Native American Housing: Homeownership Opportunities on Trust Lands Are Limited

Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO reviewed the homeownership opportunities for Native Americans on trust lands through private, conventional lending, focusing on: (1) the number of conventional home purchase loans private lenders made to Native Americans on trust lands; (2) the major barriers to conventional home purchase lending to Native Americans on trust lands; (3) efforts to facilitate conventional home purchase lending to Native Americans on trust lands; (4) whether the implementation of the Native American Housing Assistance and Self-Determination Act of 1996 will result in more conventional home purchase loans being made to Native Americans on trust lands; and (5) whether the backlog at the Bureau of Indian Affairs of requests for certifying documents affecting the legal status of the trust lands has been a deterrent to conventional home purchase lending to Native Americans.