A Department of Housing and Urban Development staffer tasked with sourcing affordable home solutions is asking for help buying his home.
Benjamin Hobbs, the assistant secretary for public and Indian housing, has listed a donations pot for a down payment on a house as part of his Zola wedding registry. While not an out-there request, with the Washington Post reporting 87% of Zola customers asking for some form of cash gift and a further 39% specifically for a house down payment, an ethics board believes Hobbs' request could be a breach.
Because Hobbs is a government employee, ethics experts believe the request could be a chance for those wanting to curry favor with the department to get closer to the team.
Those experts warned that Hobbs' request could contradict his role overseeing affordable housing programs for the disabled, seniors, low-income families, and Native Americans.
Experts worry outsider parties could lobby Hobbs through his donation link, WaPo journalist Rachel Siegel wrote. Siegel notes there was no "password requirement to access Hobbs' wedding registry when sent a link."
Siegel added, "People trying to curry favor — lobbyists, politicians — could donate to the housing fund, the experts said. Current and former HUD staffers also noted it can also be hard to vet donations if people donate under a spouse’s name."
Robbie Myers, HUD’s deputy assistant secretary for strategic communications, said, "Thanks to the largest tax cut for working families in American history, Mr. Hobbs now has confidence in the housing market, and if family and friends wish to help his pursuit of the American Dream, they are welcome to do so as ethics has approved such gifts for a once-in-a-lifetime joyous occasion."
Dylan Hedtler-Gaudette, acting vice president of policy and government affairs at the Project on Government Oversight, called for government officials to be "extra vigilant."
Hedtler-Gaudette added, "You have to be extra careful, almost paranoid, about the various means and modes someone might try to influence you, even if they aren’t telling you that’s what they’re doing."