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 the recommendations where they can save the most money, address issues on our High Risk List, or significantly improve government operations.
This report outlines our 9 priority open recommendations for the Department of Housing and Urban Development as of April 2019.
For example, 3 priority recommendations call for improvements in HUD’s efforts to identify and address lead paint hazards in low-income housing.
Since our previous letter in March 2018, HUD implemented 2 of our priority recommendations.
Graphic showing that this report discusses GAO's 2019 priority recommendations for the Department of Housing and Urban Development
Highlights
What GAO Found
In March 2018, GAO identified four priority recommendations for the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD). Since then, HUD has implemented two of those recommendations by, among other things, takings actions to improve oversight of federal awards and mitigate losses on troubled mortgages.
In April 2019, GAO identified seven additional priority recommendations to HUD, bringing the total number to nine. These recommendations involve the following areas:
- Improving information technology management.
- Strengthening processes to address lead paint hazards.
- Enhancing oversight of the Moving to Work demonstration.
HUD’s continued attention to these issues could lead to significant improvements in government operations.
Why GAO Did This Study
Priority recommendations are open 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) 512-4529 or garciadiazd@gao.gov.