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Last Friday, the Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations, chaired by Rep. Dan Meuser (PA-09), held a field hearing titled “Broken Promises: Failures of the Little Rock Housing Authority and the Impact on Residents.”

On Mismanagement of Little Rock’s Public Housing Authority:

Full Committee Chairman French Hill (AR-02) said, "I’ve unfortunately witnessed mismanagement and fraud firsthand right here in my hometown of Little Rock, where years of mismanagement and financial failures at the Little Rock Housing Authority—including nearly $30 million in questionable or potentially disallowed expenses—put my constituents in unsafe living conditions. When these programs are abused, scarce resources are diverted away from families who truly depend on affordable housing and rental assistance, undermining both public trust and the mission of public housing itself."

Rep. Tim Moore (NC-14) asked the witnesses if the former members of the Little Rock public housing authority’s board of commissioners engaged in self-dealing, to which Mr. Kerry Wright, commissioner on Little Rock Housing Authority Board answered, “Yes, sir. They would throw the president a birthday party at the expense of the housing authority. They were driving around in housing authority vehicles. Some things like pest control and appliances that were missing ended up in their homes, friends’ homes. They treated it like it was their business.”

On Oversight and Accountability:

Subcommittee Chairman Meuser said, "Our goal here today is to fully understand how these failures were allowed to continue for so long, and to make sure the necessary fixes are put in place so the residents of Little Rock and all residents in public housing can have confidence in their housing authorities. That’s why [we held] our first hearing on this topic on February 10th and have sent letters to 32 Public Housing Agencies that were troubled, demanding solutions and coordination with HUD."

Subcommittee on Housing and Insurance Chairman Mike Flood (NE-01) said, "These are the types of things that we're trying to fix. That's why the bill we're working on, the Housing for the 21st Century Act, includes additional reporting requirements for PHAs and troubled PHAs, and requires PHAs to make all their contracts available online. So, I think you are moving this in the right direction. You're going to get some air support from Congress when we get that passed. You've got the leadership of HUD sitting right behind you. I see better days ahead."

On the Impact on the Community:

Rep. Troy Downing (MT-02) asked how the Little Rock community is affected by the mismanagement of Little Rock's Metropolitan Housing Alliance, to which Ms. Joan Adcock, Director, Board of Directors, City of Little Rock, answered, "It has a big impact on our community. It has an impact on the number of people we have homeless right now. We have a tremendous amount of homelessness in the city of Little Rock. It has an impact on the children—mainly children living in cars because their mothers have been removed from apartments."

Witnesses Echoed the Work of the Committee:

Ms. Adcock said, “While problems arise, we must work with these facilities, with these businesses, keeping in mind our goal: serving the housing needs of the City's low-income citizens. Given the vast steps that Dr. Jarmon and the [Metropolitan Housing Alliance] board have made towards improvements, I don't see how HUD can walk away. I don't see how HUD can force the current board to submit reports, with no papers to support it due to the mistakes of the previous board.”

Mr. Wright said, “The Housing Authority is in no better condition today than it was over two years ago. We are still defending lawsuits over bad deals the previous board made. Madison Heights is still in foreclosure. Because we have not been current on our voucher certifications for years, we have lost a lot of revenue. We still do not have up-to-date audited financials. I believe we are in troubled status again. HUD released our latest PHAS score on February 27th. It is a 53. Any housing authority with a score below 60 HUD classifies as troubled.”

Dr. Nadine Jarmon, Executive Director, Metropolitan Housing Alliance said, “The recovery process has required significant effort from agency staff and leadership. While the agency has faced challenges with coordination and support from external stakeholders, our focus has remained on stabilizing operations, addressing compliance issues, and protecting housing for residents. The work of rebuilding this agency is not complete. However, meaningful progress has been made, and the Housing Authority is moving in the right direction. Our priority moving forward is clear: maintain strong governance, ensure financial transparency, strengthen operational accountability, and most importantly, ensure that residents receive safe, stable, and reliable housing.”

Ms. Amanda Wentz, Senior Assistant Attorney General, Office of the Attorney General, State of Arkansas said, “The work of local housing authorities is of vital importance in assisting vulnerable populations in securing housing. That work is even more important in states like Arkansas with few legal protections for tenants in dangerous living conditions. Many of the tenants of Big Country Chateau used Municipal Housing Authority housing choice vouchers. The owners of Big Country Chateau took advantage of the Little Rock residents least able to protect themselves from exploitation, and they accepted taxpayer dollars to do so.”

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