Reports

We prepared this memorandum to provide the Office of Housing at the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) with key considerations from prior audits of the HUD Single Family Default Monitoring System (SFDMS) and the partial claim loss mitigation option. These audits identified HUD’s lack of effective controls to ensure that lenders reported default information accurately and in a timely manner, lenders promptly filed and reported partial claims, and partial claims fully reinstated delinquent loans. Prior audits also identified that the current design of partial claims results...

We audited the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s (HUD) response to COVID-19 to determine if it appropriately, effectively, and efficiently tracked, monitored, and issued Federal Housing Administration (FHA) refunds owed to homeowners with terminated loans. During our field work, the Coronavirus 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic began and as a result, we developed a second, more urgent audit objective to determine how COVID-19 has affected policies, procedures, and distribution of FHA refunds and whether HUD’s response was appropriate. We determined that COVID-19 generally did not...

We conducted this limited review to identify the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s (HUD) Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act (CARES Act) drawdown levels for the initial round of Emergency Solutions Grants (ESG) funding. In addition, we researched information published by grantees on how they have used and will use their funds. Our objective was to highlight the grantees’ (1) drawdown levels for the initial round of ESG CARES Act funding and (2) published information on how the funds have and will be used. Our review determined that as of July 1, 2020, the ESG...

As part of the Office of Inspector General’s (OIG) effort to provide oversight of the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s (HUD) relief efforts provided by the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act (CARES Act), we reviewed HUD’s responses to inquiries regarding forbearance and foreclosure relief. The objective of our review was to evaluate the accuracy of HUD’s responses to inquiries from borrowers, industry partners, and the general public regarding forbearance and foreclosure relief provided by the CARES Act. We found that HUD could improve its customer service to...

OIG issued this 2020 Census Alert due to our concerns—about the Census Bureau’s (Bureau’s) inconsistent implementation of safety procedures to prevent the spread of coronavirus 2019 (COVID-19) as it completed its 2020 Census operations—that required immediate attention. Based on the number and consistency of COVID-19-related OIG hotline complaints that we received, we were concerned that the Bureau was not fully complying with key elements of its own COVID-19 safety requirements—or operating fully in line with recommended guidance provided by the Department of Commerce (the Department), the U...