''I've always prided myself on being a straight shooter and very ethical,'' Warren said. ``I'm not going to stake my reputation or the reputation of this county on the line for a favor.''

Her agency is reviewing hundreds of lots in the county's troubled infill-housing program, which allows builders to acquire land cheaply to build homes that are sold below market value to low- and moderate-income families.

''This will include a recapture of money,'' Curry said.

Until recently, few homes were built through the infill program despite millions of taxpayer dollars going to developers. Even when houses were built, some developers bypassed the poor to sell to real-estate investors, buyers who owned more than one property or families who flipped the houses for a quick profit.

Developer Oscar Rivero was charged by the state attorney in October with using the agency's money to buy himself a South Miami house. Others are still being investigated.

Since September, 19 infill homes have been finished. The agency is trying to reclaim title to 59 of the 317 lots remaining in the program - 12 were voluntarily returned, 28 are being appealed by the developer, and the county is taking legal action to take the 19 others. At the remaining 258 lots, developers are being given strict timetables, according to Burgess' memo. About 124 of them are expected to be finished by July.

''I'm very confident we are moving in the right direction,'' said Mayor Carlos Alvarez. 'The whole agency needed to be gone through with a fine-tooth comb." Burgess' memo listed dozens of improvements, large and small, in the housing agency, including:

• Reviewing hundreds of lots across the county that could be used to build affordable housing. • Finalizing guidelines for a new $9 million subsidy program designed to help residents move out of public housing by providing one-time fees such as security and utility deposits. • Repairing or issuing contracts to repair $13 million in roof damage caused by Hurricane Wilma at 19 public-housing sites. • Reviewing staff use of cellphones, pagers, credit cards and cars; 57 phones have already been cut. • Removing a glass barrier and armed security guard at the public-housing application center, ``to facilitate a customer friendly environment.''

But some long-neglected programs will continue to hobble the housing agency, perhaps for years.

In addition to the infill developers fighting to keep their projects, numerous contracts for other affordable-housing projects are troubled. The county wants to recapture $600,000 from two of those contracts, but others are too far along in construction to cancel, according to Burgess' memo.

Hundreds of families forced out of Scott-Carver about 2001 are still off the county's radar, not living at the last address in government records.

Alvarez declined to set concrete short-term goals, except to say that he expects "drastic, noticeable, concrete changes" during 2007. He hopes to forecast a target number of new units when he meets with Burgess and Warren early next year.

''The problem is of such a magnitude,'' he said. ``I don't think anyone can say 100, 200, 400.''

He promised that Warren will have ``whatever support she needs to accomplish her mission.''

``The county is reaching out to make sure the Housing Agency does not fall apart, " Warren said. ``There will be a whole change in the agency's dynamic.''