Reports

We audited HUD and its grantees’ monitoring of subrecipients and contractors in HUD’s Emergency Solutions Grants Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act (ESG-CV) program to assess subrecipient monitoring in the program. ESG and ESG-CV grantees often rely on subrecipients and contractors to carry out ESG-CV-funded activities on behalf of the grantees, and are required to monitor subrecipients to ensure that the purpose of the grant funds awarded is achieved and funds are spent on only eligible applicants and activities. HUD is responsible for ensuring that grantees are performing...

We audited the City and County of Honolulu’s Department of Budget and Fiscal Services’ and Department of Community Services’ (City) fraud risk management practices for its Emergency Solutions Grants Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act (ESG CARES Act) program with the objective of assessing the maturity of the City’s fraud risk management framework that encompasses control activities to prevent, detect, and respond to fraud. Fraudulent activity in the ESG CARES Act program can lead to significant financial losses; reputational damage to the grantee and the U.S. Department of...

We audited the California Department of Housing and Community Development (HCD) with the objective of evaluating HCD’s fraud risk management practices for its Emergency Solutions Grants Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act (ESG CARES Act) program and assessing the maturity of its efforts to prevent, detect, and respond to fraud. Fraudulent activity in the ESG CARES Act program can lead to significant financial losses, reputational damage to the grantee and the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), breach of fiduciary duty, and most importantly, loss of funding...

Servicers followed the COVID-19 pandemic foreclosure moratorium requirements. However, they could have better communicated the moratorium requirements to delinquent borrowers who were subject to foreclosure proceedings. This situation occurred because HUD did not require servicers to notify borrowers directly about the foreclosure moratorium and that occupancy would pause the foreclosure process. Borrowers who were not informed about the moratorium or impacts of vacancy could have abandoned their homes, not realizing that remaining in the home would have afforded them additional time to...

As North Carolina’s Compulsory Attendance (Truancy) Law was not waived during the pandemic of school year or 2020-2021, the audit objectives were to determine whether six public school districts complied with the Truancy Law during the 2020-2021 school year. The objectives were to assess how many students were chronically absent during the 2020-2021 school year (and how many of this group promoted to the next grade or graduated), and whether the school districts ensured that student attendance data for the 2020-2021 school year was complete and accurate. The auditor found that the Department...

We audited the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), Office of Native American Programs’ (ONAP) coronavirus disease of 2019 (COVID-19) recovery programs. We performed this audit to provide HUD with insight and a nationwide perspective on the challenges that grantees experienced with those programs. Our audit objectives were to identify 1) the information, guidance, and training HUD provided to the grantees for the ONAP COVID-19 recovery programs and 2) the challenges that grantees faced in implementing and using program-provided funding.HUD provided information, guidance, and...

The purpose of this memorandum is to notify you that we are researching prior audits of HUD’s Single Family Default Monitoring System to provide HUD information regarding lessons learned and risks identified in these prior audits that HUD should act on now to ensure program integrity and mitigate the risk of financial loss for COVID-19 related forbearance assistance and foreclosure moratorium related to single family loans.

The purpose of this memorandum is to notify you that we are researching prior audits of HUD’s partial claims loss mitigation option to provide HUD information regarding lessons learned and risks identified in these prior audits that HUD should act on now to ensure program integrity and mitigate the risk of financial loss for COVID-19 related partial claims.