Furthermore MPHA did not "lose" or squander the money. HUD gave one lump sum to MPHA to build all the housing in 1995 with no provisions for inflation or increased housing values. Image someone giving you money in 1995 to buy a house in 2003. Also image that in 1995 you needed a two-bedroom home but since then your family size has increased and now you need a 4-bedroom house. Given the fact of home price increases since 1995 do you think you would have enough money to buy house now? That's the situation facing MPHA with the settlement dollars.
If someone had given me the money in 1995 to buy a 2-bedroom house in 2003, I would have invested it until 2003. With more than a little care, that investment would pay for the 4-bedroom house now, and with a little luck, my retirement on top of it. The Dow Jones Industrial Average was below 4,000 in early 1995 and peaked over 12,000 in 2000. It's now currently over 9,000. The S&P 500 is similar. Only an incompetent would not have enough money for the 4-bedroom house now.
So, what did MPHA do with that big lump sum of money? It rather sounds like they did squandar at least part of it.
Chris Johnson Fulton
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