Skip to main content

Department of Housing and Urban Development

Jump To:

Recent Reports

View More Reports

Open Recommendations (78 total)

Data Governance: Agencies Made Progress in Establishing Governance, but Need to Address Key Milestones

GAO-21-152
Show
1 Open Recommendations
Agency Affected Recommendation Status
Department of Housing and Urban Development The Secretary of the Department of Housing and Urban Development should direct the Chief Data Officer to assess current staff data literacy and data skills, conduct a gap analysis between the current staff's skills and the skills the agency requires, and establish a baseline performance plan to close the identified data skills and literacy gaps. (Recommendation 7)
Open
HUD generally agreed with our recommendation. In September 2023, HUD published its Data Maturity Assessment Report, which included an assessment of staff data skills. The report states that to move the agency to the next maturity level in data management, the appropriate data skills are the centerpiece to support HUD's different mission-critical activities. According to the report, the Office of the Chief Data Officer (OCDO) will conduct a data skill gap analysis throughout the agency to understand the gaps in the data skills and the training needed to support program operations effectively and to use data as strategic assets. We will continue to monitor HUD's efforts to assess staff data literacy and skills and to conduct a related gap analysis.

Disaster Recovery: HUD Should Develop Data Collection Guidance to Support Analysis of Block Grant Fraud Risks

GAO-23-104382
Show
1 Open Recommendations
Agency Affected Recommendation Status
Department of Housing and Urban Development The Assistant Secretary for Community Planning and Development should develop guidance for CDBG-DR grantees and subrecipients on collecting complete and consistent data to better support applicant eligibility determinations and fraud risk management. (Recommendation 1)
Open
At the time of the report's issuance, HUD agreed with this recommendation. HUD told GAO that it intended to develop guidance for grantee applicant data collection and provide technical assistance to grantees and subrecipients on best practices for data collection, data format, and personally identifiable information protections. In February 2024, HUD stated that it is working with its Privacy Office to develop training or training materials on data collection, data consistency for data analysis purposes, and protection of personally identifiable information and hoped to complete these actions by September 30, 2024. GAO will continue to monitor HUD's efforts to develop guidance for grantee applicant data collection and provide technical assistance.

Real Estate Assessment Center: HUD Should Improve Physical Inspection Process and Oversight of Inspectors

GAO-19-254
Show
1 Open Recommendations
Agency Affected Recommendation Status
Department of Housing and Urban Development The Deputy Assistant Secretary for the Real Estate Assessment Center should develop comprehensive and organized documentation of REAC's sampling methodology and develop a process to ensure that documentation is maintained going forward. (Recommendation 3)
Open
When we confirm what actions the agency has taken in response to this recommendation, we will provide updated information.

IT Modernization: HUD Needs to Improve Its Estimation and Oversight Practices for Single-Family Housing

GAO-21-459
Show
1 Open Recommendations
Agency Affected Recommendation Status
Department of Housing and Urban Development The Secretary of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) should direct the Federal Housing Administration and the Office of the Chief Information Officer to improve the alignment of FHA Catalyst oversight with leading practices for managing corrective actions including, but not limited to defining when a corrective action is needed and how to address that action; and evaluating oversight practices by assessing conformance with established processes. (Recommendation 8).
Open
HUD agreed with the recommendation and in a November 2021 update stated that there were efforts underway to address the recommendation. Specifically, HUD intended to implement improvements for each of the four program oversight areas. For example, the agency planned to ensure that documented policies were followed and updated to incorporate improvements. In addition, HUD planned to ensure that all projects are appropriately staffed and supported. In October 2022, HUD reported that it has taken steps to address this recommendation. Specifically, an IV&V contract was awarded to assist with tracking the completion of corrective actions, amongst other things. Additional efforts are underway and expected to be completed by 5/31/2023. We will continue to monitor the implementation of this recommendation.

Federal Software Licenses: Agencies Need to Take Action to Achieve Additional Savings

GAO-24-105717
Show
1 Open Recommendations
Agency Affected Recommendation Status
Department of Housing and Urban Development The Secretary of HUD should ensure that the agency compares the inventories of software licenses that are currently in use with information on purchased licenses to identify opportunities to reduce costs and better inform investment decision making for its widely used licenses on a regular basis. At a minimum, it should develop and implement procedures for comparing the inventories of licenses in use to purchase records. (Recommendation 6)
Open
The Department of Housing and Urban Development neither agreed nor disagreed with this recommendation. In comments to the draft report, an Audit Liaison Officer from the Office of the Chief Information Officer stated that it is in process of remediating the issue to develop and implement procedures for comparing the inventories of licenses in use to purchase records. We will continue to monitor the department's efforts to fully implement this recommendation.

Federal Chief Information Officers: Critical Actions Needed to Address Shortcomings and Challenges in Implementing Responsibilities

GAO-18-93
Show
1 Open Recommendations
Agency Affected Recommendation Status
Department of Housing and Urban Development The Secretary of Housing and Urban Development should ensure that the department's IT management policies address the role of the CIO for key responsibilities in the six areas we identified. (Recommendation 11)
Open
HUD did not comment on the recommendation, but has started work to address it. As of August 2023, the department has taken steps to implement the recommendation. Specifically, of the 24 responsibility gaps identified in the report, the agency addressed four responsibilities, partially addressed four of the responsibilities, and has not addressed 16 of them. We will continue to monitor the steps the agency takes to address these requirements.

