InfoBytes Blog
HUD Issues Restated Consolidated Financial Statements for 2016 and 2015 Correcting $520 Billion in Errors
On March 1, HUD-OIG issued an Independent Auditor's Report (Auditor’s Report) (2017-FO-0005) on HUD’s fiscal years 2016 and 2015 (Restated) consolidated financial statements. The Auditor’s Report—issued in accordance with the Chief Financial Officers Act of 1990—revealed, among other things, eleven “material weaknesses,” seven “significant deficiencies,” and five “instances of noncompliance” with applicable laws and regulations. Each of these findings related to what the auditor described as HUD’s “inability to establish a compliant control environment, implement adequate financial accounting systems, retain key financial staff, and identify appropriate accounting principles and policies.” The dollar amount of errors corrected in HUD’s 2016 and 2015 notes and consolidated financial statements were $516.4 billion and $3.4 billion, respectively. The Auditor’s Report further noted that there were several “unresolved audit matters,” which “restricted [the auditor’s] ability to obtain sufficient, appropriate evidence to express an opinion. Based on these observed issues, the Auditor’s Report recommended, among other things, that HUD (i) reassess its current consolidated financial statement and notes review process to ensure that sufficient internal controls are in place to prevent and detect errors; (ii) evaluate the current content of HUD’s consolidated note disclosures to ensure compliance with regulations and GAAP; and (iii) develop a plan to ensure that restatements are properly reflected in all notes impacted.
Testimony before the House Subcommittee on Transportation, Housing and Urban Development. On March 16, shortly after the Restated Financial Statements and Auditor’s Report were released, David A. Montoya, Inspector General of HUD, testified before the House Subcommittee on Transportation, Housing and Urban Development, and Related Agencies concerning, among other things, “HUD’s inability to maintain an effective financial management governance structure, which [the OIG has] reported on for the last 3 years and which contributed to [the OIG’s] issuing disclaimers of opinion as part of [their] annual audits of HUD’s financial statements.”
- A link to an archived webcast of Hearing can be accessed here.
- A copy of the Inspector General’s Testimony before the House Subcommittee on Transportation, Housing and Urban Development can be accessed here.
A copy of the Inspector General’s October 2016 Statement Summarizing the Major Management and Performance Challenges Facing HUD for Fiscal Year 2017 and Beyond can be found here.