Limits on housing director’s role ‘unprecedented’ situation

Amy Hovey, who began job in January after delay, to be walled o against con icts of interest

e newly installed leader of Michigan’s housing agency is walled o from working on one of the core mechanisms used for a ordable rental housing due to concerns about con icts of interest.

e dynamic makes for an “unprecedented” situation, housing experts say, but are quick to note that the sta that’s already in place at the Michigan State Housing Development Authority means that it should largely be business as usual at the agency that administers the state’s various housing initiatives.

ose initiatives are taking on a larger role as policymakers in Lansing increasingly make the develop- ment of more housing a top priority around the state.

Amy Hovey, the new executive director of MSHDA, brings a lengthy resume that includes years of housing development experience. In an interview with Crain’s last week, Hovey said that the policies that have been enacted to ensure that neither she nor her family bene t from the programs o ered by the agency — particularly one federal tax credit program from which she’s rewalled from working on — will not dampen MSHDA’s ability to provide housing incentives.

“I get people’s concerns,” Hovey said, noting that it’s only one program in which she’s unable to have direct involvement, and MSHDA sta can address granular issues that may come up. “If folks do have issues with it, we’ve got an open door. We’re going to be as transparent as we possibly can. We want to alleviate people’s concerns.”

Hovey o cially took the helm of MSHDA last month, more than a year after having been named to the job. e delay stemmed from Hovey’s husband and father-in-law having worked on housing development programs that used federal funding administered by MSHDA.

O cials from the state agency say