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                    Most Recent Reports**1 - 20 of 44 Reports**
	
	

	
	  **Released on   Feb 28, 2024**
          Evictions: National Data Are Limited and Challenging to Collect
    GAO-24-106637
      Published:   Feb 28, 2024
. 
        Publicly Released:   Feb 28, 2024
.
    Estimates suggest that millions of renters are evicted each year, but there's little comprehensive data on evictions. Estimates are primarily based on 2 sources: court records and surveys. But these sources collect different data and may not paint the whole picture. Court records only represent filed evictions—not informal ones. Question design, response rate, and more affect survey accuracy. Federal and local stakeholders suggested that eviction...
      **Released on   Nov 15, 2023**
          Financial Audit: Consumer Financial Protection Bureau's FY 2023 and FY 2022 Financial Statements
    GAO-24-106737
      Published:   Nov 15, 2023
. 
        Publicly Released:   Nov 15, 2023
.
    The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau works to enhance citizens' financial education and ensure that banks, lenders, and other financial companies treat people fairly. The agency spent $2.75 billion in FY 2023 to do its work. We audit and issue an opinion annually on CFPB's financial statements and on related internal controls (e.g., processes to reasonably assure that transactions are properly authorized and recorded). In FY...
      **Released on   Oct 30, 2023**
          Credit Cards: Pandemic Assistance Likely Helped Reduce Balances, and Credit Terms Varied Among Demographic Groups
    GAO-23-105269
      Published:   Sep 29, 2023
. 
        Publicly Released:   Oct 30, 2023
.
    In 2022, 82% of U.S. adults had at least one credit card. We examined U.S. credit card usage by analyzing a large sample of credit card data from June 2013-December 2021. We found that many people likely used their pandemic stimulus payments to pay down their credit card balances. Pandemic assistance was also associated with better credit scores and fewer delinquencies. Our comparison of billing...
      **Released on   Oct 6, 2023**
          Financial Technology: Agencies Can Better Support Workforce Expertise and Measure the Performance of Innovation Offices
    GAO-23-106168
      Published:   Sep 6, 2023
. 
        Publicly Released:   Oct 6, 2023
.
    Banks and credit unions are increasingly using new technology—known as "fintech"—for services like paying bills with mobile wallets. So it's crucial that regulators have the necessary skills to make policy for and oversee fintech. Federal regulators require many of their employees to have some technology skills, such as data analysis. But the agencies haven't assessed or identified critical fintech skills or skill gaps they need...
      **Released on   Sep 26, 2023**
          Manufactured Housing: Further HUD Action is Needed to Increase Available Loan Products
    GAO-23-105615
      Published:   Sep 26, 2023
. 
        Publicly Released:   Sep 26, 2023
.
    Manufactured housing—prefabricated, factory built homes—can be an affordable option for lower-income homebuyers. But some borrowers may not qualify for mortgages and might have to turn to other kinds of financing with less favorable rates and terms. Several federal agencies, Fannie Mae, and Freddie Mac have created new or modified existing loan programs to help manufactured home borrowers. But while the Department of Housing and Urban...
      **Released on   Jul 24, 2023**
          Blockchain in Finance: Legislative and Regulatory Actions Are Needed to Ensure Comprehensive Oversight of Crypto Assets
    GAO-23-105346
      Published:   Jun 22, 2023
. 
        Publicly Released:   Jul 24, 2023
.
    Blockchain technology records data and transactions in a shared, tamper-resistant, decentralized digital ledger—offering the promise of faster and cheaper financial transactions with no middlemen. Recent price crashes, bankruptcies, and fraud involving blockchain-related products and services, such as crypto assets, raised concerns about how much regulation exists now and the risks consumers face. For example, there are gaps in federal regulation of stablecoins—a kind of crypto...
      **Released on   Mar 8, 2023**
          Financial Technology: Products Have Benefits and Risks to Underserved Consumers, and Regulatory Clarity Is Needed
    GAO-23-105536
      Published:   Mar 8, 2023
. 
