Housing Chief Resigns Over Conflict of Interest

The head of the Ansonia Housing Authority in Connecticut had been collecting rent from a Section 8 unit he owned, in direct conflict with housing authority regulations, according to a spokesperson for the New England office of HUD.

James Finnucan, director of the authority, resigned from his $104,900 job on Dec. 28, three months after the housing authority informed HUD of the conflict of interest. HUD spokesperson Rhonda Siciliano said the housing authority also told HUD that Gary Merlone, a former member of its Board of Commissioners, had also been collecting Section 8 rent as a landlord.

Siciliano said that a letter had been sent to housing authority officials advising them that they should not place residents at properties owned by Finnucan or Merlone for one year.