Priority Open Recommendations: Department of Housing and Urban Development
Fast Facts
Each year, we make more than 1,000 recommendations to help improve the federal government. We alert department heads to where they can save the most money, address issues on our High Risk List, or significantly improve government operations.
This report outlines 11 priority open recommendations for the Department of Housing and Urban Development as of June 2022. For example, developing and implementing a plan to share information with FEMA and the Small Business Administration would help HUD address disaster recovery barriers.
Since our previous letter in June 2021, HUD implemented 4 of our priority recommendations.
Highlights
What GAO Found
In June 2021, GAO identified 13 priority recommendations for the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD). Since then, HUD has implemented four of those recommendations by, among other things, upgrading its information system to track the use of Moving to Work program funds and establishing a risk-management strategy and procedures for addressing risks to HUD business objectives. In June 2022, GAO identified two additional priority recommendations for HUD, bringing the total number to 11. These recommendations involve the following areas:
- Disaster recovery barriers
- Real Estate Assessment Center's physical inspection process
- Ginnie Mae's risk management and staffing-related challenges
- Processes to address lead paint hazards
- Oversight of Moving to Work
- IT management
HUD's continued attention to these issues could lead to significant improvements in government operations.
Why GAO Did This Study
Priority open recommendations are the GAO recommendations that warrant priority attention from heads of key departments or agencies because their implementation could save large amounts of money; improve congressional and/or executive branch decision-making on major issues; eliminate mismanagement, fraud, and abuse; or ensure that programs comply with laws and funds are legally spent, among other benefits. Since 2015 GAO has sent letters to selected agencies to highlight the importance of implementing such recommendations.
For more information, contact Daniel Garcia-Diaz at (202) 512-8678 or garciadiazd@gao.gov.