        Publicly Released:   Mar 8, 2023
.
    Financial technology—or "fintech"—provides consumers, who may not have access to accounts or credit via traditional banks, online access to financial services. For example, "earned wage access" products aim to help consumers get a portion of their paycheck before payday—money they've already earned, but not yet received. The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau has clarified that some earned wage access products aren't considered "credit"—so providers of these...
      **Released on   Jan 19, 2023**
          Third-Party Litigation Financing: Market Characteristics, Data, and Trends
    GAO-23-105210
      Published:   Dec 20, 2022
. 
        Publicly Released:   Jan 19, 2023
.
    Third-party litigation financing is an arrangement in which a funder who is not a party to the lawsuit agrees to help fund it. Funders may get a pay off on their investment if the suit is successful. Funders are typically private firms that obtain funds from investors. We looked at trends, pros and cons, data limitations, and regulation of this practice. For example, federal law...
      **Released on   Nov 15, 2022**
          Financial Audit: Consumer Financial Protection Bureau's FY 2022 and FY 2021 Financial Statements
    GAO-23-105879
      Published:   Nov 15, 2022
. 
        Publicly Released:   Nov 15, 2022
.
    The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) works to enhance citizens' financial education and ensure that banks, lenders, and other financial companies treat people fairly. The agency spent $1.03 billion in FY 2022 to do its work. We audit and issue an opinion annually on CFPB's financial statements and on related internal controls (e.g., processes to reasonably assure that transactions are properly authorized and recorded). In...
      **Released on   Sep 8, 2022**
          Bank Supervision: Lessons Learned from Remote Supervision during Pandemic Could Inform Future Disruptions
    GAO-22-104659
      Published:   Sep 8, 2022
. 
        Publicly Released:   Sep 8, 2022
.
    During the COVID-19 pandemic, federal banking regulators couldn't examine most banks and credit unions in person. So, they changed certain examination practices, especially at smaller institutions. For example, they rescheduled examinations and reviewed scanned copies of loan files. We found that 3 of 5 regulators who have risk management programs also Updated their programs to reflect pandemic-related changes in risk Reviewed pandemic lessons learned The...
      **Released on   May 26, 2022**
          Consumer Protection: Congress Should Consider Enhancing Protections around Scores Used to Rank Consumers
    GAO-22-104527
      Published:   May 26, 2022
. 
        Publicly Released:   May 26, 2022
.
    Companies increasingly use numeric scores to predict how consumers will behave. Scores are based on hundreds of pieces of information about a person's purchases, consumer characteristics, and more. Scores are used to target ads, to help companies collect debts from consumers, to assess the likelihood of criminal behavior and flight risk, and more. Unlike traditional credit scores, these scores may not be subject to consumer...
      **Released on   Dec 16, 2021**
          Mortgage Lending: Use of Alternative Data Is Limited but Has Potential Benefits
    GAO-22-104380
      Published:   Nov 16, 2021
. 
        Publicly Released:   Dec 16, 2021
.
    Mortgage lenders generally use credit scores to determine how risky it is to lend to a potential borrower. But what about the 45 million Americans who don't have a credit score? Using alternative data—such as rental payment history—is an option for mortgage lenders that has benefits and risks. For example, alternative data could increase access to mortgage loans for some borrowers with no or low...
      **Released on   Nov 15, 2021**
          Financial Audit: Consumer Financial Protection Bureau's FY 2021 and FY 2020 Financial Statements
    GAO-22-105067
      Published:   Nov 15, 2021
. 
        Publicly Released:   Nov 15, 2021
.
    The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) works to enhance citizens' financial education and ensure that banks, lenders, and other financial companies treat people fairly. The agency spent $711.8 million in FY 2021 to do its work. We audit and issue opinions annually on the Bureau's financial statements and on related internal controls (e.g., processes to reasonably assure that transactions are properly authorized and recorded). In...
