HUD Inspector General David Montoya was the sole witness at a House Financial Services Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations hearing on September 10. His testimony focused primarily on the most recent report issued by the Office of the Inspector General (OIG), which covers the period between April 1, 2012 and March 31, 2013.During a round of questioning, Representative Al Green (D-TX) raised concerns about recent reductions in HUD staff and the consequences of understaffing. In some cases, “HUD’s own staff can’t oversee contractors and it’s more expensive than having their own staff,” Mr. Montoya testified. He said localities also should take responsibility for proper program oversight. In response to a question about HUD’s financial management systems, Mr. Montoya said the current IT infrastructure is insufficient to allow for an integrated financial management system; until the infrastructure is brought to scale, OIG and HUD must conduct reviews manually. “HUD’s current IT environment has not effectively supported its business operations because its systems are overlapping and duplicative, not integrated, necessitate manual workloads, and employ antiquated technologies that are costly to maintain,” Mr. Montoya testified. Subcommittee Vice Chair Michael Fitzpatrick (R-PA) referenced many “unfortunate headlines” in 2005 about emergency housing funds that were dispatched to address needs related to Hurricanes Katrina and Rita, but wound up subject to waste and fraud. He asked whether HUD has specific controls in place to ensure that funds dispatched in the aftermath of Super Storm Sandy were spent in areas most affected by the storm. Mr. Montoya replied that OIG is coordinating with other IGs and local authorities as a “force multiplier” to ensure proper oversight. At the same time, “with this amount of money, we should at some point expect some fraud,” he said. Representative Carolyn Maloney (D-NY) asked about key lessons drawn from the audit. Mr. Montoya said the audit identified approximately $2 billion not yet budgeted from disaster Community Development Block Grant funds intended to help with the Gulf Coast recovery. In response to a question from Representative Ann Wagner (R-MO), Mr. Montoya said waste in the single family mortgage program has declined by $15 billion. Mr. Montoya expressed concerns with data sharing across different agencies, and characterized the process to establish a data sharing agreement as cumbersome. He asked Congress to help make data sharing among IGs easier; he noted that the Council of Inspectors General has recommended revised legislative language to the Office of Management and Budget.Representative Denny Heck (R-NV) initiated a round of questioning about the HUD-VASH program, noting that his district is home to the third largest military installation in the nation. He said HUD and the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) both have jurisdiction over the program, and asked how Mr. Montoya and his VA counterpart work to ensure the program serves its intended recipients. Mr. Montoya said a review of the program will begin in November 2013; it is slated to be completed prior to April 2014. Inspectors general at agencies with jurisdiction over housing programs—HUD, the Federal Housing Finance Agency, VA, and Department of Agriculture—have established a work group that examines the HUD-VASH program, among others.Access the hearing webcast and witness testimony: http://1.usa.gov/1eLOUWT