The Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) has mandated that all public housing authorities and owners receiving HUD funding verify the citizenship and eligibility of tenants. This order comes after a joint audit with the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), which uncovered around 200,000 tenants requiring eligibility checks, including nearly 25,000 individuals identified as deceased and approximately 6,000 non-American tenants deemed ineligible across federally funded housing programs.
HUD officials have given public housing authorities and participating owners a 30-day timeframe to correct these discrepancies or risk facing potential penalties. “We will leave no stone unturned,” stated HUD Secretary Scott Turner, emphasizing a commitment to eliminating misuse of taxpayer-funded resources. He highlighted the importance of ensuring that welfare benefits are not distributed to ineligible non-citizens.
The review, conducted with coordination from DHS and U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS), utilized the Systematic Alien Verification for Entitlements (SAVE) system to enforce compliance with federal law. Ben Hobbs, HUD Assistant Secretary for Public and Indian Housing, articulated the goal of directing limited housing resources to eligible households, framing the verification process as a significant step toward ensuring American families benefit from these resources.
This directive aligns with previous communications from HUD, reminding housing authorities of their legal responsibilities under Section 214 of the Housing and Community Development Act of 1980 and President Trump’s Executive Order 14218, which mandates the verification of citizenship and immigration status before admission to HUD-assisted housing. The efforts underscore a commitment to maintaining program integrity and preventing the misallocation of taxpayer dollars.
In light of these developments, the collaboration between HUD and DHS aims at reinforcing a fair distribution of housing benefits, focusing on eligible American families. This initiative is seen as a proactive approach to uphold the integrity of federal housing programs while seeking to alleviate misuse.