Oh snap! HUD gives City a thumbs down on its housing plan

We have a housing department again, which is nice. And the city seemed well on its way to getting its assets back. Remember how a federal judge ordered that a receiver control all of the city’s properties and its loan portfolio until the city’s housing program gets its shit together? And how the city paid $350,000 to hire Chicago-based experts at Applied Real Estate Analysis to tell the staff what to do?

Well, wouldn’t it suck if you paid someone to do your homework for you, only to have it handed back with a below-average grade?

That’s kind of what happened. On February 1, 2009, the city submitted their “Asset Transfer and Capacity Building Transition Plan” to the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD). HUD has to sign off on the city’s plan before it can be sent to Judge Gary Fenner for his final approval. But according to a letter dated March 9, 2009 that Theresa Porter of HUD sent to City Manager Wayne Cauthen, there are some boulder-sized holes in the city’s plan.

Some of HUD’s choice phrases: