Los Angeles Housing Authority

Federal auditors have called for the ouster of the Los Angeles County Housing Authority's director, saying his agency has not properly administered the $200 million federal housing voucher program for the county's poor and has sought to conceal its shortcomings. The unusual recommendations come in a report this month that criticizes the authority for failing to check annually, as required, on tenants' eligibility for subsidies under the federal Section 8 program.

A high-level manager for the Housing Authority of the City of Los Angeles directed nearly $800,000 in contracts to his brothers and three politically connected firms without competitive bidding or after rigged contests, a Times review has found.

The chief investigator for the Los Angeles Housing Authority, Abel Ruiz, was abruptly fired this week after complaining that people inside the agency interfered with his efforts to get to the bottom of an $800,000 bid-rigging scheme, his attorney said Friday.

A Los Angeles city agency was so badly run that it could not account for $70 million in federal funds meant to help poor people get housing and jobs, including money that was steered to a friend of a top executive for bogus work, according to a lawsuit filed by the city.

When Abel Ruiz was fired last month by the troubled Los Angeles Housing Authority, he said it was because he, as the agency's chief investigator, was asking too many questions about an apparent $800,000 bid-rigging scheme.

City Councilwoman Janice Hahn called for an audit of the Housing Authority of the city of Los Angeles, citing a Times report last week pointing to bid-rigging and installation of pricey toilets.