Audit  Audit of the Massachusetts Housing Finance Agency

In accordance with Section 12 of Chapter 11 of the Massachusetts General Laws, the Office of the State Auditor has conducted a performance audit of the Massachusetts Housing Finance Agency (MassHousing) for the period July 1, 2018 through June 30, 2020. In this performance audit, we examined whether MassHousing, before financing loan commitments for affordable housing projects, ensured that 20% of the units in each project were for people and families with low incomes¹ in accordance with Section 5(g)(1) of Chapter 708 of the Acts and Resolves of 1966. We also examined whether MassHousing monitored the management companies responsible for the oversight of the projects it financed to ensure that affordability restrictions were sustained in accordance with its “Asset Management Review Policy.”

Our audit revealed no significant instances of noncompliance by MassHousing that must be reported under generally accepted government auditing standards. However, in the “Other Matters” section of this report, we provide some recommendations to improve internal controls over MassHousing’s asset management review process.

1.    According to Chapter 708 of the Acts and Resolves of 1966, as amended, “‘Low income persons or families’ shall mean those persons and families whose annual income is equal to or less than the maximum amount which would make them eligible for units owned or leased by the housing authority in the city or town in which the project or the residence for which the mortgage loan is sought is located or, in the event that there is no housing authority, that amount which is established as the maximum for eligibility for low-rent units by the [Department of Housing and Community Development].”