Rental Housing

In a March 1992 report (GAO/RCED-92-132FS), GAO discussed how Our Casas--a nonprofit resident management council in San Antonio, Texas--spent Housing and Urban Development (HUD) grants meant to encourage resident management in public housing projects. This fact sheet provides supplemental information on Our Casas' use of grant funds. GAO discusses (1) Our Casas' organizational structure and tenant representation, (2) HUD's award of a technical assistance grant to Our Casas and HUD's monitoring of the council's progress toward implementing resident management, (3) Our Casas' expenditure of grant funds, (4) additional costs related to the grant, (5) Our Casas' choice of a public housing management specialist, and (6) Our Casas' grant accomplishments. GAO also discusses areas in which Our Casas' efforts to move toward resident management seem to have been hampered by a lack of cooperation with the San Antonio Housing Authority.

GAO found that: (1) the council has an organizational hierarchy of a board of directors with an advisory committee, a housing management specialist, a community organization coordinator and resident volunteers; (2) tenant representation on the board of directors has declined since the grant was awarded; (3) the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) awarded a technical assistance grant to the council for implementing resident management and has monitored its progress according to program guidelines; (4) the council spent the technical assistance grant funds in accordance with the grant's purposes; (5) in addition to the direct grant funds, HUD incurred administrative costs, and the San Antonio Housing Authority expended funds to train board members and public housing residents in property management; (6) the council complied with regulations in selecting a public housing management specialist to be its executive director; and (7) the council has achieved several tasks necessary to reach its goal of assuming partial or full management responsibilities over the projects it represents.