanitary, conditions and in good repair.The audit found that the Authority’s units and buildings were not consistently maintained in accordance with HUD’s and the…

WASHINGTON DC— An Illinois man was sentenced today in federal court to seven months for his role in a scheme to defraud financial institutions in connection with over $800,000 in loans.Lamar Spells, 60, of Flossmoor, was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Steven C. Seeger of the Northern District of Illinois, who also ordered Spells to pay $276,788 in restitution, joint and severally. In April 2023, Spells pleaded guilty to one count of an…

WASHINGTON DC— Today, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s (HUD) Office of Inspector General (OIG) issued its annual independent evaluation of the effectiveness of HUD’s information security (InfoSec) program and practices under the Federal Information Security Modernization Act of 2014 (FISMA).FISMA requires all Inspectors General (IG) to annually assess the effectiveness of their Federal agency’s InfoSec programs. The Office…

HUD OIG found that the Authority did not always ensure that its HCV Program units met HUD’s housing quality standards and did not consistently stop payments to owners who failed to correct unit deficiencies. We also found the Authority did not comply with HUD’s monitoring and data collection requirements of the Lead Safe Housing Rule for cases of children with elevated blood lead levels (EBLLs).  

HUD OIG found that the Authority did not adequately manage lead-based paint and lead-based paint hazards in its public housing, including failing to perform timely lead‐based paint visual inspections in an estimated 4,762 units.  

The review found the Puerto Rico Department of Housing budgeted most of its $1.93 billion disaster recovery funds for its two main electrical grid programs which were launched in 2023. Both programs are in their early implementation stages.  As of July 12, 2024, PRDOH had spent less than 1 percent of its total budget for both programs – only $179,761 of $1.93 billion.   

WASHINGTON DC— Today, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) Office of Inspector General (OIG) issued a report examining the City and County of Honolulu ’s Department of Budget and Fiscal Services’ and Department of Community Services’ (the City) practices for preventing, detecting, and responding to fraud in the administration of more than $25 million in HUD’s Emergency Solutions Grant Cares Act (ESG-CV) program funding…

Today, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) Office of Inspector General (OIG) issued a report examining the California Department of Housing and Community Development’s (HCD) practices for preventing, detecting, and responding to fraud in the administration of over $319 million in pandemic funding through HUD’s Emergency Solutions Grant – CARES Act (ESG-CV) program.Congress appropriated $4 billion for ESG-CV grants to…

WASHINGTON DC— Today, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) Office of Inspector General issued a report examining the Cuyahoga Metropolitan Housing Authority’s (Authority) management of cases of children with elevated blood lead levels and oversight of lead‐based paint and associated hazards in its public housing program.The Authority is one of the 10 largest public housing authorities (PHA) in the country with approximately…

WASHINGTON DC— Today, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) Office of Inspector General issued a report examining the physical condition of Housing Choice Voucher (HCV) Program units at the Columbus Metropolitan Housing Authority (Authority). The HCV Program, also known as Section 8, is the Federal Government’s largest tenant-based rental assistance program for low-income families, the elderly, and persons with…

Program Focused on Eliminating Environmental Hazards and Combatting Sexual Misconduct in HUD-Assisted HousingWASHINGTON – Members of the Anacostia Coordinating Council, today, heard presentations and had discussions with U.S. Attorney Matthew M. Graves and the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development Inspector General Rae Oliver Davis at a panel focused on promoting the health, safety, and civil liberty of tenants living in HUD-assisted…

WASHINGTON DC— Today, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) Office of Inspector General (OIG) issued an audit report examining the Puerto Rico Housing Finance Authority’s (PRHFA) Homebuyer Assistance Program (HBA). The HBA program was developed by the Puerto Rico Department of Housing (PRDOH) to incentivize families to stay in Puerto Rico after Hurricanes Irma and Maria by providing eligible applicants with closing…

The Justice Department filed a lawsuit today against Ariel Solis Veleta, of Albuquerque, New Mexico, for sexually harassing female tenants in violation of the Fair Housing Act (FHA). Solis was employed as a leasing agent and property manager at St. Anthony Plaza Apartments in Albuquerque between 2010 and 2022.The lawsuit, filed in the U.S. District Court for the District of New Mexico, alleges that between 2010 and 2022, Solis requested sex acts…

ALBUQUERQUE – Alexander M.M. Uballez, United States Attorney for the District of New Mexico, and Bertrand Nelson, Special Agent in Charge of the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, Office of Inspector General, Southcentral Region, announced today that landlords for properties located in Roswell and Albuquerque paid $30,000 and $12,000, respectively to settle allegations that they violated the anti-fraud False Claims Act by charging…

WASHINGTON DC— Today, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) Office of Inspector General (OIG) issued an audit examining HUD’s efforts to prevent duplication of benefits when using Community Development Block Grant Disaster Recovery and Mitigation (CDBG-DR/MIT) funds. HUD and more than 30 other federal agencies are responsible for providing money and other resources to states and territories impacted by natural disasters,…

WASHINGTON – Nicole Freeman Smith, 51, of Upper Marlboro, Maryland, pleaded guilty today in Superior Court to one felony count and one misdemeanor count of financial exploitation of a vulnerable adult or elderly person (FEVA) for stealing more than $133,000 from two elderly District residents suffering from cognitive impairment. The plea was announced by U.S. Attorney Matthew M. Graves, D.C. Attorney General Brian L. Schwalb, and Special Agent…

      WASHINGTON DC—Apex Waukegan LLC (Apex), a multifamily housing landlord receiving rental assistance subsidies from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), and Integra Affordable Management LLC (Integra), Apex’s affiliated management agent, were ordered to pay $1,258,671 in civil money penalties for breaching their Housing Assistance Payment Contract (HAP contract) by knowingly failing to maintain…

The United States has filed a complaint under the National Housing Act of 1934 (NHA) against Bob Dean Jr. and several affiliated corporate entities for misappropriating and misusing the assets and income of four nursing homes in Louisiana before and after Hurricane Ida’s landfall in August 2021. The four nursing homes, all of which were owned and operated by Dean and his companies, and had loans insured by the Federal Housing Administration (FHA…

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. – U.S. Attorney for the District of New Mexico Fred J. Federici today announced a settlement agreement with the Santa Fe Boys and Girls Club to resolve issues involving two special project grants awarded to the Club. According to the settlement agreement, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) awarded two grants to the Club to purchase land for construction of a new facility. HUD granted the Club $268,245…

Club to pay $1.4 million to resolve allegations of False Claims Act violations ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. – U.S. Attorney for the District of New Mexico Fred J. Federici today announced a settlement agreement with the Santa Fe Boys and Girls Club to resolve issues involving two special project grants awarded to the Club. According to the settlement agreement, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) awarded two grants to the Club to…