HUD to Obama: Help!

I guess it should come as no surprise that under President George Bush funding for low-income housing was cut continuously in the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD). Today’s Washington Post looks at the particular challenges facing the agency after eight years of neglect. According to the piece, HUD has dropped the ball on providing solid solutions to the foreclosure crisis. Also, there’s been political cronyism. And many of HUD’s beneficiaries have been cash-starved for years.

When Obama’s team arrives at HUD, it also will find about 1,900 housing authorities nationwide clamoring for money. In many of the years since 2001, they have been living on 81 to 89 percent of the amount of funding that HUD says they need to operate.

Some more concerns:

The incoming administration also will find a $20 billion backlog of maintenance projects at public housing developments. If the repair list of old roofs, broken boilers and more is not addressed soon, some buildings risk permanent damage.