The House Financial Services Subcommittee on Housing and Insurance will hold a hearing on a recent HUD Inspector General (IG) report on HUD’s oversight of the Alexander County Housing Authority (ACHA) in Cairo, IL, an agency HUD recently took possession of after years of management issues and deteriorating housing conditions. The hearing will take place on September 25 at 4 pm ET in Room 2128 of the Rayburn House Office Building and will be broadcast live. Acting Deputy HUD Inspector General Jeremy Kirkland will be the sole witness.
The IG report found that HUD could have and should have done more to oversee the administration of ACHA given issues with the housing authority’s governance and operations, including misuse of funds, conflicts of interest, and failure to comply with HUD policies and federal civil rights laws. The report provides HUD’s Office of Public and Indian Housing (PIH) recommendations to improve PIH’s administration and oversight of troubled public housing authorities.
The report also found that, despite HUD’s attempts to bring ACHA into compliance, its efforts did not resolve the deplorable conditions residents experience living in ACHA properties. HUD took possession of ACHA in 2016 and announced in 2017 that it planned to demolish two ACHA communities in Cairo, requiring about 400 residents to move out. The city does not have sufficient housing stock for the displaced families, however, so many will have to move away from the city.
View the live hearing at: https://bit.ly/2DdMwOa
Read the HUD IG report at: https://bit.ly/2PRG3db