ST. CROIX — Senator Marvin Blyden has given the Virgin Islands Housing Finance Authority until October 8 to provide detailed information about the programs and funding affected by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s suspension of the agency.
If VIHFA does not comply, Blyden said he will begin proceedings to subpoena its officials and records.
Blyden, chair of the Committee on Housing, Transportation and Telecommunications, made the demand in a letter dated October 2 to VIHFA Executive Director Derek Gabriel. He called it “the final opportunity for voluntary compliance.” If VIHFA fails to provide a complete and legally sufficient response, Blyden wrote that he will initiate proceedings for subpoenas compelling the appearance of appropriate VIHFA officials and the production of the requested records under the Legislature’s investigative authority in Section 6(g) of the Revised Organic Act, codified at 48 U.S.C. § 1572(g).
Gabriel declined comment when contacted by WTJX.
Blyden is seeking information in light of HUD’s suspension of VIHFA from future federal procurement and nonprocurement transactions pending an investigation. He wants to know which programs, nonprofit organizations, and beneficiaries could lose federal funding or see it disrupted, and what that would mean for Virgin Islanders who depend on those services.
Although the fiscal year 2027 budget has passed, Blyden told WTJX that the information remains relevant because the Legislature can provide local funding to affected entities through a supplemental budget.
“It’s never too late,” he said.
Blyden requested information from VIHFA in a letter dated July 20, according to a legal opinion from the VI Legislature. However, VIHFA did not provide all of the requested information or identify a specific legal basis for withholding it.
After Blyden followed up on August 5, VIHFA responded August 10 that certain information had to remain confidential during the suspension and related investigative activity. The opinion says VIHFA again did not identify the legal basis or scope of the restriction. The Legislature’s Office of Legislative Legal Counsel opined that VIHFA had not established a legally sufficient basis to withhold information the committee previously requested.
The Committee on Housing, Transportation and Telecommunications is now directing VIHFA to provide a complete written response to the requests contained in the July 20 and August 5 letters by 5 p.m. October 8.
The letter asks VIHFA to provide eight categories of information, to the extent presently available.
The committee wants a complete list of programs, projects, activities, grants, cooperative agreements, federal awards, government entities, nonprofits, contractors, and subrecipients affected or potentially affected by the suspension.
For each affected or potentially affected award, the committee wants the original award amount, amount obligated, amount expended, undisbursed balance, funding source, and amount presently at risk.
The committee also wants the status of VIHFA’s access to federal payment and drawdown systems and information about any payment hold, stop-work directive, special condition, termination notice, or other restriction.
Blyden is seeking the status of approved projects, contracts, agreements, and commitments, including those requiring future federal action, as well as information about the suspension’s effects on homeowners, renters, applicants, contractors, nonprofits, subrecipients, and other intended beneficiaries.
The committee also wants the procedural status of VIHFA’s challenge or appeal of the suspension, including applicable deadlines, relief requested, and any exception, waiver, or administrative agreement being pursued.
The remaining requests concern corrective measures already taken or still outstanding, the officials responsible for implementing them, and applicable deadlines, as well as material correspondence from HUD or other federal agencies concerning the suspension.
HUD provided notice on July 20 that VIHFA was suspended from future participation in covered federal procurement and nonprocurement transactions throughout the executive branch pending an investigation. According to the legal opinion, the notice cited alleged financial-management and internal-control failures and gave VIHFA procedures to contest the suspension.
The legal opinion, dated September 30, concluded that VIHFA had not identified a legally sufficient basis for withholding the requested information in full. It said neither HUD’s notice nor the federal suspension regulations impose a blanket nondisclosure obligation on VIHFA for independently maintained programmatic, financial, or operational information. It also said the notice does not prohibit VIHFA from disclosing the identity or status of affected programs, grants, projects or activities, or the nonidentifying effects on beneficiaries.
The opinion acknowledged that some information may be protected, including qualifying attorney-client communications, litigation work product, personally identifiable information made confidential by law, and information subject to a binding court order or lawful federal nondisclosure directive. But it said protected material does not make an entire document or category of information confidential, and that underlying facts do not become privileged simply because an attorney reviewed them.
Blyden’s letter says VIHFA was invited to appear before the committee at its September 30 hearing but declined, citing primarily confidentiality concerns regarding the HUD matter and Gabriel’s absence from the territory.
If VIHFA withholds or redacts information, Blyden said it must provide a written withholding log identifying the information withheld, the precise legal authority relied upon, why that authority applies, and whether the remainder of the document or response was produced. He noted that redactions must be narrowly tailored, and all nonprotected portions must be produced.
If requested information is unavailable or incomplete, VIHFA must provide what is currently available, identify what remains outstanding, explain why it has not been completed, and provide a firm date for supplementation.
Blyden also said sensitive information that is not legally prohibited from disclosure may be submitted confidentially to the committee or presented during a confidential briefing.
“The Committee remains willing to protect legitimately privileged and confidential information,” Blyden wrote. “What it cannot accept is the continued withholding of nonprotected information concerning public funds, public programs, public projects, and their effects upon the people of the Virgin Islands.”
