New GAO report: Home Affordable program needs to be more transparent, accountable

The U.S Government Accountability Office released a report yesterday calling on the Treasury to make the administration’s Home Affordable Modification Program (HAMP) more transparent and accountable. The 68-page report is the sixth in a series of reports issued by the GAO analyzing the effectiveness of the Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP). The report includes the following recommendations:

1. consider methods for monitoring compliance with and the effectiveness of its counseling requirement;
2. reevaluate the basis and design for Home Price Decline Protection (HPDP) program;
3. regularly update assumptions and projections underlying the estimated number of borrowers likely to be helped by HAMP;
4. staff vacant positions within the Homeownership Preservation Office (HPO), and evaluate its staffing levels and competencies;
5. finalize a comprehensive system of internal control over HAMP; and
6. systematically assess servicer’s capacity to meet HAMP’s requirements during program admission.

The full report is available here.