Homelessness: Enhanced Coordination Could Improve Disaster Shelter and Housing Assistance

GAO-23-105379
Show
1 Open Recommendations
Agency Affected Recommendation Status
Department of Housing and Urban Development The Secretary of Housing and Urban Development should ensure that the Assistant Secretary for Community Planning and Development establishes specific time frames for conducting a review of the use of waivers and alternative requirements provided for ESG-CV and the lessons learned that would inform their future use for disasters. Such a review should include an assessment of both the effectiveness of the waivers and alternative requirements in benefitting the homeless population and its providers and the risks such waivers may have posed. (Recommendation 1)
Open
HUD's Office of Community Planning and Development noted that HUD staff continuously evaluate the impact of waivers for future use in disaster planning and response as part of its efforts to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of HUD programs. With respect to ESG-CV funding, in September 2023, HUD noted that recipients must make final draws of ESG-CV funds by April 30, 2024, meaning waivers and alternative requirements will still be in use in many communities until then. HUD CPD officials said that as part of its work to update the ESG program interim rule, it plans to assess the effectiveness of waivers and alternative requirements to benefit people experiencing homelessness and other recipients as well as the potential risks or complications the waivers may create. However, HUD did not provide any timeframes for doing so. GAO will continue to follow up on this matter.

Data Governance: Agencies Made Progress in Establishing Governance, but Need to Address Key Milestones

GAO-21-152
Show
1 Open Recommendations
Agency Affected Recommendation Status
Department of Housing and Urban Development The Secretary of the Department of Housing and Urban Development should direct the Chief Financial Officer to develop and include a description of the controls for the <i>Award Description</i> data element—specifically the agency's significant milestones and major decisions pertaining to the use of plain English descriptions for describing the purpose of its awards—in the next data quality plan update. (Recommendation 8)
Open
HUD generally agreed with our recommendation. In June 2022, HUD told us they had conducted a preliminary analysis and concluded that there is currently no standardization of the award description data element available in their grant management process. In February 2023, HUD told us The DATA Act Senior Accountable Official (SAO) is taking an iterative approach to develop solutions that enable HUD to strengthen compliance with OMB's award description requirements. The initial scope of the initiative included programs that received American Rescue Plan (ARP) funding. In October 2022, the DATA Act SAO defined two data collection processes, based on a standardized schema, for the Programs to submit the award description information in five discrete data fields, which aligns to the OMB prescribed award description data elements. These data collections schemas are integrated with the existing HUD Financial Assistance Broker Submission (FABS) reporting process. The next phase of the Award Description Data Quality Improvement Initiative to include non-loan financial assistance types is under way and will continue to move forward in FY23 and FY24. HUD will continue to incorporate updates related to this finding into its Data Quality Approach and Plan (DQP). The publication of the FY23 DQP is anticipated in June 2023. We will continue to monitor HUD's efforts to update its data quality plan.

Disaster Recovery: HUD Should Develop Data Collection Guidance to Support Analysis of Block Grant Fraud Risks

GAO-23-104382
Show
1 Open Recommendations
Agency Affected Recommendation Status
Department of Housing and Urban Development The Assistant Secretary for Community Planning and Development should update the Monitoring Handbook for Disaster Recovery Community Development Block Grant monitoring activities to provide additional guidance in the selection of contracts for review. This should include factors such as contractors that present increased risk to the CDBG-DR environment, including those where allegations of fraud, waste, or abuse have been made. (Recommendation 2)
Open
At the time the report's issuance, HUD neither agreed nor disagreed with this recommendation. HUD maintained that fraud data analytics are led at the department level. HUD also stated it planned to initiate a fraud risk management process over the next 12 months that involves oversight from the department's Chief Risk Officer. In February 2024, HUD told GAO that it is communicating with the HUD Office of Inspector General to collaborate on a fraud risk training session, tentatively scheduled for May 2024. Additionally, HUD stated it plans to provide one-on-one fraud risk technical assistance and intends to do so by the end of FY2024 or early FY2025. GAO will continue to monitor HUD's efforts to provide additional monitoring guidance.

Real Estate Assessment Center: HUD Should Improve Physical Inspection Process and Oversight of Inspectors

GAO-19-254
Show
1 Open Recommendations
Agency Affected Recommendation Status
Department of Housing and Urban Development The Deputy Assistant Secretary for the Real Estate Assessment Center should track on a routine basis whether REAC is conducting inspections of multifamily housing properties in accordance with federal guidelines for scheduling and coordinate with the Deputy Assistant Secretary for Multifamily Housing to minimize the number of properties that can cancel or reschedule their physical inspections. (Recommendation 4)
Open
When we confirm what actions the agency has taken in response to this recommendation, we will provide updated information.
View More Recommendations

Related Pages