Idabel Housing Authority Bought Property Without HUD Approval

In accordance with its regional plan to review public housing programs, HUD reviewed the Housing Authority of the City of Idabel, Okla.

The auditors found that, in violation of its contract with HUD, in April 2003, the authority, through its instrumentality, Community Frameworks, purchased Sunnybrook, a non-public-housing property, without HUD approval. The authority inappropriately used more than $180,000 in HUD funds to subsidize Sunnybrook’s costs. The purchase, management, and unsupported use of HUD funds negatively affected the quality of the authority’s public housing units. Further, the units at Sunnybrook were not well maintained. These conditions occurred because the authority chose to ignore the requirements of the contract and didn’t have the controls that it needed to operate its public housing programs in accordance with HUD requirements.

The auditors recommended that HUD perform inspections of all of the authority’s public housing units and ensure that the authority makes all needed repairs, particularly those that are emergency health and safety violations. Also, they recommended that HUD provide technical assistance to the authority on compliance with its contract, including proper allocation of costs and maintenance of its public housing units. Further, the auditors recommended that HUD require the authority to dissolve itself from its non-public-housing units and support or repay its public housing program $180,379 spent on unsupported activities.

• HUD Audit Report 2013-FW-1802: Housing Authority of the City of Idabel, Okla. (6/21/13)