County, Nonprofit Group to Appeal HUD Refund Request

ORANGE COUNTY, CA-Local housing officials and a nonprofit group that housesthe homeless say they’ll appeal a HUD decision that requires them to repaypart of a large grant that government auditors say was misspent.

In a report released earlier this week, HUD said that the Orange CountyHousing and Community Development and the Santa Ana-based Mercy HouseCoalition had spent almost $300,000 without providing the necessary evidencethat the expenditures met Federal guidelines. Mercy House Coalition is agroup of four local nonprofit housing agencies.

In one case cited by HUD, a family that earned $73,514–roughly 50% more thanthe typical Orange County household–was accepted into a program designed tohelp house the poor. The government auditors also say Mercy House workersdidn’t properly account for their time and were paid higher-than-averagesalaries.