Reports & Testimonies

People experiencing homelessness, who may be in shelters or living on the streets, may be vulnerable and most severely affected by disasters like hurricanes. Two federal agencies—the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) and Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA)—provide funding to state and local governments that can help assist the homeless population during a disaster. However, HUD and FEMA don't regularly work together on...

Each year, we make more than 1,000 recommendations to help the federal government save money, address issues on our High Risk List, and significantly improve government operations. This letter to the Department of Housing and Urban Development outlines 11 open recommendations to prioritize. For example, HUD's "Point-in-Time" counts may underestimate the number of persons experiencing homelessness and may not accurately reflect changes in this population...

Private-sector companies own and operate about 99% of homes at U.S. military installations. Laws put in place since 2019 increased DOD's responsibilities to oversee this housing. DOD has taken steps to address requirements but could do more. For example, DOD: Provided residents with a formal dispute resolution process and access to a tenant advocate, but should improve advocates' training, provide residents better information, and solicit...

We audit the Federal Housing Finance Agency's financial statements every year. During our 2022 audit, we identified issues with FHFA's internal controls related to the processing of personnel and payroll information. Internal controls are processes to reasonably assure that transactions are properly authorized and recorded. Specifically, we found instances where FHFA: Recorded the wrong employee benefits (i.e., life insurance and retirement plan) information Paid an...

Finding affordable, accessible rental housing can be difficult for low-income households that have a family member with a disability. The Department of Housing and Urban Development has rental assistance programs that can help. But a lot of affordable housing is aging and has to be modified to work for these families. We looked at HUD's rental assistance programs, how many households with disabilities they served...

Through the $46 billion Emergency Rental Assistance program, the Department of the Treasury helps those who can't pay rent due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Third party studies and eviction data suggest that the program has helped limit evictions. But Treasury doesn't have complete data on payments or recipients. For example, Treasury is missing data on 26% of payments made to households in 2021. In addition...

Hurricanes and wildfires affected millions of people in the U.S. and its territories in 2017 and 2018—and the U.S. government provided billions of dollars in grants to help with recovery efforts. But funding for housing activities—such as home repairs—has been slow to reach affected communities. As of July 2022, states and territories that received the vast majority of the grants had disbursed only 28% of...

The Federal Housing Finance Agency's goal is to keep the housing finance system healthy by supervising and regulating Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, and the Federal Home Loan Bank System. The agency spent $338.4 million in FY 2022 to do its work. We audit and issue opinions annually on the agency's financial statements and on related internal controls (e.g., processes to reasonably assure that transactions are...

After a major disaster, survivors can apply for the Federal Emergency Management Administration's Individuals and Households program for temporary housing or home repair funds. Of the 2.7 million applicants from Jan. 2018-Nov. 2021, FEMA authorized housing inspections (to determine eligibility) for about half of them. FEMA has taken steps to improve its housing inspections process. Since an Apr. 2020 streamlining effort, FEMA's inspectors are using...

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement can, under certain circumstances, place detained noncitizens in segregated housing—one to two person cells separate from the general population. There were 14,581 such placements from FYs 2017-2021. ICE oversees segregated housing, and also monitors placements involving vulnerable persons—e.g., those with medical or mental health conditions. But it relies on reports and data that don't always have enough detail about the...

As part of FY22 appropriations, Members of Congress could request to designate a certain amount of federal funding for specific projects in their communities. While agencies often have discretion over how they award funds, Congress has directed them to distribute these funds to designated recipients. We're tracking the funds to help ensure transparency. Department of Housing and Urban Development's FY22 appropriations included $1.5 billion for...

As the number of women veterans has grown—to about 2 million in FY2021—so have concerns about homelessness in this population. A VA program helps women—and other veterans facing homelessness—get services such as emergency housing and child care from a network of service providers. VA collects feedback from veterans about the program and has used it to make improvements that may be especially helpful for women...

The U.S. Interagency Council on Homelessness, which consists of a full-time staff and representatives from 19 federal agencies, coordinates federal efforts and partnerships to prevent and end homelessness. We found that this agency didn't have documented policies and procedures to meet its statutory requirements—including those related to annually updating its strategic plan and communicating with Congress and other stakeholders. We recommended that the agency develop...

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...

The Department of Veterans Affairs has made few loans under the Native American Direct Loan program, which provides loans to eligible Native American veterans for buying, building, or fixing up homes on certain types of land. VA is working to improve the program, such as by dedicating staff to work full-time on it. But VA hasn't collected certain useful information related to program outreach or...

Private-sector companies own and operate about 99% of homes on military installations in the United States. We've looked at how DOD monitors privatized housing, in light of concerns about poor conditions—including mold and pests. Since 2018, we've made 30 recommendations to help DOD improve its oversight of privatized military housing. We testified about the actions DOD has taken so far—such as increasing inspections of homes...

Congress funded $47 billion in grants for renters unable to pay rent or utilities during the COVID-19 pandemic. Treasury disbursed the grants to state and local governments, which then paid renters, landlords, and utility providers. To expedite payments, Treasury introduced flexibilities—for example, allowing renters to self-attest their eligibility instead of providing documentation when applying for funds. But, Treasury hasn't implemented monitoring procedures needed to manage...