OIG Reports

OIG report: HUD Rental Assistance Programs’ Requirements Relating to Tenant Criminal Activity and Immigration Status

We analyzed the U.S. Housing and Urban Development’s (HUD) rental assistance requirements (1) for individuals with a criminal history or who engage in criminal activity, and (2) for individuals who are non-citizens. We found that differences in program requirements related to substance abuse and criminal activity are based on differences in the governing statutes and the purposes of the programs. For example, rental …

OIG report: The Housing Authority of New Orleans Did Not Always Comply With HUD’s Requirements for Its Housing Choice Voucher Program

We audited the Housing Authority of New Orleans’ (the Authority) Housing Choice Voucher (HCV) Program to determine whether the physical condition of the Authority’s HCV Program units complied with the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s (HUD) and its own requirements. We found that the Authority did not always ensure that its HCV Program units met HUD’s housing quality standards (HQS), as 74 of 75 unit…

OIG report: HUD’s Multifamily Project-Based Rental Assistance Program Had Significant Improper Payments.

We audited the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s (HUD) Multifamily Project-based Rental Assistance (MF-PBRA) program housing assistance payments (HAP). HUD deems its MF-PBRA program susceptible to significant improper and unknown payments; however, it has not produced an estimate, in accordance with the Payment Integrity Information Act of 2019 (PIIA). This is the ninth consecutive year that HUD was …

OIG report: HUD’s PIH-TBRA Program Had Significant Improper Payments

PHAs made significant improper payments in HUD’s PIH-TBRA program. Of the 300 payments statistically selected for testing, 74 payments were improper, including technically improper payments. PHAs made errors or failed to follow program requirements, which resulted in improper payments. We projected an annual estimate of at least $1.430 billion of improper payments. HUD heavily relies on PHAs to make sure HAP is prope…

HUD has met all 13 responsibilities of the Act as part of the implementation phase. However, for four of the 13 responsibilities, specifically the responsibilities related to HUD’s Geospatial Strategic Plan, NARA approved record schedules, metadata standards, and the geospatial information it makes available to the public, we identified actions that HUD should take to improve their controls and metadata. All the cove…

The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) Office of Inspector General (OIG) conducted an evaluation of HUD’s processes related to the Buy America Preference of the Build America, Buy America Act (BABA), enacted into law on November 15, 2021. This report contains five recommendations for HUD to ensure monitoring of BABA compliance.

OIG report: Home Forward Has Made Improvements to Ensure Townhouse Terrace has Decent, Safe, and Sanitary Public Housing

The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) Office of Inspector General (OIG) evaluated Home Forward Housing Authority’s Townhouse Terrace development to determine if conditions are decent, safe, and sanitary. HUD-assisted housing units are subject to quality inspection standards. HUD OIG oversight at Townhouse Terrace provides a snapshot in time of conditions at the development managed by the public h…

The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) developed the National Standards for the Physical Inspection of Real Estate (NSPIRE) to align and consolidate its inspection regulations to create a standardized inspection protocol to evaluate HUD housing across multiple programs. The objective of our audit was to determine whether HUD has effectively implemented the requirements for the timing of inspection…

We recently issued an audit report on the New York City (NYC) Department of Social Services’ (DSS) fraud risk management framework, which disclosed that DSS should strengthen controls to prevent, detect, and respond to fraud over its Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act Emergency Solutions Grant (ESG) program funding. This audit builds on that work by determining whether improper payments existe…

The United States Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) Office of Inspector General (OIG) evaluated Jackson Housing Commission’s Chalet Terrace development to determine if conditions are decent, safe, and sanitary. HUD assisted housing units are subject to quality inspection standards. HUD OIG oversight at Chalet Terrace provides a snapshot in time of conditions at the development managed by the public ho…

In our review of selected Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) program activities, we found that HCD generally administered activities using CPD funds in accordance with regulations. However, HCD misclassified one activity with a value of about $33,500. HCD staff did not ensure that the activity was reported under the proper code in HUD’s Integrated Disbursement Information System (IDIS). Misclassification can le…

We audited Huntington Apartments’ management of its multifamily property as part of our annual work plan. The owner of Huntington Apartments manages 204 units in accordance with HUD requirements and its regulatory agreement which includes restrictions on the use of property funds and assets. We selected Huntington Apartments for an audit based on risk indicators, such as surplus cash deficiencies, missed or late mort…

