Sen. Chuck Grassley of Iowa has pressed federal and state agencies on their extremely poor performance of managing the Hardest Hit Fund (HHF), a $9.6 billion program that began in 2010 to help homeowners who suffered during the housing crisis. The problems persisted for many years of the Obama Administration, and the need for accountability remains. Earlier this month, Grassley pressed the Treasury Department on why it has recovered only one percent -- $113,592 of $11 million – wasted on restaurant meals, employee gifts and a $500 per month company Mercedes from the fund. Grassley made the following comment on a new report from the Special Inspector General for the Troubled Asset Relief Program, “Mismanagement of the Hardest Hit Fund in Georgia.”
“Like the previous reports on the Hardest Hit Fund over the years, this report pulls no punches. It finds that the program as implemented in Georgia failed, not because of lack of need or interest, but because of state agency mismanagement. The report says scores of struggling homeowners, including veterans, were left behind, while the state agency managed to keep a generous amount of taxpayer dollars for itself. At the top, the U.S. Treasury Department under the Obama Administration failed to hold the state of Georgia accountable for its failures, even after repeated notifications of the problems. The report makes 30 recommendations toward fixing this disaster. The Treasury Department and the Georgia agency need to follow every one of them, no excuses.”
