May Editorial Winner

GPIF settlement still leaves lots of unanswered questions

By David Stringer, The Lawton Constitution

At least one chapter of the sad demise of the Great Plains Improvement Foundation came to a close last week as the City of Lawton settled a claim related to Section 8 properties that were improperly sold by the foundation.

It’s a complicated mess, but the gist of it is GPIF owned the properties and the city was the transfer-ring entity which moved federally-designated funds for low income housing to the foundation to sup-port the program’s goals. One of the restrictions of taking those monies was the properties couldn’t be sold without permission from the city. The City of Lawton held liens on the properties through HUD-backed mortgages.

When a lien’s filed, there’s supposed to be a re-cord at the county. When a property is involved in a sale, it’s routine that the buyer’s representatives  (or lender) check the title over to make sure there are no liens and that the title is free and clear. If you’ve ever bought or sold property, you know the drill. 

It’s frequently frustrating, but necessary, for both buyers and sellers. It’s necessary to prevent exactly this type of situation from happening. Generally, you’ve also got title insurance that verifies the property was free of liens and there were no claims that would infringe on the buyer’s ownership.

Somehow, some way, portions of that well-established process broke down. 

How it happened and what caused it has yet to be fully explained.

The city filed suit over the sale of the seven properties and the settlement recovers over $174,000 in funds in return for dropping the action.

The GPIF surrendered its role as a community action agency in the spring of 2024 and folded its tent last July. The seven properties in question were sold in June. The State of Oklahoma’s Department of Commerce had issued some evaluations of the organization which were critical of some of its financial reporting.

GPIF’s closure had impacts on other programs as well, including the C. Carter Crane Shelter for the Homeless which faced shutdown as much of its funding came through the foundation in various forms.

As mentioned above, lots of questions remain. Unfortunately, staff and board members we at-tempted to speak to last summer were notably silent. Numerous attempts were made to get their side of the story and responses were largely non-existent. We found that disturbing since a significant portion of the foundation’s operations were funded through tax dollars. When that happens, organizations should commit to some degree of transparency. Stonewalling when questions are asked doesn’t fit the bill, in our estimation.

Other entities have stepped in to fill the void left by GPIF’s dissolving, and we’re always thankful to those who see a need and step up to take care of things in case of an emergency like this. And we assume last week’s settlement means the City of Lawton won’t be on the hook to return those federal funds. And those are both good things.

Still, it just seems like a situation that should never have occurred and that some amount of explanation should be expected.