Delays in Implementing the Department of Housing and Urban Development's Accounting System for Its Mortgage Insurance Program

GAO reviewed the Department of Housing and Urban Development's (HUD) Mortgage Insurance Accounting System (MIAS), which is currently under development to support the Department's multibillion dollar mortgage insurance program. The new accounting system is essential to improve the mortgage insurance activities of HUD. The primary users of the new system's data will be the Assistant Secretary for Administration and the Assistant Secretary for Housing. The data will be used to fulfill accounting requirements, to provide more effective techniques and procedures to accomplish fiscal servicing, and to perform mortgage insurance functions promptly. The system's development has cost the Government in excess of $23 million over the $4.6 million originally estimated and more than 4 years delay in implementation.

The system's development has been plagued with problems that could have been minimized through more effective management controls, such as more frequent formal evaluations of and reports on the system's development progress and costs. Although greater emphasis is being placed on needed improvements in the system's development, action should be taken to enhance the chances of implementation of MIAS within the current milestones, as implementation within the current schedule may still provide opportunities for an increased benefit/cost ratio.

Recommendations

Our recommendations from this work are listed below with a Contact for more information. Status will change from "In process" to "Open," "Closed - implemented," or "Closed - not implemented" based on our follow up work.

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