Potential Impacts of the Department of Housing and Urban Development's Consolidation of Multifamily Functions

An analysis of the impact of federal agency reorganizations on the State of Washington and other states in federal region X indicated that the Department of Housing and Urban Development's (HUD) planned consolidation of multifamily functions was causing the most concern at the local level. HUD reorganization was designed to deal with the following problems: (1) unclear assistant secretary authority and accountability; (2) lack of clear, consistent, and timely headquarters' statements of policies, objectives, and interpretations to the field; (3) processing delays from duplicative regional office participation; (4) inadequate technical assistance at area offices; and (5) the excessive overhead cost of the field office structure. Consolidation was predicted by local officials to have an adverse impact on the delivery of services. Developers added that increased distances between them and HUD offices would increase their costs and could result in their refusing to do business with HUD. HUD and state officials foresaw a deterioration of HUD's project management capabilities because of increased distances and reduced project monitoring. Developers and sponsors feared that consolidations would result in a loss of HUD familiarity with local housing needs and conditions, poor project selection, and construction inspection delays. HUD central office officials indicated that increased travel and staff stationed at outlying locations were available to prevent project management deterioration and were critical of too much local familiarity.