HUD OIG is auditing HUD’s Office of Housing Counseling. HUD’s 2022-2026 Strategic Plan identified housing counseling as one of the strategies it would employ to achieve its strategic objective to advance sustainable homeownership. Our objective is to assess HUD’s processes for achieving its goal through pre- and post-purchase homeownership counseling, including the assessment of its use of performance metrics and the collection and use of counseling outcome data.

HUD OIG is auditing the Office of Multifamily Housing's monitoring of civil rights compliance.  Fair housing and civil rights are critical in making sure all Americans have equal access to the housing of their choice.  The audit objective is to assess the extent to which HUD's Office of Multifamily Housing monitored civil rights compliance in their program activities. 

HUD OIG is auditing the Office of Asset Sales’ HUD-Held Vacant Loan Sales (HLVS) program, which is another disposition option for defaulted, formerly FHA single-family reverse mortgage loans owned and competitively auctioned by HUD to reduce losses and improve recoveries to FHA’s Mutual Mortgage Insurance Fund. The HLVS 2022-1 sale was held in December 2021 and included 1,605 settled loans with an unpaid loan balance of $398.6 million, with 50% percent of the loans sold to nonprofit organizations.

HUD OIG is auditing a California-based mortgage lender that services FHA single-family loans. Servicers initiate foreclosure when defaulted borrowers cannot or will not resume and complete their mortgage payments. Our objective is to determine whether the servicer (1) established that borrowers were ineligible for loss mitigation assistance before commencing foreclosure, and (2) reviewed requests received during foreclosure before continuing.

HUD OIG is auditing an Oklahoma-based mortgage lender that services FHA single-family loans. Servicers initiate foreclosure when defaulted borrowers cannot or will not resume and complete their mortgage payments. Our objective is to determine whether the servicer (1) established that borrowers were ineligible for loss mitigation assistance before commencing foreclosure, and (2) reviewed requests received during foreclosure before continuing. 

HUD OIG is conducting an audit of HUD's Office of Single Family Housing's oversight of the COVID-19 foreclosure moratorium. Using a moratorium beginning March 18, 2020 through July 31, 2021, Section 4022 of the CARES Act temporarily prohibited foreclosures, with the exception of vacant or abandoned homes. Our audit objective is to determine if servicers followed the requirements of the COVID-19 pandemic foreclosure moratorium.

HUD OIG is auditing the Office of Asset Sales' HUD-Held Vacant Loan Sale (HVLS) program, which is another disposition option for defaulted FHA notes HUD uses to reduce losses and improve recoveries for FHA’s Mutual Mortgage Insurance Fund. In the HLVS 2022-2 part 1 sale, 703 loans were awarded to qualified mission-driven entities, representing $105.1 million in unpaid principal balance. The audit objective is to assess the extent to which HUD has ensured the achievement of its mission objectives for the HVLS 2022-2 part 1 loan sale.

HUD OIG is auditing the Office of Multifamily Housing Programs, which provides insurance on mortgages for multifamily rental housing properties. Between 2020 and 2022, HUD implemented changes to better manage applications after reporting an increase in volume and processing delays, which peaked with more than 500 applications waiting to be assigned for review. Our audit objective is to assess HUD’s efforts to address the processing delays.

HUD OIG is auditing a California-based grantee's Coronavirus, Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act, Emergency Solutions Grants (ESG-CV) program. The CARES Act provided nearly $4 billion in special ESG funds to grantees to prevent, prepare for, and respond to the coronavirus pandemic and supports activities, such as, rapid re-housing, homelessness prevention programs, and emergency shelters for people experiencing homelessness.  Our objective is to assess the grantee's fraud risk framework, that encompasses control activities to prevent, detect, and respond to fraud.

HUD OIG is auditing PIH’s public housing program, which was established to provide decent and safe rental housing for eligible low-income families, the elderly, and persons with disabilities. In 2023, HUD reported that there were approximately 935,000 households living in public housing units each year. The audit objective is to assess the occupancy of public housing units.