ATLANTIC CITY - Residents in Atlantic City Housing Authority-run properties got the news Monday that many have been waiting for.
The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development is set to takeover the long-troubled authority.
"For years, I have been fighting tooth and nail to get HUD to take over the ACHA, and now that day has finally come," Congressman Jeff Van Drew said in a statement. "Families were freezing in their homes, living with mold, no heat, no hot water and no help. It was unacceptable. I promised the people I would not stop until something changed, and today, accountability is here."
The authority has been determined to be in "substantial default," Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary Benjamin Hobbs wrote in an 18-page letter Monday to Executive Director Thomas Sahlin and Board of Commissioners Chair Geoff Dorsey.
"Based on the gravity of ACHA's situation, I have determined that it is not appropriate to permit ACHA the opportunity to cure the substantial debt," the letter states. "Further, I have also determined that the most appropriate substantial default remedy, in the context of the several factual findings made, is for HUD to take possession of the ACHA."
The ACHA now has 10 working days to respond.
The move comes more than 10 months after Van Drew accompanied a group of fed-up residents, Councilwoman LaToya Dunston to each of the Housing Authority-run properties.
Their focus was to get residents to sign a petition to get a federal takeover of the local authority.
Many residents and workers were afraid to speak to Van Drew or anyone else in the group.
At Shore Park on N. Virginia Avenue, management tried to refuse the group entry, until Van Drew pointed out he was a congressman being denied access to a federally owned building.
During a visit to Altman Terrace, one resident led the tour into the apartment across the hall from hers. The toilet was constantly running, causing a flood that was leaking into her apartment.
Former ACHA Executive Director Matt Doherty told a Congressional committee in May 2024, that the authority is "the largest slumlord in Atlantic City."
His term as leader did not last long after he was vocal about the issues, including talking to the media. The Housing Authority has avoided publicly addressing the issues.
"One day the door will open and the light will shine in," Doherty told BreakingAC during the tour in September.
It seems that day may have finally arrived.
"For all the foregoing reasons, due to the current state of ACHA's failure to achieve or maintain programmatic compliance, there is abundant support for HUD's determination that ACHA is in substantial default of its U.S. Housing Act programs and HUD's explicit legal authority to take possession of ACHA," Hobbs' wrote in the conclusion.
Van Drew credited the leadership of HUD Secretary Scott Turner for "finally stepping in to fix years of failure, taking more action in six months than the previous administration did in years.
"I want to thank Secretary Turner for giving this situation the attention it deserved," Van Drew said. "The failed governance is being addressed, and now it is going to be rebuilt from the ground up. We fought hard, and we got the job done."
Neither Sahilin nor Dorsey could be reached for comment Monday evening.
This story is developing. Check back for updates.
