The federal government funds multiple programs that subsidize housing construction and rehabilitation, assist homebuyers and renters, and provide assistance to state and local governments through a variety of spending and loan programs, tax expenditures, regulatory requirements, and other activities aimed at promoting housing. Federal housing assistance generally was created in response to the Great Depression. However, the largest current activity (in terms of forgone revenue) associated with homeownership—the mortgage interest deduction—was introduced in 1913, when the federal income tax was enacted. Further assistance was created in the 1930s, when most rural residents worked on farms and rural areas generally were poorer than urban areas. Accordingly, Congress authorized separate housing assistance for rural areas and made USDA responsible for administering it. Specifically, in 1937 the Bankhead-Jones Farm Tenant Act authorized USDA to provide long-term, low-interest loans to farm tenants and sharecroppers so that they could purchase and repair farms, including homes on farms. The Housing Act of 1949 authorized new rural lending programs through USDA and made farm owners eligible for assistance for dwellings and other farm buildings if the farm was located on land capable of producing at least $400 worth of agricultural commodities annually. Amendments added in 1961 made nonfarm properties eligible for single-family loans and created the farm labor housing program. A 1962 amendment created the rural rental housing program.Housing Administration (FHA) began providing mortgage insurance in 1934, and the first public housing program was authorized in 1937. FHA became part of HUD when HUD was created in 1965. In 2012, HUD and Treasury administer some of the largest programs, with USDA and VA providing specific assistance to rural communities and veterans. In addition, the government-sponsored enterprises—Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac—have supported the mortgage market by helping to create a secondary market for mortgage loans. Financial regulators are responsible for ensuring that regulated institutions comply with consumer financial protections or otherwise serve the communities in which they operate. Federal housing assistance generally can be categorized as follows: Homeownership programs, often called single-family housing programs, provide mortgage insurance, loan guarantees, direct loans for homeowners, and grants or loans for home repairs or modifications. Rental housing programs, often called multifamily programs, provide loans, interest rate subsidies, loan guarantees, tax incentives, or a combination of these to promote the development and rehabilitation of privately owned rental properties. Rental assistance programs, which make rents affordable to eligible households by paying the difference between the unit’s rent and 30 percent of a household’s adjusted income. These programs include (1) tenant-based rental assistance that provides vouchers for eligible tenants to rent privately owned apartments or single-family homes and can be applied to different properties if tenants move; and (2) project-based rental assistance that is attached to specific properties and available to tenants only when they are living in units at these properties. Public housing offers units for eligible tenants in properties owned and administered by public housing authorities. Tax expenditures, such as exclusions, exemptions, deductions (including the mortgage interest deduction), credits, deferrals, and preferential rates, can promote homeownership or the development of privately owned rental housing through the federal tax code. The federal government uses varying income thresholds for different housing programs to identify target populations or set eligibility requirements. Although some federal housing programs do not have specific income eligibility requirements, such as VA’s Home Loan Guaranty program for veterans, many of HUD’s and USDA’s multifamily programs and Treasury’s Low-Income Housing Tax Credit (LIHTC) program have specific income eligibility requirements. The most common income thresholds used for the programs are: very low-income—no more than 50 percent of the area’s median income (AMI); low-income—no more than 80 percent of AMI; and moderate-income—no more than 115 percent of AMI. Fragmentation refers to those circumstances in which more than one federal agency (or more than one organization in an agency) is involved in the same broad area of national interest. Overlap occurs when programs have similar goals, devise similar strategies and activities to achieve those goals, or target similar users. Duplication occurs when two or more agencies or programs engage in the same activities or provide the same services to the same beneficiaries. In some instances, it may be appropriate for multiple agencies or entities to be involved in the same programmatic or policy area due to the nature or magnitude of the federal effort. Twenty different entities administered 160 programs, tax expenditures, and other tools that supported homeownership and rental housing in fiscal year 2010, reflecting the fragmentation in federal housing delivery. See e-supplement (GAO-12-555SP) for the list of programs, tax expenditures, other tools, and their related budgetary information. We identified 11 primary purposes for the activities (see fig. 1). Of the 11 purposes (categories) identified, 3 generally relate to support for homeownership (including purchasing a home), 4 to support for rental housing and tenants, and 4 to both. Within