The Nation - News from July 5, 1989

Nursing homes “will probably be next” among federal housing programs that have been targeted for sharp cutbacks in the ongoing investigation of mismanagement in federal housing programs, according to a senior government official. The department is reviewing an inspector general’s audit of the Retirement Service program and Housing and Urban Development Secretary Jack Kemp could make decisions about the program as early as next week, the HUD official said. The Retirement Service program helps provide financing for nursing homes and other housing for the elderly. The New York Times reported that HUD is considering overhaul or termination of the program in the wake of an inspector general’s audit that found half of the 24 projects examined in the Midwest were in default or financially troubled.