Government Accountability Office

Government Accountability Office (GAO)

An investigative arm of Congress, formerly called the General Accounting Office. Members of Congress may request a wide variety of reports, analyses, and raw data,which is supplied in a nonpartisan manner by the GAO.It also recommends actions to be taken by Congress as a result of findings in the reports. Its Web site, www.gao.gov, contains an excellent search engine to find reports on housing,financial services,and natural resources,to name a few topics.

A few interesting reports related to real estate include

• ‘'Financial Institutions: Issues Regarding the Tax-Exempt Status of Credit Unions” (impor- tant because credit unions usually offer lower interest rates because of their tax-exempt status, but banks are crying “no fair” over the situation.)
• ‘'Real Estate Brokerage: Various Factors May Affect Price Competition”
• ‘'Title Insurance: Preliminary Views and Issues for Further Study”
• ‘'Catastrophe Risk: U.S. and European Approaches to Insure Natural Catastrophe and Terrorism Risks”
• ‘'Consumer Protection: Federal and State Agencies Face Challenges in Combating Predatory Lending”
• ‘'Residential Care Facilities Mortgage Insurance Program: Opportunities to Improve Program and Risk Management”
• ‘'Public Housing: Information on the Roles of HUD, Public Housing Agencies, Capital Markets, and Service Organizations”
• ‘'Elderly Housing: Federal Housing Programs and Supportive Services”