The U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) is an independent agency that works for Congress. The GAO watches over Congress, and investigates how the federal government spends taxpayers dollars. The Comptroller General of the United States is the leader of the GAO, and is appointed to a 15-year term by the U.S. President. The GAO wants to support Congress, while at the same time doing right by the citizens of the United States. They audit, investigate, perform analyses, issue legal decisions and report anything that the government is doing. This is one of their reports.

This report evaluates the risk-sharing demonstration programs established under section 542 of the Housing and Community Development Act of 1992 (P.L. 102-550). Specifically, it looks at how well the programs are meeting their goals, identifies the benefits for participating financial institutions and HUD, and considers opportunities for improving the programs and HUD's administration of them. The report makes recommendations designed to encourage greater activity in the reinsurance program and to improve HUD's monitoring and oversight of the federal government's risk-sharing partners. Charts and tables.