Housing authority says HUD flagged agency as 'troubled'; recovery plan submitted

The Needles City Housing Authority told commissioners it received a 'troubled' designation from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development based on the 2024 PHAS assessment and has submitted a recovery plan in May 2026.

'We were notified in April by HUD that we were troubled status,' the executive director said during the authority update, summarizing the three areas HUD cited: management (vacant units), physical-inspection failures, and capital funds drawdown. The authority reported four of 52 public-housing units were temporarily out for modernization and that staff have implemented a pre-inspection program and tenant-notice procedures to reduce repeat deficiencies.

Housing staff member Angelica Diermer described inspection and maintenance steps: 'Minimal, we have by HUD minimal, we do an annual inspection of everything on the checklist' and staff are reviewing lease language and notice procedures so tenants understand reporting responsibilities. The authority said it hired a contractor for pre-inspections in July and will document repairs with photos and reports for HUD.

Commissioners were told HUD conducted a three-day remote assessment and interviewed staff, including the executive director, Angelica and the finance director; the authority expects HUD's written guidance within roughly 30 days and said it has procured technical assistance to address VMS tracking and capital-fund accounting. Staff emphasized that many findings dated to the period when the city had recently taken over operations, and they described steps to spread knowledge and build redundancy in finance and operations.