Homes in Santa Fe, New Mexico, Not Rehabilitated in Accordance with Federal Regulations

A review of complaints on 151 of the 297 homes rehabilitated in Santa Fe, New Mexico, under housing programs administered locally by the Santa Fe Urban Development Agency showed that some rehabilitated properties did not meet local standards and that the work that was done did not comply with applicable grant or loan program requirements. The Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) and the Santa Fe Urban Development Agency did not properly administer the rehabilitation loan and grant programs. The contractual nature of rehabilitation loans between HUD and the homeowner discourages a practical remedy for bringing the homes up to property rehabilitation standards. HUD should require Santa Fe to bring these properties up to standard. If these efforts are not successful, HUD should recover grant funds declared ineligible for reimbursement. HUD should also emphasize to its regional and area offices the importance of assuring that deficiencies noted in its monitoring of the program are corrected before releasing additional grant and loan funds, and should instruct its local and regional offices to declare ineligible for reimbursement those grants that do not meet the objectives of the programs. Local public agencies should be required to establish formal complaint and followup systems on rehabilitation programs.