HUD Report

The DuPage Housing Authority had another federal audit come back this week, this one possibly the most unflattering picture yet of the beleaguered low-income assistance agency.

The latest U.S. Housing and Urban Development assessment of the authority’s books proves no less damning than the two that recently came to light, triggering a call for increased oversight muscle at the county level.

The last of three audits completed by the federal agency, issued Wednesday, found continued mishandling by the DHA of the federal Section 8 voucher program through fiscal 2010.

Early last month, federal authoriites notified Page County officials who oversee the housing assistance organization of two reviews done in the past two years that uncovered numerous instances of poor bookkeeping and insufficient documention that, at that point, had accrued some $10.7 million in undue payments to a variety of entities that allocate the funds.

The third audit similarly concluded that the agency neglected to keep up records demonstrating the its projects were eligible to participate in the housing-subsidy program, charged the program’s patrons improper sums, and misspent some of the program money on purchases that are not permitted, including cocktails and holiday gifts and laptop computers for DHA board members.