HUD’s Investigation into Ineligible Aid Payments in Minnesota
WASHINGTON – An investigation into the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) has revealed that over $84 million may have been improperly paid to Minnesota during the last year of former President Joe Biden’s administration. This irregularity reportedly includes payments made to more than 500 individuals who have passed away, according to documents reviewed by officials.
The focus of the inquiry is on billions of dollars directed towards housing assistance under the Biden administration, uncovering $84.6 million in potential mispayments for the fiscal year 2024.
Among these payments, nearly $496,000 was allocated for support to 509 deceased residents. Additionally, around $246,000 was given to 20 individuals whose Social Security numbers couldn’t be validated, raising suspicions that they might not be U.S. citizens.
Scott Turner, Secretary, expressed concern over this situation, stating, “Biden’s HUD has failed Minnesotans by paying for the dead while leaving vulnerable families behind.”
This scrutiny of HUD comes amid claims of widespread fraud totaling billions of dollars during the tenure of Democratic Governor Tim Walz, who recently stepped back from pursuing a third term amid this ongoing controversy.
A preliminary audit indicated that funds were distributed to 61 housing authorities in Minnesota, yet it was unable to conclusively prove any instances of fraud.
Earlier, reports indicated that “suspicious” rent assistance payments, reaching a total of $5.8 billion nationwide, included around 30,000 payments to deceased tenants alongside concerns about many noncitizens receiving assistance.
Roughly 11% of the funding from these programs acquired was shared with what seemed to be over 200,000 potentially unqualified tenants. Notably, 29,715 were identified as likely deceased, while 9,472 were reported as noncitizens. An overwhelming majority of 165,393 received amounts surpassing the financial criteria set for their regions.
Significant distributions occurred particularly in housing authorities situated in New York, California, and Washington, D.C.
Turner criticized the situation as a major misuse of taxpayer funds, noting that instances of “dead recipients” were detected across all 50 states.
In total, HUD spent $49 billion on over 4 million households, with $33 billion allocated to the Tenant-Based Rental Assistance (TBRA) and an additional $16 billion in the Project-Based Rental Assistance (PBRA) program.
Past audits conducted by HUD’s Office of Inspector General have noted a lack of robust fraud prevention measures, attributing some faults to both the department and state-level responses.
Both PBRA and TBRA officials were shown to have neglected proper assessments of fraud risks, highlighting a lack of a clear process for reporting suspicious activities.
As the fiscal year 2024 proceeds from October 1, 2023, to September 30, 2024, HUD’s Office of the Chief Financial Officer is supervising this taxpayer funding review.
Former HUD Secretary Marcia Fudge and Deputy Secretary Adrian Todman have not responded to prior inquiries about these allegations of improper payments. Likewise, the Minnesota Housing Finance Agency has also not provided comments.
