A new report from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development has now reportedly revealed billions of taxpayer dollars were funneled to “questionable” recipients through federal rental assistance programs during the Biden administration, including tens of thousands of payments tied to deceased individuals and potential non-citizens.
According to HUD’s Agency Financial Report for fiscal year 2025, obtained by the New York Post, investigators identified roughly 30,000 deceased tenants who were either still enrolled in rental assistance programs or continued receiving benefits after their deaths.
The report also flagged thousands of recipients who may not have been eligible due to citizenship status.
HUD officials told the Post that the questionable payments were spread across the country, with deceased recipients identified in all 50 states. However, a “large concentration” of the funds flowed to New York, California, and Washington, D.C., raising further concerns about oversight in some of the nation’s largest and most heavily subsidized housing markets.
The findings came after HUD ran an automated comparison between its own records and a U.S. Treasury database. That internal review uncovered 30,054 deceased tenants tied to rental assistance payments. The department said the potentially improper payments were identified through its own financial analytics, not through outside complaints or audits.
HUD Secretary Scott Turner blasted the failures in a statement provided to the Post, placing the blame squarely on the Biden administration. Turner said the problem went far beyond clerical errors and reflected systemic weaknesses.
“A massive abuse of taxpayer dollars not only occurred under President Biden’s watch, but was effectively incentivized by his administration’s failure to implement strong financial controls,” Turner said. He added that the lack of safeguards resulted in “billions worth of potential improper payments.”
Turner said HUD is continuing to investigate the scope of the problem and vowed accountability. “HUD will continue investigating the shocking results and will take appropriate action to hold bad actors accountable,” he said. Turner also emphasized that the department is reviving integrity efforts first advanced during President Donald Trump’s initial term, with the goal of ensuring federal assistance reaches the truly vulnerable populations it was meant to serve.
The scale of the issue is significant. In fiscal year 2024 alone, HUD distributed roughly $50 billion in federal rental assistance to non-federal entities. Of that total, the report identified about $5.8 billion as “questionable payments,” a figure likely to intensify scrutiny from lawmakers and taxpayers alike.
HUD’s report directly criticized a Biden-era directive that prioritized moving money quickly, even at the expense of oversight. According to the department, the Biden administration pushed funding “out the door with minimal oversight” and failed to equip HUD with adequate tools to verify whether outside entities were properly enforcing the complex rules governing rental assistance.
The report also noted that HUD’s programs placed “substantial trust and responsibility” in non-federal entities receiving the funds, a structure that appears to have been exploited. Before HUD can pause or revoke funding, officials must confirm whether fraud occurred and determine its full extent. Criminal referrals are also on the table.
“HUD is implementing processes and procedures to revoke or pause funding as part of its efforts to hold bad actors accountable,” one official told the Post. The department could also pursue criminal enforcement once fraud is confirmed.
[READ MORE: Vance, Musk Praise Viral Probe Into Minnesota Child Care Fraud as Pressure Mounts on Walz]
