Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO provided information on the Government National Mortgage Association’s (GNMA) activities, focusing on: (1) its mission objectives; and (2) recent management and issuer oversight problems and solutions. GAO found that: (1) although the GNMA mission of financing low- and moderate-income housing has essentially remained the same, GNMA activities have significantly changed; (2) declining real estate markets, flawed federal mortgage programs, changes in home loan mortgage guaranty practices, and GNMA issuers’ nonpayment have left GNMA vulnerable to financial loss and created management problems; (3) since 1988, GNMA has undertaken several initiatives to improve its oversight of the mortgage-backed security program and dispose of assets acquired from defaulted issuers; (4) GNMA relies on contractors to monitor issuer and default payments, operate management information systems, and manage and dispose of acquired assets because it does not have adequate authority to increase its staffing levels; and (5) increased reliance on contractors and Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) staffing constraints have raised concerns over GNMA ability to monitor contractors and to respond to future management challenges.
