The Government Accountability Office (GAO) recently released a report claiming that HUD’s oversight of public housing authorities (PHAs) could be more focused on identifying potential inappropriate use or mismanagement of public housing funds. GAO analyzed financial data from the housing agencies and found many that showed indicators of potential inappropriate use and mismanagement of public housing funds. The report further recommends that HUD:
- regularly summarize and evaluate the results of audits of public housing agencies to identify common problems, monitor emerging issues, and evaluate overall monitoring and oversight processes; and
- develop mechanisms””such as financial indicators””and use them as part of its ongoing monitoring and review of housing agencies’ use of public housing funds.
