(AP Photo/Stephanie Scarbrough, File)
More than 30,000 “deceased people” and thousands of other non-citizens received “questionable” rental assistance payments during the last year of President Joe Biden’s administration, according to a new report from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development.
HUD said $5.8 billion in dubious rental assistance payments were shelled out during 2024 — with a large slice being paid to “deceased tenants and to tenants with invalid social security numbers.” This was due to an “erosion of the control environment under the Biden Administration” which led to “significant gaps” in government oversight, the 183-page review claimed.
The HUD findings were first reported by the New York Post on Tuesday.
“A massive abuse of taxpayer dollars not only occurred under President Biden’s watch, but was effectively incentivized by his administration’s failure to implement strong financial controls resulting in billions worth of potential improper payments,” HUD Secretary Scott Turner told the Post.
Altogether, nearly $50 billion in federal rental assistance was doled out in 2024. The HUD report said that went to around 200,000 “ineligible” recipients — including 30,054 dead people. Another 9,472 non-citizens received rental assistance in ’24, and more than 165,000 people received “sums that exceeded the threshold for assistance in their geographic region,” according to the Post.
HUD officials told the outlet a “large concentration” of the payments went to California, New York, and Washington, D.C.
Turner added that HUD will continue investigating the “shocking” payments. The department will aim to hold “bad actors accountable” and is strengthening its “program integrity” to make sure similar payments don’t happen during President Donald Trump’s administration, he said.
The report comes as abuse of taxpayer funds has been a hot topic of late. Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz (D) has been heavily criticized in recent weeks by conservatives — including President Trump — for a fraud scheme that ripped off $9 billion in taxpayer dough, according to federal prosecutors. Further, Trump’s Federal Housing Finance Director Bill Pulte alleged several prominent Democrats committed mortgage fraud — which led to investigations that have so far not led to indictments. Pulte is now facing allegations of abusing his office to target Trump’s political opponents.
You can read the full 183-page HUD review by clicking here.
