The director of the state housing agency says she would welcome a full audit of how money was spent on federal and state emergency rental assistance programs — but only after tenants submit their applications and landlords receive their money.
Margaret Salazar says the Oregon Department of Housing and Community Services will report to lawmakers in the 2022 session, which starts Feb. 1, about the measures they passed during a Dec. 13 special session.
But she also said that some of the same staff that would be involved in an audit, which the secretary of state would conduct with the agency, also are busy processing and paying out rental assistance. Oregon has paid about 27,000 households, but the agency also has an equal number of applications pending — and more are expected to come in when the agency lifts a six-week pause in mid-January.
Salazar spoke to reporters on a conference call after lawmakers approved $100 million more from the state budget for rental assistance — on top of about $100 million remaining in federal funds — and extended the time for tenants to apply for and await rental assistance without fear of eviction proceedings for nonpayment of rent. The new deadline is June 30, 2022.
“Our assessment is that this is time they (staff) need to spend ensuring that checks are processed and being cut, and that we can meet the time frame set by the Oregon Legislature,” she said. “For that reason, we are asking that this audit be completed after we expend these rental assistance dollars, so that we can honor the commitments we made to legislative leaders and to the public.”
In addition to the Legislature’s addition of $100 million from the state budget — and another $100 million for state and local efforts to prevent evictions after rental assistance programs end — Oregon has requested another $198 million from the U.S. Treasury, which will redistribute unspent federal rental assistance funds. But it will be several months before Oregon receives any of that money — if it does.
During the one-day session, Republicans critical of the agency and even some Democrats called for a full audit by Secretary of State Shemia Fagan.
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