Risk Based Enforcement Could Improve Program Effectiveness
Historically, HUD program managers have not wanted to enforce program requirements. That reluctance increases the risk that program funds will not provide maximum benefits to recipients and allows serious noncompliances to go unchecked. When it was created, the Departmental Enforcement Center had independent enforcement authority, but it lost that authority when it moved from the Deputy Secretary’s office to the Office of General Counsel (OGC). DEC lost control of funding and staffing levels and contended with inadequate information technology systems and support.