We audited the Buffalo Municipal Housing Authority’s (Authority) management of lead‐based paint in its public housing program based on our assessment of the risks of lead‐based paint in public housing. We selected the Authority based on our assessment of the risks of lead‐based paint in public housing agencies’ (PHA) housing developments, including the age of buildings, the number of units, household demographics, an…

HUD did not comply with PIIA because it reported an unknown payment estimate for PIH-TBRA and MF-PBRA based on data matching but did not perform enough testing to report compliant improper payment and unknown payment estimates for the programs. As a result, HUD could not effectively implement corrective actions and other OMB requirements for programs above the statutory threshold that are designed to improve payment …

The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) Office of Inspector General (OIG) initiated an evaluation in response to a directive from Senate Committee Report 119-47. We evaluated HUD’s Real Estate Assessment Center (REAC) inspection results under the National Standards for the Physical Inspection of Real Estate (NSPIRE) for public housing and Multifamily Housing programs. This memorandum does not conta…

This report provides stakeholders with information on the OIG’s single audit oversight activities between October and December 2025. During this period, we focused our desk reviews on the 51 single audits submitted between April and June 2025 by non-Federal entities for which HUD was the designated Federal cognizant agency. In this report, we summarized key data from the 51 single audit reports and the results of des…

The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) Office of Inspector General (OIG) conducted an evaluation of a selection of multifamily Section 8 Project-Based Rental Assistance (PBRA) property owners and management agencies in New York State. The purpose of this memorandum is to notify HUD of potential EBLLs in HUD-assisted multifamily properties in New York State to ensure that HUD can take timely action…

As part of our mission to safeguard HUD’s programs from fraud, waste, and abuse, and to identify opportunities for HUD programs to progress and succeed, we selected New Jersey for a review of potential improper payments. Our audit objective was to determine whether New Jersey made improper non-Federal match activity payments. We also assessed whether the Office of Community Planning and Development’s Office of Disast…

We audited the U.S Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) National Servicing Center’s (NSC) tracking and collection of FHA partial claims. We initiated the audit to assess HUD’s implementation of the corrective actions from HUD OIG audit report 2016-KC-0001, HUD Did Not Collect an Estimated 1,361 Partial Claims Upon Termination of Their Related Federal Housing Administration (FHA)-Insured Mortgages ; howev…

We audited Solis Gardens Apartments’ management of its HUD-insured Section 207/223(f) multifamily property as part of our annual work plan. The owner of Solis Garden Apartments manages 62 units in accordance with HUD requirements and its regulatory agreement which includes restrictions on the use of project funds and assets. We selected Solis Gardens Apartments for an audit based on risk indicators, such as surplus c…

We identified a significant increase in the amount of funds drawn by HOME Investment Partnerships Program (HOME) and HOME American Rescue Plan (ARP) grantees near the time of the January 2025, hold in Federal funds, which increased the risk that the funds may have been drawn prematurely, without support, or used improperly. Therefore, our audit objective was to identify if HOME and HOME ARP draws made near the time o…

We assessed public housing agencies’ (PHA) management of the occupancy of public housing units. Our audit objective was to (1) assess the occupancy of public housing units, and (2) determine whether HUD had adequate oversight of PHAs’ occupancy, particularly PHAs’ management of vacant units. We found PHAs had occupancy rates below HUD’s optimal level or a high number of long-term vacant units. Further, although HUD m…

We audited the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), Federal Housing Administration (FHA) Claims Without Conveyance of Title (CWCOT) program. We selected this review to assist HUD in recovering improper payments and to reduce the risk of losses to the FHA insurance fund. The objective of our audit was to assess whether HUD is appropriately demanding and collecting improper payments identified for CW…

Our office is currently conducting three audits of crime prevention and eligibility determinations at Public Housing Authorities (PHA) in Washington, DC; Chicago; and Los Angeles. The objective of our audits is to (1) determine whether the Authority complied with HUD’s and its own requirements for verifying eligibility of individuals for HUD-assisted housing based on criminal activity, citizenship, and immigration st…

The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) Office of Inspector General (OIG) conducted an evaluation of the operational effectiveness of information technology (IT) security controls for the HUDUSER system, which is operated by HUD’s Office of Policy Development and Research (PD&R). The OIG identified four significant weaknesses involving website security, underscoring the need to strengthen technical…