‘Grossly Deficient' Mitchell-Lama Oversight Is Detailed in Report

Oversight of Mitchell-Lama housing developments is "grossly deficient on a broad scale," a report published yesterday said.

The review came from the state inspector general's office, which reviewed several housing projects in Manhattan, Roosevelt Island, and Brooklyn between January 2003 and October 2006.

The lack of oversight resulted in run down conditions at the buildings, improper approvals of applications, manipulations of waiting lists, and occupancies by unapproved tenants with incomes exceeding the maximum amount allowed, the report said.

It also found that 33% of the staff at the agency in charge of monitoring the affordable housing program, the Department of Housing and Community Renewal, lived in Mitchell-Lama housing or complexes that recently left the program, compared with just 2% for regular city residents.

"Many of the processes and procedures followed by DHCR were created 30 years ago and are terribly outdated," the department's commissioner, Deborah Van Amerongen, said in a statement.

Ms. Van Amerongen, who came into office in February, blamed the problems on previous administrations. She is proposing to improve oversight by creating an Office of Innovation and Quality Assurance, as well as creating a guide to ethical conduct for DHCR employees.

"This report confirmed our fears that the past administration was asleep at the switch when it came to protecting our Mitchell-Lama tenants," Senator Schumer said in a statement. "Fortunately, a new day has dawned at DHCR. And I am confident that, under the leadership of Governor Spitzer and Commissioner Van Amerongen, this vital affordable housing program will be managed with greater professionalism and fairness."

The inspector general, Kristine Hamann, said that in at least one instance, a candidate's name had been removed from a waiting list. The director of the Pratt Center for Community Development, Brad Lander, said that his office did a broad overview of the Pataki administration's housing policies in 2006 and found that the new report was consistent with his findings.

"Through contempt and neglect, DHCR badly damaged one of the best affordable housing programs available," Mr. Lander said.