> ## Content Index > Fetch the complete content index at: https://www.richmonder.org/llms.txt > Use this file to discover other available public pages before exploring further. # Richmond housing authority downgraded to ‘troubled’ status in latest federal assessment - URL: https://www.richmonder.org/richmond-housing-authority-downgraded-to-troubled-status-in-latest-federal-assessment/ - Published: 2026-10-23T19:50:45.000Z - Updated: 2026-10-23T21:28:25.000Z - Description: HUD has classified RRHA as "troubled" based on a 2024 assessment of its building conditions, financial status, management and use of capital funds. - Author: Sarah Vogelsong - Tags: Housing, #lead The federal government has designated Richmond’s public housing authority as “troubled” based on a 2024 assessment of its building conditions, financial status, management and use of capital funds. According to a Sept. 25 report from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, the Richmond Redevelopment and Housing Authority received just 58 points out of a possible 100, putting it in the troubled category. Previously, RRHA had been classified as a standard performer, meaning the agency scored 60 or greater and didn’t fall below baseline requirements in any category that HUD considers. Housing authorities can also be ranked as “substandard” if they have a score of 60 or above but fall below the baselines or as “high performers” if they score 90 points or greater. At a Wednesday press conference, authority CEO Steven Nesmith repeatedly emphasized that the designation was based on the agency’s 2024 performance and not its current situation and complained about news headlines that did not contain the phrase “as it related to 2024.” “Before coming here, this morning at 11 a.m. — you can clock it — I talked with HUD Washington, D.C. and they said to me — and you can quote it, please do — HUD Washington, D.C. confirmed that [HUD’s (Public Housing Assessment System) score](https://files.hudexchange.info/resources/documents/PHA-Lead-the-Way-Understanding-PHAS.pdf) of 58 points represents — and I’m quoting, not from me talking — represents a performance review from two years ago in FY 24 and not the agency’s current status of 2026,” said Nesmith. While the PHAS score is based on the authority’s past performance and operations, it represents the most recent such assessment of RRHA released by HUD. Nesmith declined to take any questions at his press conference, saying it was only intended to “correct the record.” At both the press conference and a Wednesday meeting of the Board of Commissioners, Nesmith attributed the troubled score to low rental collection and occupancy rates, two of the primary metrics used in evaluating the authority’s management. Out of a possible 25 points, RRHA scored only a 7 on management. [City, RRHA announce agreement on framework for Gilpin Court redevelopment with one-for-one replacementRRHA is in the process of redeveloping the city’s public housing projects, replacing them with mixed-income neighborhoods.![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/99/06/99067822-fdfd-42b1-ab19-555c33eefb89/content/images/icon/apple-touch-icon-1-55ecb52e-a21e-4ab1-b4bf-60d6e112f8f5.png)The RichmonderMichael Phillips![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/99/06/99067822-fdfd-42b1-ab19-555c33eefb89/content/images/thumbnail/IMG_8073-6993e1de-6aa1-44c4-bd7e-f4cb1130e450.jpg)](https://www.richmonder.org/city-rrha-announce-agreement-on-framework-for-gilpin-court-redevelopment-with-one-for-one-replacement/) Nesmith told the Board of Commissioners the rental collection problems date back to the COVID-19 pandemic and the succeeding years, when he said many residents stopped paying rent because they believed eviction moratoriums and public concern over evictions meant the authority would not enforce its leases. Today, Nesmith said, some residents still owe more than $30,000 to RRHA. “It was so bad that it seeped into the system, into the bloodstream,” he said. Commissioner Gregory Lewis appeared skeptical Wednesday that conditions were improving. “This is a lookback … but the receivables have not improved,” he said. “If you look over a 12-month span, the rent collections went from 89% in October of ’25 to 57% in August of ’26.” Nesmith later told the board that RRHA intends to present six tools it intends to use in the new year to increase rental collections. At his press conference, the CEO attributed some of the occupancy rate problems to shortfalls in rental collection. “Not collecting rent impacts lower occupancy because we cannot hire the appropriate level of staff and sometimes contractors to turn the units and get them ready,” he said. RRHA has said it expects that HUD’s score for the authority for 2025 will be higher than the 2024 troubled ranking. Sieglinde Chambliss, a senior adviser to Nesmith, estimated Wednesday that it would fall in the 60 to 62 range. “What’s preventing us from getting a higher than 62 score?” asked Board Chair Eddie Jackson at one point. “Is that just unattainable?” Nesmith and staff have said much of the authority’s ability to score high on the assessments is due to the aging housing stock on which RRHA relies. The authority has plans in the works to redevelop all of the Big Six public housing communities it oversees, but those projects have proceeded very slowly, with only the Creighton Court redevelopment physically underway. [Planning Commission OKs initial master plan for redeveloped Mosby Court South“This is a multiyear project, so the density will be incremental.”![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/99/06/99067822-fdfd-42b1-ab19-555c33eefb89/content/images/icon/apple-touch-icon-1-d4539696-10e1-41b8-b2ef-83bb426658a4.png)The RichmonderSarah Vogelsong![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/99/06/99067822-fdfd-42b1-ab19-555c33eefb89/content/images/thumbnail/Screenshot-2026-05-20-at-4.28.46---PM-72db29cc-09a1-4aae-90f2-5c376f8629fb.png)](https://www.richmonder.org/planning-commission-oks-initial-master-plan-for-redeveloped-mosby-court-south/) “For a Housing Authority that has some of the oldest infrastructure from Miami to the state of Maine that was built in 1939, it is impossible to achieve a High Performer status,” said Nesmith in a statement Friday. Nevertheless, the troubled designation sparked alarm from Mayor Danny Avula, who has made public housing redevelopment a pillar of [his affordable housing plan](https://rva.gov/mayors-office/more-homes-more-people#publichousing). “To me, this designation is very concerning,” Avula wrote in an email yesterday to members of the City Council. While he acknowledged the score was based on 2024 data, he said that “the fact remains that as of June 2024, only 106 public housing authorities nationwide were designated as ‘troubled’ (4.3% of public housing authorities in the United States).” The designation, the mayor warned, “jeopardizes RRHA’s standing with HUD” and could impact both the authority’s plans to move ahead with demolition plans of crumbling public housing buildings or to sell bonds. Nesmith has denied the mayor’s assertions, saying HUD had confirmed to him that the troubled status “has no impact on the agency’s operations.” “There is no impact on the current redevelopment activities of the housing authority’s Big Six redevelopment plans,” he said. “It has no impact on whether the agency can apply for what is known as a Section 18 demolition/disposition application and receive approval. It has no impact on the agency’s tax conduit bond program. … It has no impact on us making applications for competitive grant formula funding. It has no impact on the agency’s ability to receive HUD subsidy.” In a conversation with The Richmonder Friday afternoon, Avula said his administration believes the designation “is a much greater concern than people are giving credence to now.” “What we know is that HUD doesn’t give out the designation of a troubled agency very lightly,” he said. Not only could lenders see the troubled status as a reason to hesitate in working with a housing authority, but it could affect how ready HUD believes a housing authority is to move forward with a redevelopment project, Avula maintained. “I don’t feel like I’m going out on a limb to say this is a big deal,” he said. The mayor said his administration is in the process of setting up a time for members of the City Council and the RRHA Board of Commissioners to discuss the designation. “I’m really urging the RRHA commissioners and our City Council to ask more questions and to really understand what the troubled designation means,” he said. *Contact Reporter Sarah Vogelsong at* [*svogelsong@richmonder.org*](mailto:svogelsong@richmonder.org)