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Lawmakers press Housing New Mexico on Northern Regional audit backlog, HUD involvement and board vacancies
Summary
Housing New Mexico presented the 2024 Regional Housing Authority report; Northern Regional had not submitted audits since 2021 and is in HUD 'troubled' status. Committee members sought corrective measures, candidate recruitment for vacancies, and clearer reporting on funds returned or withheld by HUD.
The Legislative Oversight Committee heard an annual report on regional housing authorities that highlighted audit and governance problems in the Northern Regional Housing Authority and limited state oversight authority.
John Garcia, assistant director of community development at Housing New Mexico, summarized required oversight duties — including review of operational budgets, approval of regional boards and contracts over $100,000, and review of external audits. He told the committee that Eastern and Western regionals received unmodified audit opinions for the fiscal year ending June 30, 2024, while Northern Regional had not submitted an audit since 2021 and was in troubled status with HUD. Garcia said an audit firm was hired Feb. 7, 2025 to complete the outstanding audits and had made significant progress toward completing the 2022 audit and beginning 2023–24 work.
"Northern Regional has not submitted a financial audit since 2021 and has been in troubled status with HUD," Garcia said in the presentation. Committee members asked what penalties or corrective authority the state possesses; Housing New Mexico officials replied that HUD provides direct oversight and that HUD had temporarily withheld funds from Northern Regional but later restored those funds so projects could continue. Committee members requested more frequent summaries on bond maturities, payoffs and how long board vacancies have remained open.
Lawmakers pressed for clearer reporting lines and suggested involving the state auditor or federal delegation if recovery does not continue. Garcia and agency leaders said the agency can facilitate candidate recruitment, provide summarized reports on bond call/redemption history and present a path for Northern Regional to exit troubled status once outstanding audits are completed.
The committee did not adopt any sanctioning action at the hearing but asked Housing New Mexico to provide updated audit timelines, vacancy histories for the regional boards, and a summary of funds withheld versus restored by HUD.
