California Housing Agency’s Grant Program Vulnerable to Fraud, Audit Says

More than $319 million in federal funding—allocated to the department following the pandemic—was put at risk, according to the report.

Construction workers raise wood framing as they build homes in Richmond, Calif., June 26, 2006. Justin Sullivan/Getty Images

Inadequate fraud-prevention policies at California’s housing department put millions of dollars in federal funding at risk, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s Office of Inspector General (HUD OIG) said in an Aug. 2 audit report.

“[The department’s] internal control system was vulnerable with respect to fraud,” the inspector general wrote in the report on California’s Housing and Community Development Department (HCD).