GAO to HUD: Answer the Phone

[Eugene]

GAO to HUD: Answer the Phone


Friday December 2, 2005 10:16 PM

By MICHAEL J. SNIFFEN

Associated Press Writer

WASHINGTON (AP) - Congressional investigators found spotty performance
from the start in how federal and state officials handle complaints of
housing discrimination: Sometimes they don't answer the phone or
return the calls.

To assess enforcement of the federal Fair Housing Act, the Government
Accountability Office made test calls last year to 10 regional offices
of the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development and to 36
statewide housing agencies authorized to process bias complaints.

"Our test calls revealed some potentially serious lapses," GAO,
Congress' investigative arm, reported Friday. In five of the 46 calls,
the agency did not return a message left by a test caller alleging
discrimination, even after three attempts.

<snip>

Although GAO said its test was too small to represent fairly the
entire experience of callers, it said a random survey it took of 575
people who complained that year indicated the test results were not
a fluke.

<snip>

Full article: http://www.guardian.co.uk/worldlatest/story/0,1280,-5453457,00.html

[Selteri]

1. Guess those phone ads aren't good enough.

Not surprised though, when I had a problem with the place I lived it took them 3 months to send someone out, they wouldn't pick up their phone and even when I walked in with a video camera they poo-pood me.

And my only problem was that the person I was renting from trapped me in a lease and wouldn't keep the apartment up in livable condition.