HUD OIG: FHA Insured $1.9 Billion in Loans to Borrowers Barred by…

The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), Office of Inspector General audited Federal Housing Administration (FHA)-insured loans from calendar year 2016. Our audit objective was to determine whether FHA insured loans to borrowers with delinquent Federal debt or who were subject to Federal administrative offset for delinquent child support.

FHA insured an estimated 9,507 loans worth $1.9 billion, which were not eligible for insurance because they were made to borrowers with delinquent Federal debt or who were subject to Federal administrative offset for delinquent child support.

We recommend that FHA put $1.9 billion to better use by developing a method for using the Do Not Pay portal to identify delinquent child support and delinquent Federal debt to prevent future FHA loans to ineligible borrowers. We also recommend that FHA revise the single-family handbook to comply with the regulation that prevents loans to borrowers with delinquent child support subject to Federal offset and schedule the timely renewal of data-sharing agreements to prevent data loss in the Credit Alert Interactive Voice Response System (CAIVRS) or discontinue use of CAIVRS if the information duplicates the information available in the Do Not Pay portal.