Rental Housing:
Use of Smaller Market Areas to Set Rent Subsidy Levels Has Drawbacks
RCED-94-112: Published: Jun 24, 1994. Publicly Released: Jun 24, 1994.
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Pursuant to a legislative requirement, GAO reviewed Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) section 8 housing subsidies, focusing on the effects of basing rental subsidy payments on smaller market areas.
GAO found that: (1) establishing fair market rents on the basis of smaller market areas would more closely reflect rents within those areas and increase housing choices for assisted households; (2) the cost of collecting the additional data needed to accurately determine and update fair market rents could range up to $750 million annually; (3) individual household costs could increase and fewer households will be served by the Section 8 program unless HUD increases the program's total funding; (4) HUD costs could increase if assisted households move from market areas where the fair market rents are the most advantageous; (5) the decrease in fair market rents could restrict assisted households' housing choices; (6) using smaller market areas to set fair market rents may have little effect on households' access to employment or educational opportunities because public transportation is available in many areas; (7) there is insufficient evidence to estimate whether setting fair market rent levels on smaller markets would have an inflationary effect on marketwide rental rates; and (8) the presence of a housing subsidy does not increase rents for the market as a whole.
Dec 16, 2020
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Lead Paint in Housing:
HUD Has Not Identified High-Risk Project-Based Rental Assistance PropertiesGAO-21-55: Published: Dec 16, 2020. Publicly Released: Dec 16, 2020.
Dec 15, 2020
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Disaster Housing:
Improved Cost Data and Guidance Would Aid FEMA Activation DecisionsGAO-21-116: Published: Dec 15, 2020. Publicly Released: Dec 15, 2020.
Dec 8, 2020
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Troubled Asset Relief Program:
Treasury Continues Winding Down Housing ProgramsGAO-21-39: Published: Dec 8, 2020. Publicly Released: Dec 8, 2020.
Aug 13, 2020
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Homelessness:
Better HUD Oversight of Data Collection Could Improve Estimates of Homeless PopulationGAO-20-433: Published: Jul 14, 2020. Publicly Released: Aug 13, 2020.
Jul 29, 2020
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Crumbling Foundations:
Extent of Homes with Defective Concrete Is Not Fully Known and Federal Options to Aid Homeowners Are LimitedGAO-20-649: Published: Jul 29, 2020. Publicly Released: Jul 29, 2020.
Jul 27, 2020
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Housing:
Preliminary Analysis of Homeownership Trends for Nine CitiesGAO-20-544R: Published: Jun 25, 2020. Publicly Released: Jul 27, 2020.
Jun 26, 2020
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Rental Housing:
As More Households Rent, the Poorest Face Affordability and Housing Quality ChallengesGAO-20-427: Published: May 27, 2020. Publicly Released: Jun 26, 2020.
Apr 30, 2020
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Priority Open Recommendations:
Department of Housing and Urban DevelopmentGAO-20-500PR: Published: Apr 23, 2020. Publicly Released: Apr 30, 2020.
Mar 17, 2020
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Working Capital Fund:
HUD Could Improve Management to Better Achieve Efficiencies and Help Ensure Customer SatisfactionGAO-20-263: Published: Mar 17, 2020. Publicly Released: Mar 17, 2020.
Mar 3, 2020
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Military Housing:
Preliminary Recommendations to Strengthen DOD's Oversight and Monitoring of Privatized HousingGAO-20-471T: Published: Mar 3, 2020. Publicly Released: Mar 3, 2020.
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