OIG Senior Staff Bios
Joan S. Hobbs
Deputy Assistant Inspector General for Audit
Office of Audit
Joan S. Hobbs was appointed as the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) Deputy Assistant Inspector General for Audit in June 2010. The Office of Inspector General’s mission is independent and objective reporting to the Secretary and Congress for the purpose of bringing about positive change in the integrity, efficiency and effectiveness of HUD operations. At HUD OIG, Ms. Hobbs has also held the positions of , Training Officer, Senior Auditor, Acting Human Resource Advisor, and Assistant Regional Inspector General for Audit in Washington DC, and Regional Inspector General for Audit in Los Angeles.
Ms. Hobbs began her federal career in 1977 as an auditor with the US Army Audit Agency, Redwood City, CA office. She also held increasingly responsible positions at the Pentagon, Frankfurt Germany, Sacramento, CA, and Washington DC. Ms. Hobbs left Army Audit Agency in 1991 and came to work for HUD OIG.
As the Deputy Assistant Inspector General for Audit, Ms. Hobbs heads the Office of Special Operations, an independent organization responsible for civil fraud reviews, disaster recovery audits, and field technical support operations. She works to prevent and detect fraud and abuse in HUD programs as the fraud relates to a civil prosecutable offense. Her civil prosecutions, especially in the Federal Housing Administration (FHA) program, can bring money back to HUD to replenish the FHA insurance fund when fraud has been committed. She has provided civil fraud training to all HUD OIG auditors so they can detect and report all civil fraud found during the course of a normal audit. Ms. Hobbs also oversees the audits performed wherever disaster recovery funds have been awarded and spent, such as the funds provided to aid and rebuild after the 911 and Hurricane Katrina disasters. Finally, Ms. Hobbs is responsible for the computer audit specialists and statistician providing support to the auditors in the field. These individuals assist in the development of the sampling plan and aid in the preparation of the sample to be reviewed in audits conducted of large databases.
Ms. Hobbs is a Certified Fraud Examiner and Certified Government Financial Manager. She received her Bachelor of Science degree in Accounting from Woodbury University in Los Angeles, California in 1976. She is a member of the Association of Certified Fraud Examiners, the Association of Government Accountants, the Institute of Internal Auditors, and the Association of Inspectors General.