The Housing Authority of Fulton County will probably face “sanctions and financial penalties” for multiple failures, including late payment of Section 8 rent subsidies for about 1,300 tenants, according to a July 10 letter from William Biggs, acting director of HUD’s Atlanta field office for public housing.
HUD has also recommended that the housing authority find a third-party to administer its Section 8 vouchers.
“We anticipate HAFC will soon be designated as a troubled agency, and required to undergo our troubled property protocols to include: on-site independent assessment, determination of root causes of the noncompliance, and a required recovery agreement with specific HUD conditions to avoid a substantial default and likely administrative actions which could include a HUD receivership,” he wrote to housing authority board chair Antavius Weems and all Fulton County commissioners.
In reaction, the county asked housing authority board members to resign, seeking to replace them all.
HUD cited inexperienced executives and staff, staffing shortages, a long list of financial lapses, communication failures, raucous board meetings and allegations of multiple law violations: illegal decisions, lack of notice, defiance of Open Records laws.
The recommendation is to hire a third party to manage housing authority programs in light of the “emergency conditions.” HUD suggested the Atlanta Housing Authority and three independent consultants as options, and asked for a decision before July 31.
In response, the remnants of the housing authority board on Tuesday released a statement blaming their staff.
Only two holdouts remain on the board: Weems and vice chair Lamar White, according to Earnestine Pittman, one of the departing board members and former mayor of East Point.
Pittman, just appointed to the board after the January removal of board member Ronnie Shakir, said Commission Chair Robb Pitts asked all board members to step down after the July 10 county commission meeting. She and board member Barbara Duffy sent in their resignation letters; Stuart Canzeri, the other member still listed on the housing authority website, had already resigned, Pittman said.
“Weems and White refused to resign,” she said.
Pitts confirmed Tuesday that there were two holdouts, and said he is looking at the county’s options should their refusal continue. Fulton County has no direct management of housing authority operations but failures there can tarnish the county name, he said.
“That situation has gotten out of hand,” Pitts said, adding there are not yet any replacement candidates.
Weems, an attorney, has not responded to several requests for comment. On Tuesday his law office referred questions to the public relations firm that issued a statement on behalf of the housing authority. The housing authority itself has not responded to an Atlanta Journal-Constitution request under the Georgia Open Records Act. The public relations firm did not immediately respond either.
“The Board has taken immediate action to work closely with HUD as it pertains to addressing any gaps, hire an experienced Executive Director and put in place new measures for staff-to-board reporting structure to maintain full transparency,” the statement says.
Meanwhile, for the second month in a row the housing authority failed to send out more than $1 million in Housing Choice Voucher, or Section 8, rent payments on time to landlords, according to Lolita Anderson, owner of property management firm LA Properties & Consulting. That unprecedented lapse leaves about 1,300 tenants in limbo, she said.
Payments usually come by the fifth of the month, but June’s payment arrived three weeks late, without any explanation, and without the required late fees, Anderson said.
It happened again in July, with “radio silence” from the housing authority to landlords, she said.
When HUD inspectors came in person after the housing authority failed to submit its annual Housing Choice Voucher certification, authority executives said they had “no staff, disorganized files, and no access to HAFC systems,” according to the HUD letter. They also acknowledged lacking public housing experience, which will only worsen the late-rent fiasco and will likely make some people lose housing, HUD wrote.
“The current leadership team explained there were no procedures in place, and they are starting from ground zero,” the letter says.
Staff couldn’t provide any of the documents HUD requested and Weems told HUD the authority did not have an accountant or an independent auditor, according to the letter.
County Commissioner Bob Ellis said he doesn’t know how the housing authority board, which now lacks a quorum, could legally hire more staff or investigators. HUD told county commissioners their best course is to “reset” the whole board, he said.
Editor’s note: This story has been modified to correct Earnestine Pittman’s name.
