Office of Inspector General

The Housing and Economic Reform Act of 2008 (HERA) amended the Federal Housing Enterprises Financial Safety and Soundness Act of 1992 and the Inspector General Act to specify that there shall be established within the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) an Office of Inspector General. The Inspector General Act authorizes only the Inspector General to select and appoint and employ staff to carry out the functions and process of the Office of the Inspector General. Further, the law requires that the Inspector General shall be appointed by the President with the advice and consent of the Senate.

These laws govern the FHFA and its Inspector General office and functions. Therefore, FHFA may not appoint staff to assume the formal function and duties of the FHFA Inspector General.

In view of these requirements, which were clarified with the Department of Justice, FHFA’s Acting Director asked Ed Kelley, the former Inspector General for the Federal Housing Finance Board, to undertake certain audit activities for FHFA, including some projects already underway by him. This step has been taken consistent with the statutory authorities assigned the FHFA Director. In this role, Mr. Kelley’s title is Associate Director for Internal Audit and he reports directly to the Office of the Director.

Until FHFA has an Office of Inspector General, employees or others who wish to report a violation of any law, rule or regulation, gross mismanagement, a gross waste of funds, an abuse of authority, or substantial and specific danger to public safety or complaints regarding the programs and operations of the agency may make a report or complaint to FHFA’s Office of Internal Audit at 202-408-2544. Alternatively, staff may contact the Office of General Counsel at 202-414-6924. Those reports or complaints may also be referred to the U.S. Office of Special Counsel at 202-254-3640 or 1-800-872-9855. For more information go to www.osc.gov.