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FYI: The HIV/AIDS Services Administration has said it will begin using formal contracts with landlords providing emergency housing, rather than continuing to rely on less enforceable “memorandums of understanding,” according to Housing Works. AIDS housing advocates and intergovernmental watchdogs alike have long complained that HASA’s failure to follow strict contracting rules leaves its clients open to fraud and neglect from crooked slumlords looking to cash in on the agency’s lucrative emergency housing deals. Earlier this month, the comptroller’s office issued an audit of the Department of Homeless Service’s own problems with emergency housing deals, prompting DHS and the mayor’s office to promise to switch to more formal arrangements that facilitate accountability. Last week, according to Housing Works, HASA officials said they would also make the switch. [10/16/03]