SALEM, Ore. – After distributing over $4 million in emergency rental assistance, the state of Oregon says it’s unable to verify if the funds were distributed properly.
That’s according to an Oregon Secretary of State’s audit of the state’s housing agency, Oregon Housing and Community Services (OHCS).
The audit says OHCS was charged with administering the Emergency Rental Assistance Program (ERA) to provide federal funding to help keep Oregonians in their homes. It also indicates OHCS was able to distribute $426 million in emergency rental assistance as of June 2023.
According to the audit released Thursday by the Oregon Audits Division, the framework under which this occurred came with substantial risk.
The audit says OHCS employed limited oversight and skipped critical controls, including over financial accounting and contract administration.
Ashland State Representative Pam Marsh told NBC5 she wasn’t completely surprised by the audit.
“I think the overall headline is disturbing and not terribly surprising, quite honestly,” She said, “we gave, in the middle of the pandemic, OHCS, the housing agency a tremendously large job”.
“There is no doubt OHCS, like all of Oregon government, was working under unprecedented emergency conditions during the pandemic,” said Audits Director Kip Memmott. “As auditors, it’s our job to ensure public monies are being spent in accordance with program guidelines and properly accounted for. It’s extremely concerning that OHCS is unable to verify whether millions of dollars went to the Oregonians who needed and deserved this money the most.”
Read the full report on the Secretary of State website.
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