We audited the City of Huntington Beach’s Community Development Block Grant program due to issues identified by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s (HUD) Los Angeles Office of Community Planning and Development.  In addition, Office of Inspector General (OIG) data analytics identified timeliness issues with the use of program funding.  We also selected the City because it had not been audited by OIG.  Our…

The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), Office of Inspector General audited Boulder County because it is a significant recipient of the State of Colorado’s more than $320 million Community Development Block Grant Disaster Recovery grant, having received grants of more than $6 million.  Our audit objective was to determine whether Boulder approved its grants and procured consultants in accordance with applicable Federal…

The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), Office of Inspector General, and Johnson County Audit Services, Johnson County, KS, audited the City of Olathe, KS, based on a hotline complaint.  Our audit objectives were to determine whether (1) the complainant’s allegations were substantiated, (2) the City listed the proper affordability period for the Neighborhood Stabilization Program (NSP) homes it sold, and (3) the City…

The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), Office of Inspector General (OIG), OIG referred alleged violations to HUD’s Office of Program Enforcement for action under the Program Fraud Civil Remedies Act based on an audit of Shea Mortgage that found it did not follow HUD requirements when it underwrote loans that had executed and recorded agreements containing prohibited restrictive covenants.  HUD’s Office of Program…

The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), Office of Inspector General audited the University Village, LLC in Orem Utah based on previous violations identified by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) that found ineligible withdrawals and substandard physical conditions at the property.  The objective of our audit was to determine whether University Village complied with its HUD multifamily Federal…

The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), Office of Inspector General (OIG), assisted the U.S. Department of Justice and the U.S. Attorney’s Office, Southern District of New York and Northern District of California, in conducting an investigation of Wells Fargo Bank, N.A.’s origination and underwriting of mortgage loans insured by the Federal Housing Administration (FHA). Based in part on our review, the United States alleged…

The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), Office of Inspector General audited the Wyoming Community Development Authority of Casper, WY, for calendar years 2012-2015.  The audit was initiated based on concerns received from U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) officials from the Office of Community Planning and Development program staff in Denver, CO.  The objectives of the audit were to determine…

We audited the Housing Authority of the City of Rock Island, IL’s Housing Choice Voucher program based on the activities included in our 2016 annual audit plan and our analysis of risk factors related to the public housing agencies in Region 5’s jurisdiction.  Our audit objective was to determine whether the Authority administered its program in accordance with the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s (HUD) requirements. The…

The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), Office of Inspector General, audited the City of Joplin, MO’s Community Development Block Grant Disaster Recovery (CDBG-DR) program because the City was awarded more than $45 million in CDBG-DR funds in April 2012 and received an additional $113 million in May 2013. We previously audited the City’s CDBG-DR program in 2013 and issued audit report 2014-KC- 1002. At that time, the City…

We audited the Housing Authority of the City of Annapolis’ procurement activities due to a hotline complaint.  The complaint alleged that the Authority failed to follow procurement requirements.  This is the second of two audit reports on the Authority.  Our audit objective was to determine whether the Authority procured services and products using operating and capital funds in accordance with applicable requirements. The…

We audited the Harris County Community Services Department’s Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) program based on our risk analysis and as part of our annual audit plan to review community planning and development funds.  The audit objective was to determine whether the Department properly administered and adequately documented its CDBG program activities in accordance with U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD)…

The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), Office of Inspector General (OIG), assisted HUD’s Office of Program Enforcement in the civil investigation of American Midwest Mortgage Corporation.  American’s principal place of business is located in Cleveland, OH.  American became an FHA-approved direct endorsement lender on August 28, 1983.  The direct endorsement lender program authorizes private-sector mortgage…

We have completed preliminary research on the Office of Community Planning and Development’s (CPD) methods to allocate Community Development Block Grant Disaster Recovery (CDBG-DR) funds appropriated under the Disaster Relief Appropriations Act of 2013 (PL 113-2).  Our objectives were to review the methodology for (1) the seven formula-based allocations and (2) the two competition-based allocations of CDBG-DR funds. We conducted this…

The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), Office of Inspector General (OIG), reviewed preforeclosure sales under the Federal Housing Administration (FHA) program in the St. Louis, MO, area.  We found that a realtor purchased a property in January 2010 using a limited liability company he controlled while also acting as the seller’s agent.   On October 23, 2015, HUD served a complaint on the realtor, alleging…

The U.S. Department of Housing Urban Development (HUD), Office of Inspector General audited the Government National Mortgage Association’s (Ginnie Mae) process for identifying and removing uninsured single-family Federal Housing Administration loans from mortgage-backed securities (MBS) pools.  Our audit objective was to determine whether loans remained in Ginnie Mae MBS pools for 1 year or longer without the required mortgage insurance.…

The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), Office of Inspector General (OIG), reviewed preforeclosure sales under the Federal Housing Administration (FHA) program in the St. Louis, MO, area.  We found that the realtor for the preforeclosure sale entered into a consulting agreement with the purchaser of the property.  The agreement required that when the purchaser later sold the property, he would pay half of the net…

We audited the functionality of the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s (HUD) New Core Interface Solution (NCIS) for phase 1, release 3, as part of the internal control assessments required for the fiscal year 2016 financial statement audit under the Chief Financial Officer’s Act of 1990.  Our objective was to determine whether adequate internal controls were in place for the phase 1, release 3, functionality of NCIS and the…

The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), Office of Inspector General (OIG), assisted the U.S. Department of Justice, Washington, DC, and the U.S. Attorney’s Office, District of New Jersey, in the civil investigation of Freedom Mortgage Corporation.  Freedom has its principal place of business in Mount Laurel, NJ, and became an FHA-approved direct endorsement lender in 1993.  As a direct endorsement lender, Freedom…

The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), Office of Inspector General (OIG), assisted the Office of Program Enforcement in the investigation of Land Home Financial Services, Inc. to determine whether it violated HUD requirements when underwriting loans insured by the Federal Housing Administration (FHA).  Land Home is an FHA mortgage lender, located in Concord, CA.    Based in part on OIG’s review, HUD…

The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), Office of Inspector General (OIG), assisted the U.S. Department of Justice, Washington, DC, and the U.S. Attorney’s Office, Western District of New York, in the civil investigation of Manufacturers and Traders Trust Company, also known as M&T Bank.  M&T Bank has its principal place of business in Buffalo, NY.   On March 19, 2013, a former employee of M&T Bank…