FHA insures lenders against losses on mortgages for single-family homes. As a result, 71 field offices still have single-family staff. Centers Have Found It Difficult to Use and Supervise Field Office Staff Effectively

Because the location of center field office staff was determined more by the location of staff who remained unassigned after the 2020 reorganization than by the centers’ needs, the centers have had difficulty making effective use of staff that remain in field offices. Timing Limits Effective Use of Training Funds

The centers have found it difficult to use their training funds effectively because HUD provided them late in the fiscal year and pulled some funds back before they could be used. The Centers Make Extensive Use of Contractors, but Monitoring Has Been a Significant Challenge

The centers’ reliance on contractors has grown, but the ability of HUD staff to monitor contractors has not kept pace. Centers Have Expanded Their Use of Contractors

Because of increases in the centers’ responsibilities and staff shortages, HUD is using contractors more than it projected in its 2020 plan. Recommendations for Executive Action

To address the human capital challenges facing HUD’s homeownership centers, we recommend that the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development direct the Assistant Secretary for Housing-Federal Housing Commissioner to   assess the deployment of the centers’ workforce in light of current organizational needs, develop a plan for locating center staff where they are needed, and deploy the staff accordingly;   develop a training curriculum for center staff that ensures that available training funds are allocated and used to develop the skills that the staff need to perform their responsibilities; and   use tools, such as our human capital self-assessment checklist, to develop a strategic human capital management plan for the homeownership centers that considers all areas of human capital management, including the size of the workforce, workforce deployment, training, and oversight of contractors. We reviewed HUD’s 2020 Management Reform Plan and supporting documents. Key contributors to this report are listed in appendix V.

Appendix I: Objectives, Scope, and Methodology

Our objectives were to examine (1) the deployment of staff at the Department of Housing and Urban Development’s (HUD) homeownership centers, (2) the training provided to center staff, and (3) the centers’ monitoring of their contractors. Homeownership: Results of and Challenges Faced by FHA’s Single-Family Mortgage Insurance Program (GAO/T-RCED-99-133, Mar.
Why GAO Did This Study

The Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), through the Federal Housing Administration (FHA), insures billions of dollars in home mortgage loans made by private lenders. HUD's 2020 Management Reform Plan, issued in 1997, sought to downsize and reform the agency, including its single-family mortgage insurance program. As part of its 2020 plan, HUD consolidated the single-family program's field activities at four new regional homeownership centers and specified resources for the centers. Although HUD has substantially streamlined FHA's single-family mortgage insurance programs, human capital issues remain a concern. This report reviews HUD's implementation of the homeownership center concept under the 2020 plan, focusing on (1) the deployment of center staff, (2) the training provided to the center staff, and (3) the centers' monitoring of contractors.

What GAO Found

GAO found that nearly half of the centers' staff remain in 71 field offices across the country, even though HUD envisioned that only a third of the staff would stay in the field offices. The deployment of staff across the centers is not consistent with their workload, and, as a result, the centers are having trouble supervising and making effective use of staff. GAO also found that HUD has not developed a standardized training curriculum for center staff. The centers have had difficulty using their training funds effectively because HUD provided them late in the fiscal year and then pulled back some funds before they could be used. Finally, increased responsibilities and staff shortage have caused the centers to expand their use of contractors. However, the centers' ability to monitor contractors has not kept pace with their growing reliance on them.