Much maligned and once marked for elimination, the Department of Housing and Urban Development is now the epitome of a customer-focused, performance-based organization, according to a new report by an independent firm specializing in management reinvention efforts.

Though considerably downsized, the housing agency "has simultaneously pursued multiple, far-reaching reforms that are radically transforming the way the Department does business," the Public Strategies Group said in assessing HUD's 2020 management reform plan.

The "pace and breadth" of reform effort "has been astonishing," the St. Paul firm says. "Essentially every part of the organization has been significantly and positively impacted in some way."

The report is a follow-up to a 1998 assessment of HUD's reform effort by PSG, which is headed by David Osbourne, author of the book, "Reinventing Government."

The firm said then that the department faced numerous problems, among them inadequate and unreliable information about the quality and location of government-financed properties; inconsistent and ineffective enforcement policies; lack of useful performance data and accountability for results; lack of sensible and timely procurement practices, and fragmented financial systems and information.

Not exactly a confidence-booster, huh?

But in the last two years, things have changed for the better. Indeed, PSG now says HUD "has accomplished many of the bold plans that it set out to achieve."

The report found that, among other things, the agency has restored the public trust in its ability to effectively spend taxpayers money and carry out its mission with a minimum of fraud, waste and abuse. And it's Enforcement Center has made great strides in restoring credibility by taking swift and forceful action against property owners who violate laws and regulations.

PSG found that since its first report, HUD has recovered $40 million in civil penalties and settlements from property owners who don't follow the rules. But "perhaps most important," it has pushed owners to invest millions to restore more than 50,000 housing units to decent, safe and sanitary condition.

The Enforcement Center has been so successful that the Department of Agriculture, with technical assistance from HUD, has implemented a similar program.

The PSG assessment also noted that by streamlining loan processing into four regional Homeownership Centers, HUD has shortened the time it takes for the Federal Housing Administration to endorse borrowers for government-backed funding from four to six weeks to an average of two to three days.

As you might expect, the turnaround was praised, not only by the White House, but also by Sec. Andrew Cuomo, who took over the HUD helm in 1997.

"Validation by David Osbourne marks a critical achievement," Sec. Cuomo said. "We have taken an example of the worst in government and transformed it into an example of the best in government reinvention. We are proud that HUD is now as strong as it has ever been."

Published: November 27, 2000

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