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Council hearing highlights accountability concerns for DHCD and DCHFA as preservation needs climb
Summary
At a March 5 oversight hearing, the DC Council’s Committee on Housing pressed DHCD and DCHFA on missed deadlines, accounting irregularities, and an urgent preservation pipeline as thousands of subsidized units approach the end of affordability covenants.
The Committee on Housing opened its final FY25 oversight hearing with a sharp review of housing agency performance and growing preservation risks. Chair Robert White said the hearing would probe whether agencies are executing with “urgency, consistency, and accountability” and cited Office of Inspector General findings and missed deadlines as evidence of operational gaps.
Public witnesses and council members raised common themes: incomplete public data tools, slow procurement and underwriting timelines that delay projects, and growing portfolio stress at the Housing Finance Agency. DCHFA Executive Director Christopher Donald told the committee his agency’s watchlist grew from 10 projects in 2019 to 46 projects in FY25, representing 38% of the active conduit portfolio. He said about $27,000,000 in non‑recurring subsidy support had been deployed to prevent immediate failures.
The hearing also aired two accounting issues identified in preparatory audits: a FY24 receivable classification tied to ARPA reprogramming and a separate loan allowance calculation that produced a draft anomaly; both were corrected before final reporting, DHCD officials said. Chair White said the committee would follow up on process changes to reduce the risk of similar errors.
Next steps announced at the hearing include tighter oversight of the rent registry rollout, quarterly HPTF application windows to improve predictability for developers, and committee requests for updated SMART‑goal metrics and a clearer preservation funding plan.
Quote: “This is the final performance oversight hearing of the season for the Committee on Housing,” Chair Robert White said as he opened the session, framing the day's focus on agency accountability.
The committee kept the written record open for two weeks to collect additional stakeholder documents and requested several follow‑ups from both agencies on timelines, dashboard data, and financial reconciliations.
