HUD OIG: Homebuyer Assistance helped families, but does not guarantee equity in the award

On March 19, 2024, the HUD Office of Inspector General publishes audit report 2024-FW-1003 on the Homebuyer Assistance Program (HBA) of the Puerto Rico Housing Finance Authority (PRHFA), a subrecipient of the Department of Housing (PRDOH). The program offers closing and down-payment help for a primary home with CDBG-DR funds after Irma and María. The HBA budget during the reviewed period was 495 million dollars: 344.7 million for low- and moderate-income households and 150.3 million for urgent need. In DRGR as of July 13, 2023, HUD records 489.0 million allocated and 238.2 million disbursed. Allocated is not disbursed. Disbursed is not theft.

The OIG interviewed a statistical sample of 67 of 4,170 cases closed between July 1, 2020, and November 30, 2022. It projects that 74 percent would not have been able to buy without HBA and that 87 percent stayed in Puerto Rico because they now have a stable home. As of July 21, 2023, the program’s public dashboard reported more than 6,700 families assisted. Guidelines in force in the period set a cap of up to 45,000 dollars for LMI or urgent need and 55,000 for households with a Critical Recovery Workforce member, plus 5,000 if the house is in a designated urban center. A five-year lien is forgiven if the household remains as primary residence.

The central finding: PRHFA could not show how it calculated the award in any of the 67 cases. It ceded calculation of the amount to the lending institutions. Two CRW participants with similar profiles received 55,000 and 8,500 dollars. One LMI case with more than 188,000 dollars in cash received the 45,000 maximum. The guidelines, says the OIG, were vague and open to interpretation. It recommends verifiable criteria, documenting income and award in the SSP, and training lenders. A recommendation is not a conviction. Inequity in the calculation is not a bill of indictment.

PRDOH could not reliably measure HBA’s effect on the island’s home-ownership rate because it used Census and OCIF, influenced by many factors outside the program. The OIG asks that the action plan and guidelines be updated to reflect the real measurement method and the number of people served. This note does not rewrite a Slow Spender from another CDBG grant nor mix in the electric pot. What remains is a 495 million budget, 238.2 million disbursed as of the July 2023 cut, more than 6,700 families, and a no to inventing a verdict. A reader who wants 2024-FW-1003 has the HUD OIG PDF at the foot. This is not original reporting.

Fuente: HUD Office of Inspector General. https://hudoig.gov/sites/default/files/2024-03/2024-fw-1003_508.pdf