WHO ARE WE? We are federal employees who work in the Office
of Inspector General (OIG) and are stationed at HUD Headquarters
in Washington DC.
WHAT DOES THE OIG HOTLINE DO? We take reports of fraud, waste,
abuse, and serious mismanagement in HUD-funded programs and operations
and refer such allegations to OIG investigators and auditors, or
to HUD program officials to ensure that allegations of wrongdoing
are independently addressed.
WHAT DO WE MEAN BY --
FRAUD - individuals, groups, or businesses that are stealing
taxpayers' monies from HUD.
WASTE - individuals, groups, or businesses that are spending
taxpayers' monies in a manner that does not further HUD's mission
and goals.
ABUSE - HUD officials or HUD-funded local officials whose
actions exceed the authority granted to them by HUD policies and
regulations.
SERIOUS MISMANAGEMENT - a significant failure by a HUD program
office or a program office entity that is due to managerial incompetence
or inattention.
HOW DO I CONTACT THE OIG HOTLINE? There are four ways to
contact the OIG Hotline:
You can call us toll-free at - 1-800-347-3735
You can fax us at - (202) 708-4829
You can e-mail us at - hotline@hudoig.gov
You can write us at -
HUD OIG Hotline (GFI)
451 7th Street, SW
Washington, DC 20410
WHY REPORT? All federal employees are required to report
violations of law and Standards of Conduct and danger to public
health and safety. All citizens should feel a moral responsibility
to report violations to assure that taxpayers' monies are well spent.
WILL YOU PROTECT MY IDENTITY? Yes, if you are a federal
employee complainant. On request and at OIG's discretion, this protection
can be extended to non-federal complainants. The identities of confidential
complainants are protected because only OIG personnel know them.
However, the Inspector General Act of 1978 gives us authority to
disclose a confidential complainant's identity in limited situations,
such as where the disclosure of a complainant's identity is unavoidable
in pursuit of an audit or an investigation. This kind of disclosure
is necessary only on an extremely infrequent basis. Of course, an
anonymous complainant is always protected because we do not know
that person's identity. From an OIG point of view, it is more advantageous
for us to know the identity of the complainant in case it is necessary
to interview the complainant or ask follow-up questions.
WHAT DO I NEED TO KNOW WHEN CONTACTING THE OIG? There are
several things to keep in mind when reporting fraud, waste, abuse,
and serious mismanagement. You need to report immediately, while
facts are still fresh in your mind and be prepared to answer the
questions who, what, when, where, why, and how.
· Who was involved? (Names, addresses, phone numbers, if
available)
· What happened? (Summary of events, additional sources of
evidence)
· When did it happen? (Date, time, frequency)
· Where did it happen? (Location, city, state)
· Why was it done? (Estimated loss to the government, gain
to violator)
· How could it happen? (What scheme was used)
The most successful OIG cases are those that include supporting
documentation. Reports that are too vague or cannot be supported
can result in a closed report, without any action taken.
WHAT CAN I EXPECT IF I MAKE A REPORT TO THE OIG HOTLINE?
If we know who you are and we open a case to address your allegations,
you will receive a letter from us that provides you with the number
of the Hotline case that we opened to address your allegations.
We will also advise you at that time that we will notify you when
the case is closed and provide information on how to obtain the
case results under the Freedom of Information Act. IT IS IMPORTANT
FOR YOU TO BE AWARE that the decision on how we proceed with
a Hotline case rests exclusively with us. We will contact you again
only if we need additional information. We cannot provide you with
case status updates or other information while the case review is
in progress. Further, our decision to close a case is final and
there are no appeal rights provided by the Inspector General Act
of 1978.
WHAT HAPPENS IF YOU DO NOT OPEN A CASE BASED ON MY REPORT TO THE OIG HOTLINE?
A vast majority of the reports that we receive in the OIG Hotline do not result in cases because they are program related or administrative matters. In these situations, we will make every attempt to forward the report to the appropriate HUD Office or government agency.
WHAT KINDS OF THINGS DO YOU NOT OPEN CASES ON? The HUD
OIG Hotline is a report intake operation. We are not a customer
service center for HUD and HUD program offices. We do not open cases
on allegations that can be addressed through existing complaint
resolution mechanisms that provide appeal rights and access to the
federal and state court systems. We do not open cases on disputes
that have been or can be addressed through civil proceedings. We
also do not open cases on allegations involving maintenance issues,
landlord-tenant disagreements, income calculations for voucher purposes,
or personnel issues in HUD or HUD-funded programs that can be addressed
under labor-management agreements.