(The Center Square) \u2013 The Trump administration says it will crack down on housing assistance fraud after a report from the Department of Housing and Human Development flagged billions in potentially fraudulent payments made since fiscal year 2024.<\/p>\n
\u201cA massive abuse of taxpayer dollars not only occurred under President Biden\u2019s watch, but was effectively incentivized by his administration\u2019s failure to implement strong financial controls resulting in billions\u2019 worth of potential improper payments,\u201d HUD Secretary Scott Turner stated in a Monday press release.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cHUD will continue investigating the shocking results and will take appropriate action to hold bad actors accountable,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n
Out of its $70 billion budget, HUD made nearly $5.8 billion in \u201cquestionable\u201d payments, HUD\u2019s analysis<\/a> found.\u00a0<\/p>\n About $1.5 billion of that sum was uncovered in the Tenant Based Rental Assistance program, while $4.3 billion was allocated through the Project Based Rental Assistance \u2014 meaning that potentially fraudulent payments made up over 25% of PBRA spending.\u00a0<\/p>\n Additionally, after evaluating four million tenant records, more than 200,000 tenants had “eligibility issues.\u201d About $150 million went to 9,472 tenants who had non-conforming Social Security numbers.<\/p>\n Roughly $77 million went to 30,000 deceased tenants, who remained actively enrolled in rental assistance programs or received assistance after they died.\u00a0<\/p>\n Irving Dennis, HUD\u2019s Principal Deputy Chief Financial Officer, wrote in the report that he noticed \u201ca deterioration in HUD\u2019s internal controls and governance under the Biden administration.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cThis review revealed a decline in internal controls, poor record keeping, instances where individuals may have exceeded their authority or had conflicting roles, and the removal of an effective governance structure for oversight,\u201d Dennis said.<\/p>\n Although the second Trump administration has made federal spending transparency one of its major focuses, it has also signed off to massive deficit-increasing legislation like the One Big Beautiful Bill Act<\/a>.<\/p>\n