WASHINGTON DC— Today, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) Office of Inspector General (OIG) released a report examining the Boston Housing Authority’s (Authority) compliance with HUD and local requirements for maintaining Public Housing units in decent, safe, sanitary, conditions and in good repair.

The audit found that the Authority’s units and buildings were not consistently maintained in accordance with HUD’s and the Authority’s requirements. For example, our inspections identified eighty-six percent of the 36 public housing units reviewed had deficiencies, and almost one third of the units with deficiencies had “life-threatening” deficiencies that needed to be corrected within 24 hours. That included missing or inoperable smoke and carbon monoxide detectors, electrical hazards, security hazards, and blocked egress.

The Authority did not consistently correct life-threatening and non-life-threatening health and safety deficiencies in a timely manner. For example, nearly 42 percent of the 72 life-threatening deficiencies reviewed that were identified during HUD’s and the Authority’s own inspections were corrected after HUD’s 24-hour requirement. The audit also found the Authority needed to improve its own oversight of its public housing inspection process. Notably, the Authority must ensure that inspectors thoroughly inspect units and address work order backlogs due to inadequate staffing.

As a result of the Authority not ensuring its inspectors thoroughly inspected units and buildings and the Authority’s lack of staffing resources to correct deficiencies in a timely manner, families residing in public housing units resided in conditions that were not decent, safe, sanitary, and in good repair.
“HUD relies on public housing agencies to ensure that public housing units funded by HUD are decent, safe, and sanitary. We appreciate the steps the Boston Housing Authority is making to improve compliance with HUD health and safety regulations.” said HUD Acting Inspector General Stephen M. Begg.
HUD’s public housing program was established to provide decent and safe rental housing for eligible low-income families, the elderly, and persons with disabilities. HUD administers Federal aid to public housing agencies that manage the housing for low-income residents at rents they can afford. HUD housing must be decent, safe, sanitary, and in good repair. As of October 2023, the Authority oversaw nearly 8,000 Federal public housing units in 38 developments owned by the Authority and 19 mixed-finance developments.

Anyone with knowledge of potential fraud, waste, abuse, misconduct, or mismanagement related to HUD programs should contact the HUD OIG Hotline at 1-800-347-3735 or visit, https://www.hudoig.gov/hotline. For media inquiries, contact us at [email protected].