Since March 2020, the Legal Services Corporation (LSC) OIG has received approximately 20 hotline complaints involving the outside practice of law or outside employment. Due to the notable increase in complaints, this advisory includes links to past OIG work on outside employment, outside practice of law, and outside employment during remote work. As you know, Part 1604 regulates the outside practice of law by full-time grantee attorneys1 and LSC has provided information related to the inherent risks associated with an employee’s outside employment.

We are issuing the linked Advisory which summarizes common findings and recommendations from Quality Control Reviews of grantee financial statement audits for fiscal years ending 2022 and 2021. We strongly encourage you to use this notice to ensure independent public accounting firms conduct rigorous annual audits that meet applicable standards and Office of Inspector General audit guidance—and to better ensure the audits advance the ultimate aim of promoting program integrity, transparency, and accountability in the expenditure of federal funds.

This Legal Services Corporation (LSC) Office of Inspector General (OIG) advisory highlights (1) common fraud schemes and abusive practices committed by landlords, or individuals posing as landlords (impostor landlords), who are seeking to target current or prospective renters, (2) tips to prevent renter-related fraud, and (3) information on how victims should report fraud. We also cite useful guidance issued by our colleagues in the OIG community with significant expertise in housing and rental fraud.