Reports

HUD OIG is conducting a review of a nationwide mortgage servicing company that provides servicing and origination for FHA loans. In the summer of 2021, FHA introduced new recovery loss mitigation options for borrowers exiting forbearance, which will provide a path to deep and sustained recovery for borrowers who were significantly impacted by the pandemic by reinstating their loans from a delinquent to current status. Our objective is to determine if the servicer provided all available options to borrowers with FHA insured loans to help them stay in their homes after the COVID-19 forbearance ended.

HUD OIG is conducting an audit of COVID-19 loss mitigation. In the summer of 2021, FHA introduced new recovery loss mitigation options for borrowers exiting forbearance, which will provide a path to deep and sustained recovery for borrowers who were significantly impacted by the pandemic by reinstating their loans from a delinquent to current status. Our audit objective is to determine if delinquent borrowers of FHA-insured loans received all available options to stay in their homes after forbearance ended.

The Short-Time Compensation (STC) program acts as a work share program, with employers reducing the number of hours offered to employees and the state making up the difference in the form of benefit payments. Our focus will be to determine if Department of Labor ensured states met the STC program requirements and used the related funds in accordance with provisions under the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act, the Continued Assistance Act, and the America Rescue Plan Act for the period of March 27, 2020 to September 6, 2021.

In March 2020, the COVID-19 pandemic caused many of ETA’s job training programs to cease operation. This interrupted participants’ job training, hence potentially preventing them from completing their training and getting a job in the areas they were trained. This audit will assess the impact of the pandemic on ETA’s job training programs by reviewing which and how many job training programs were interrupted and how ETA was able to resume training and ensure participants completed training programs they had started prior to the pandemic.
 

HUD OIG is conducting an audit to assess HUD’s overall fraud risk management program, and to identify fraud risks for funds that HUD received from the Coronavirus Aid Recovery and Economic Stability Act and American Rescue Plan Act. Our objectives are to 1) assess HUD’s progress in implementing a fraud risk management framework, at the enterprise and program office levels, that encompasses control activities to prevent, detect, and respond to fraud; and 2) develop an inventory of fraud risks that HUD has not already identified for the funds appropriated by the CARES and ARP Acts for the Tenant-Based Rental Assistance, Project-Based Rental Assistance, HOME Investment Partnerships, and Public Housing Operating Fund program.

The Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA) works to prevent death, illness, and injury from mining and promote safe and healthful workplaces for US miners. The Federal Mine Safety and Health Act of 1977 requires MSHA to  inspect each underground mine in its entirety four times a year and each surface mine in its entirety two times a year. These are called regular mandatory health and safety inspections. In 2021, MSHA’s data showed approximately 12,500 mines requiring an inspection while MSHA's inspection data showed it conducted around 18,500 inspections per year. This project will audit how the COVID-19 pandemic impacted MSHA's ability to complete mandatory safety and health inspections.
 

DOL and states found themselves unprepared for the overwhelming circumstances surrounding the COVID-19 pandemic and struggled to implement CARES Act UI Programs and Continue Assistance Act which added the Mixed Earners Unemployment Compensation (MEUC) program. MEUC is a new temporary, federal program that provides an extra unemployment income to self-employed individuals. As unprecedented levels of unemployment resulted in millions of jobless Americans applying for unemployment benefits during the pandemic this also led to states reporting an inability to process claims, complete required reporting, or perform required overpayment detection procedures due to an inability to hire sufficient levels of staffing. The objective of this audit is to determine how states implemented the MEUC program.

In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Federal Reserve System established the MSLP—composed of five different lending facilities—to facilitate lending to small and medium-sized for-profit and nonprofit organizations. Through the MSLP, the Federal Reserve Bank of Boston (FRB Boston) purchased 1,830 loans amounting to approximately $17.5 billion from lenders; the majority of these loans were purchased during the last 2 months of the program. Following the purchase of the loans, FRB Boston is now responsible for administering the loans, including assessing overall credit risk and identifying substandard loans. FRB Boston leveraged third-party vendors to support both loan purchases and loan administration. We plan to assess the MSLP’s processes for loan purchases and loan administration, including the design, implementation, and operating effectiveness of internal controls.

As part of its emergency lending program, FRB New York operated six emergency lending facilities, five of which were supported by multiple vendor contracts. FRB New York awarded some of its emergency lending program–related contracts noncompetitively because of the exigent circumstances, and other contracts pose potential conflict-of-interest risks to the System. FRB New York’s reliance on vendors highlights the importance of its monitoring of vendor performance. We plan to assess the Board’s and FRB New York’s processes related to vendor selection and management for FRB New York’s emergency lending programs.

HUD OIG is reviewing HUD’s Office of Community Planning and Development’s (CPD) HUD’s Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act, Community Development Block Grants (CDBG-CV) program.  The CARES Act provided $4.9 billion in CCDBG-CV funds to be used to prevent, prepare for, and respond to coronavirus.  Our objective is to determine what challenges grantees faced in obligating and spending their allocated CDBG-CV funds for activities that prepare for, prevent, or respond to COVID-19 and its impact.