A Michigan public housing commission is shot through with conflicts of interests, including two top officials with family members benefiting from the federal program, according to a government watchdog.
“The board president had a relative who participated in the program, and the board vice president was a landlord in the program,” the Department of Housing and Urban Development said in a report made public Tuesday.
The Pontiac, Mich., Housing Commission’s five-member board oversees that city’s federally funded Section 8 voucher.
Besides the top two board members’ conflicts, the HUD IG found that three housing specialists employed by the program had relatives participating in it.
The specialists’ duties include “conducting eligibility interviews, verifying income, performing rent reasonableness determinations, preparing housing assistance payments contracts, updating information, and other duties.”
In addition, the IG said two voucher recipients were relatives of the commission’s quality inspector.
Federal regulations require such conflicts of interest to be disclosed and provides measures, including recusal, to prevent abuses.
The regulations also allow HUD to waive the requirements in some circumstances, but the IG said no waiver requests was submitted by the Pontiac commission.
The Pontiac report is part of a continuing nationwide audit by the HUD IG of how federal housing programs are being administered.
Mark Tapscott is executive editor of the Washington Examiner.