      **Released on   Sep 23, 2021**
          Federal Rulemaking: Selected Agencies Should Fully Describe Public Comment Data and Their Limitations
    GAO-21-103181
      Published:   Sep 21, 2021
. 
        Publicly Released:   Sep 23, 2021
.
    We surveyed people whose email addresses were attached to public comments on proposed rules from 10 federal agencies. From 5% to 30% of the people (depending on the agency) said they did not make the comment. At 8 agencies, most of the comments did not have email addresses. Agencies aren't required to collect information on or verify commenters' identities. While almost all of the agencies...
      **Released on   Jun 7, 2021**
          Fair Lending: CFPB Needs to Assess the Impact of Recent Changes to Its Fair Lending Activities
    GAO-21-393
      Published:   May 6, 2021
. 
        Publicly Released:   Jun 7, 2021
.
    The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau oversees and enforces federal fair lending laws that protect consumers from discrimination. In 2019, it completed a reorganization of its fair lending activities. In the reorganization, CFPB didn't follow leading practices for organizational change. For example, it didn't plan its workforce changes strategically—contributing to a loss of fair lending expertise at CFPB. Also, CFPB stopped reporting on fair lending performance...
      **Released on   May 17, 2021**
          Retirement Security: Debt Increased for Older Americans over Time, but the Implications Vary by Debt Type
    GAO-21-170
      Published:   Apr 16, 2021
. 
        Publicly Released:   May 17, 2021
.
    Older Americans held nearly half of the total debt in 2020—debt that may affect their retirement security. We found that older Americans had significantly more debt in 2016 than in 1989. We also found that low-income, older Americans had greater "debt stress"—the ratio of debts to assets. In 2016, debt stress was about two times higher for minority households than White households. Experts said that...
          Home Mortgage Disclosure Act: Reporting Exemptions Had a Minimal Impact on Data Availability, but Additional Information Would Enhance Oversight
    GAO-21-350
      Published:   May 17, 2021
. 
        Publicly Released:   May 17, 2021
.
    Since 2018, the Home Mortgage Disclosure Act requires lenders to report additional data from loan applications and originations—such as borrower credit scores—to help regulators oversee and enforce fair lending laws. Banks and credit unions that don't do a lot of lending are exempt from this requirement. Although these exemptions minimally affected data availability, regulators still need to verify whether lenders are eligible to use them...
      **Released on   Feb 24, 2021**
          Financial Services: Fair Lending, Access, and Retirement Security
    GAO-21-399T
      Published:   Feb 24, 2021
. 
        Publicly Released:   Feb 24, 2021
.
    This statement summarizes our work on race, wealth, and other disparities and how they affect access to financial services and retirement security. For example, we found: Lower-income or minority households were less likely to access traditional banking services and more likely to use costlier products and services, such as payday loans. Older minority households consistently had less wealth than White households. For example, for households...
      **Released on   Dec 10, 2020**
          Higher Education: Children's Savings Account Programs Can Help Families Build Savings and Envision College
    GAO-21-10
      Published:   Dec 10, 2020
. 
        Publicly Released:   Dec 10, 2020
.
    It can be hard for lower-income families to save for their children's higher education. Children's savings account programs can help by providing financial contributions—like initial deposits—to savings or investment accounts. Some programs also offer financial education or other support to families. States, cities, and other organizations operated 82 of these programs in 2019. While amounts saved by some families are small, there is evidence that...
      **Released on   Nov 23, 2020**
          Consumer Privacy: Better Disclosures Needed on Information Sharing by Banks and Credit Unions
    GAO-21-36
      Published:   Oct 22, 2020
. 
        Publicly Released:   Nov 23, 2020
.
    We reviewed personal information banks and credit unions collect on consumers and share with others, and what they tell consumers about this. Some institutions collect information on credit card transactions, social media and browsing activity, and more. The law allows for sharing this information with retailers, marketers, government agencies, and others. We found the form institutions use to provide privacy notices to consumers does not...
    
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