A newly released report from the Department of Housing and Urban Development found that billions of dollars in federal rental assistance funds were improperly distributed to ineligible recipients, including deceased individuals, during the Biden administration.

HUD’s internal review identified approximately $5.8 billion in rental assistance payments made during fiscal year 2024 as “questionable.” This amount is part of nearly $50 billion distributed nationwide. The funds were allocated to over 200,000 tenants whose eligibility could not be verified or who seemed to violate program rules.

It includes tens of thousands of individuals listed as deceased and thousands who may not be U.S. citizens.

“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 resulting in billions worth of potential improper payments,” HUD Secretary Scott Turner said in a statement to the New York Post.

Of the 8.8 million tenant records analyzed, approximately 200,000 could not be confirmed as U.S. citizens or as having eligible non-citizen status. The agency also identified around 30,054 deceased individuals who were actively enrolled in a rental assistance program at the time of the analysis or who had received assistance after their death.

Between October 2023 and September 2024, HUD spent about $33 billion on Tenant-Based Rental Assistance (TBRA), which supports more than four million households, and an additional $16 billion on Project-Based Rental Assistance (PBRA). The audit revealed that $1.5 billion in TBRA payments and approximately $4.3 billion in PBRA payments were linked to eligibility issues.

HUD officials stated that the questionable payments were distributed across all 50 states, with particularly high concentrations found in New York, California, and Washington, D.C., according to the New York Post. These findings were detailed in a 183-page fiscal year 2025 agency financial report prepared by HUD’s Office of the Chief Financial Officer.