Inspector general drops Mitchell-Lama bombshell.

State Inspector General Kristine Hamman recently issued a report faulting the states housing authority for "deep and systematic failure," for mismanaging the shrinking supply of Mitchell Llama housing. The report states the failure caused the buildings rent to be spiked and the buildings to deteriorate.

The report claims that the New York State Division of Housing and Community Renewal's failure to oversee over 8000 apartments in almost 189 buildings caused units to be given to unqualified tenants, at the expense of those who were qualified.

"DHCR through its own shortcomings allowed housing companies to flout riles regarding apartment allocation, financial reporting and contracting," Hamman stated. In Co-op city in the Bronx the largest Mitchell-Lama developer in the state, Hamman found that a whopping 40 of the 47 contracts executed between 2002 and 2006 failed to comply with Mitchell Llama rules. $111.6 million was awarded for construction work that was never verified as being completed.

In 2006 Cathedral Parkway management granted apartments to people who were not on the waiting list, bypassing those who had been waiting for apartments since 1999. At Bayridge 263 applicants were removed from the waiting list between April 2000 and September 2006 without explanation.

In some instances, DHCR failed to enforce maximum income requirements. For example the maximum income allowed for one apartment was $83,000 while the income affi davit submitted by the tenant listed an income over $300,000. DHCR didn't enforce these requirements and the tenant wound up paying a monthly rent of $1,068.36. The report also found that DHCR didn't have sufficient controls put into place to prevent DHCR employees that supervised the program from usurping candidates on the waiting list while taking middle income apartments for themselves.

During a random survey 10 of 30 employees interviewed lived in the complexes they supervised.

The report also faults DHCR for failing to inspect the apartments they regulated. More than half of the apartment inspections that were conducted between 2005-2006 failed to check the heating system.

The problems detailed took place between January 2003 and October 2008. Inspector General Hamman emphasized that the current DHCR commissioner, Deborah VanAmerogen, appointed to her position in February 2007, has begin to address problems and already initiated significant reforms.