BOSTON — Mayoral candidate Josh Kraft criticized the Wu administration’s handling of what he called “deplorable conditions” found by a federal audit of Boston Housing Authority homes Wednesday — to which the Wu campaign responded he should be “ashamed of misleading the public.”

“In February, the federal Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) released a scathing audit of how BHA has been spending its rental assistance dollars,” said Kraft. “It found problems with 31 of 36 homes inspected by the Office of the Inspector General (OIG), and four months later, as federal support continues to shrink, it seems that nothing has changed here at home.”

Kraft, who held a press conference outside of the Mildred Hailey apartments in Jamaica Plain flanked by residents and community members, cited the OIG audit of BHA’s public housing program released in February.

The audit, Kraft cited, shows BHA failed to perform 37 required inspections in fiscal years 2022 and 2023. In a sample of 31 homes with identified issues — out of 36 total inspected by the OIG — over half had the same problems as in a previous inspection and over a third had “life-threatening deficiencies that needed to be corrected within 24 hours.”

The audit period covered inspections and other data from April 1, 2019, through March 31, 2023, though it was partially extended through August 2023, according to the OIG report. Wu’s mayoral term began in November 2021.

The Wu campaign vehemently pushed back on Kraft’s claims Wednesday.

“Under Mayor Wu, the BHA has fully overhauled its maintenance systems and leadership since the data reflected in the HUD OIG report, cutting its open work orders by more than 90% in the last 9 months,” a Wu campaign spokesperson said. “Every single maintenance issue mentioned in the OIG report has been resolved.”

Kraft claimed Wednesday the inspection issues “in most cases still have not been addressed over the past 24 months.”

The incumbent campaign argued Wu has “invested more city dollars” into housing than any Boston mayor and stated BHA properties have scored an average 95 of 100 in 2025 HUD inspections.

“Josh Kraft can’t be bothered to learn about the hard work of the people who already show up to serve Boston’s public housing communities every day; he shouldn’t be trusted to lead them,” said the Wu campaign.

Kraft described living conditions including missing smoke and carbon monoxide detectors, blocked exits, and a specific instance of broken elevators at the Ruth Barkley Apartments resulting in elderly and disabled resident sleeping in wheelchairs, climbing up to seven flights of stairs and being temporarily relocated to hotels.

The Wu campaign said over $60 million was invested in the Mildred Hailey for hundreds of new units, a community center, play area and more opening within coming months. At Ruth Barkley, the spokesperson said, the city has invested in the “long-deferred modernization of ten critical elevators.”

The Trump administration announced plans to cut the federal rental housing funds by 40% last month, Kraft said, “effectively ending the Section 8 housing program” for at least 8,000 Boston households.

Kraft said he would take steps including “hiring qualified city staff” and “working closely with disadvantaged communities.”

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