By Eugene T. Lowe
May 30, 2011

An article appeared in the May 15 edition of The Washington Post, citing supposedly serious problems with the U.S. Housing and Urban Development (HUD) administration of the HOME Investment Partnerships (HOME) program, thereby bringing into question the very integrity of the program. Problems, The Washington Post stated, included HUD “looking the other way” as local housing departments mismanaged HOME funds: “Nearly one in seven projects show signs of significant delay… Checks were cut even when projects were still on the drawing boards, without land, financing or permits to move forward.” These are just some of the accusations made by the newspaper article.

HUD responded to the Post with a point by point rebuttal, saying the newspaper claims are in many respects “… false and misleading and exaggerate the extent of delay or other problems.” HUD said further that it takes “its responsibility as a steward of taxpayer funds very seriously, … and that well before the article appeared, the department had undertaken a range of oversight and remedial actions with respect to local jurisdictions highlighted in the article…”

Several national organizations, including The U.S. Conference of Mayors, responded to the article in a letter sent to the editor of the newspaper. “The letter said, “We are disappointed that the Post’s recent reporting on the program has favored misleading, blanket assertions while ignoring HOME’s twenty-year track record of success providing decent, safe, affordable housing opportunities for millions of low- and moderate-income Americans.” The letter cited some of the major accomplishments of HOME, including the finance of “over one million units of affordable housing.” In addition, “every HOME dollar leverages four additional dollars, with more than $80 billion leveraged over two decades.” The letter concludes by calling on The Washington Post to “seek out and share” HOME success stories from local government public servants “who care deeply about the families and communities they serve.”