each category, multiple agencies administer programs that serve the same purpose, illustrating the fragmentation of homeownership and rental housing programs. The most commonly identified purpose was assistance for buying, selling, or financing a home. This category includes single-family mortgage programs that provide mortgage insurance or guarantees administered through HUD, USDA, and VA. As we have noted, the mortgage interest deduction represented the single largest activity—in terms of annual forgone revenue—associated with homeownership. In fiscal year 2010, the estimated revenue loss for the mortgage interest deduction was almost $80 billion. The most widely used housing tax expenditure, in terms of number of participants, was the deduction for state and local property taxes.nearly 40 million taxpayers claimed this deduction on their 2009 returns. In the secondary market, originators of mortgage loans package them into securities and sell the securities to investors. federally guaranteed mortgages issued by certain mortgage lenders. In turn, these lenders—generally banks and thrifts—use the proceeds to originate additional mortgages. The federal government increased its support for homeownership in response to the current housing crisis, providing emergency assistance or other extraordinary support to the housing market and homeowners through a number of initiatives. Most of the activities we identified as emergency assistance were intended to support homeownership. For example, Treasury and the Federal Reserve System purchased mortgage-backed securities issued by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac to help support the availability of mortgage credit for prospective homebuyers or homeowners wishing to refinance. And, HUD and Treasury administer programs that provide financing assistance to struggling homeowners—such as the Making Home Affordable program, which reduces borrowers’ monthly mortgage payments. Regulatory requirements also support homeownership by establishing standards for residential mortgage lending, among other things. For example, the Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act of 1974 requires lenders to disclose mortgage closing documents to homebuyers and sellers. Financial Protection Bureau, or CFPB), the federal financial regulators, and HUD are involved in the examination and enforcement of this and other regulatory requirements. The Federal Financial Institutions Examination Council, a formal interagency body, also plays a role by prescribing uniform principles, standards, and report forms for the federal examination of financial institutions. Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act of 1974, 12 U.S.C. §§ 2601-2617. produce and preserve affordable rental housing. Some of HUD’s multifamily loan guarantee programs are estimated to produce more revenue than expenditures. These estimates are reviewed annually, and because the underlying loans may have terms of up to 40 years, their ultimate cost is uncertain. Further, HUD and USDA have multiple programs that support low-income households by providing assistance to rental property owners to cover all or a portion of the tenant’s rent. Finally, many activities support homeownership and rental housing both directly and indirectly. For example, HUD administers multiple block grant programs that provide state and local governments with flexible funding to address community development needs, including support of homeownership or rental housing. And one regulatory requirement—the Community Reinvestment Act (CRA)—supports the financing of homeownership and the creation of affordable rental housing, among other things. Another regulatory requirement, the Fair Housing Act, protects homebuyers and renters from discrimination. To identify housing programs that had a potential for overlap, we used findings from our prior work that examined programs that offer similar housing services to similar beneficiaries. These programs included selected HUD and USDA single- and multifamily programs, VA’s single- family housing loan guarantee program, and Treasury’s LIHTC. We also included Treasury’s mortgage interest and property tax deductions because they are the largest programs in terms of overall funding. We compared agency goals, products offered, geographic areas served, service delivery, and, for single-family programs, recipients’ income levels. Evidence of overlap existed across many of these dimensions for the single-family products offered by HUD, USDA, VA, and Treasury, but important differences also existed. Although selected HUD, USDA, and Treasury multifamily housing programs had overlapping purposes, the products, areas served, and delivery methods differed to varying degrees. Seven single-family programs administered by HUD, USDA, VA, and Treasury overlap in their broad purpose of supporting homeownership, but only HUD has an explicit housing priority and strategic goal (see table 1). Federal agencies outline long-term goals and objectives in their strategic plans and annual goals in their performance plans. In addition, in the fiscal year 2013 President’s Budget, agencies identified a limited number of 2-year agency priority goals that align with the long-term goals and objectives in their strategic plans. Agency priority goals target areas in which agencies want to achieve near-term performance through focused attention of senior leadership. HUD included the prevention of foreclosures as a priority goal. As of April 2012, USDA, VA, and Treasury had not highlighted homeownership among their agency priority goals.