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St. Petersburg Housing Authority under close federal watch

St. Petersburg Housing Authority CEO comes under fire from HUD after living rent-free in a low-income apartment for nine months.

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — The St. Petersburg Housing Authority is under fire after the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development cited the agency for letting CEO Tony Love live rent-free for nine months in Saratoga Apartments, a low-income housing apartment.

Love was invited by the local chapter of the NAACP to address this citation and how he came to live in the apartment complex. Love claimed that he did not do enough research before he decided to live in the apartment.

“At that time I did not have the opportunity to read every piece of paper that I probably should have read looking back on it.”

Love said he feels Housing Authority board members should have made him aware of his inability to stay at the residence because it was purchased using federal dollars. The low-rent building can only be used by community members that earn 80 percent or less of Tampa Bay's median income. 

“There was no way for me to know that, I was trusting my staff, that they have been here, they’re working, that they should have known, I should have known. So I resided there. That was, that was a mistake,”  Love said. 

The Department of Housing and Urban Development suggested that board members do need to step up their oversight and understanding of different housing programs.

Love said that he has righted his wrongs.

“Since the stay of me being there had been over the income limit, I addressed it at my income limit and put the money in Saratoga to rectify it.”

However, he acknowledges that a wrong was committed. 

“It is not uncommon for CEOs or housing board members to stay in public housing units occasionally, with knowing permission. So it’s not anything illegal if we had notified them. We did not do that," Love said.

When Mayor Kriseman was asked why he couldn't be at the meeting and if he plans to remove Housing Authority commissioners he responded, "I appreciate that Ms. Scruggs is concerned about this issue and I encourage her to join me in looking out for St. Pete's most vulnerable residents and holding the St. Petersburg Housing Authority accountable. To that end, I am moving forward with remaking the commission as is within my purview."

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