HUD vows now to improve oversight: MSHA needs to do more

COUNTY — Maine State Housing Authority (MSHA) will be held accountable for federally subsidized substandard housing conditions in Oxford County, according to the head of the federal Housing and Urban Development (HUD) department, Monday.

HUD became actively involved after Senator Susan Collins requested a federal inspection of the issue.

Shaun Donovan, the Secretary for Housing and Urban Development, vowed to improve federal oversight of public housing authorities such as MSHA.

Donovan wrote a letter to Senator Susan Collins, who had urged HUD to investigate the conditions that allowed deplorable rental housing units to be subsidized by HUD's Section 8 program.

"I understand that MSHA itself has taken a number of corrections concerning the problems in Oxford County," he wrote. " ... HUD has determined, however, that these steps alone are insufficient."

On January 10, Robert Cwieka, the acting director of HUD's Boston Hub, wrote to Dale McCormick, executive director, MSHA, about a "shocking expose in the Norway Advertiser Democrat" on poor living conditions in units in the Section 8 program.

In the months following the expose, MSHA conducted an internal audit of the problem, and generated a long list of system overhauls designed to ensure that inspectors received more training and oversight, among other improvements.

Corrective action

Cwieka said that it was not yet clear that MSHA has done all it needs to do.

"As the funding agency, HUD was outraged that federal funds were spent that allowed subsidized tenants to live in substandard conditions," he wrote.

As a result, MSHA is now required to submit a Corrective Action Plan (CAP), along with a timetable for implementation, to HUD to prove that it can properly administer federal funds.

"After MSHA implementation of the plan, we will follow up through our regional office to determine and verify improvements," wrote Donovan.

According to HUD guidelines on Section 8 assessments, CAPs are developed by public housing authorities to address Section 8 program deficiencies, and reviewed by HUD administrators. 

Before approving a CAP, HUD administrators "should consider the nature and extent of the program and indicator failures identified during the on-site review, and whether the action items ... will result in a satisfactory performance rating."

If MSHA were to fail to correct problems, HUD can enforce the CAP by transferring the Section 8 program to another public housing authority.

New oversights

Many of the problems in Norway came about as a result of failures in the housing inspection process. Avesta Housing, which administers the program locally as a subcontractor of MSHA,  fired Kay Hawkins, the Oxford County inspector who had passed deplorable apartments. Still, questions remained about why spot-checking of Hawkins' work hadn't caught the problem sooner.

Donovan said that a new initiative will allow for a dramatically-improved inspection system.

Called the Next Generation Voucher Management System (NGVMS), the system will come with automated controls that will allow for instant transmission of photos and data from apartments to supervisors.

It will also allow inspectors to cite landlords for problems while on site during an inspection.

Under this system, anomalous data or inadequate living conditions can be identified and corrected in a more timely manner.

Donovan wrote that HUD is also working to devise sanctions against housing authorities that "demonstrate consistent inability to comply with program rules." In these cases, money would be taken from the housing authority and given instead to a different agency. 

Donovan also wrote to Collins that funding levels are an issue. Collins sits on the Appropriations Committee and is the ranking member of that body's subcommittee with jurisdiction over HUD funding levels.