The Office of Inspector (OIG) conducted a follow-up inspection of the Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) leasing program after the U.S. General Services Administration (GSA) found that the Bureau had not followed GSA's leasing requirements.
OIG sampled 14 BIA leases identified in the GSA report and found issues with all of them. These issues resulted from noncompliance with GSA guidelines to insufficient BIA guidance and inadequate training. We found leases extended without GSA approval, leases exceeding GSA square footage limits, leases established by individuals without qualifications to do so, and contracting officers who did not follow guidelines. BIA's inability to accurately report all lease data back to GSA also made it impossible for GSA to analyze post-lease performance data for the BIA leases we reviewed. BIA expended more than $32 million for leases that exceeded GSA space limits and leasing requirements.
We made three recommendations to BIA to improve oversight of their leases and leasing process.