United States Government Publishing Office publisher pbl distributor dst United States Government Accountability Office author aut Government Organization text government publication eng GAOREPORTS Legislative Agency Publications gao legislative 2010-08-12 U.S. Government Printing Office 2002-08-23 monographic deposited born digital 29 p. GA 1.13:GAO-02-654 https://www.govinfo.gov/app/details/GAOREPORTS-GAO-02-654 P0b002ee1803832fa f:d02654 DGPO 2010-08-12 2011-03-24 GAOREPORTS-GAO-02-654 machine generated eng fdlp REPORT GAOREPORTS-GAO-02-654 GAO-02-654 Federal aid for housing Homeowners loans Housing Housing programs Indian lands Low income housing Native Americans VA Native American Veterans Direct Home Loan Program Other Written Product A04559

Several federal programs have been developed to provide homeownership opportunities for Native Americans because private institutions have rarely supplied conventional home loans to Native Americans on trust lands. In 1992, Congress directed the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) to create the Native American Veterans Direct Home Loan Program to assist veterans in purchasing, constructing and improving homes. The Native American Veterans Direct Home Loan Program has been characterized by differences in the numbers served, with Native Hawaiians and Pacific Islanders together receiving almost five times as many as loans as Native Americans. Several factors that apply to Native Americans, but not to Native Hawaiians and Pacific Islanders, may explain this difference. Long-standing barriers to lending on Native American trust lands include insufficient income and credit history and a lack of meaningful interest in land among many Native Americans, as well as insufficient infrastructure on trust lands. Other factors that VA can address include program limits that may be lower than housing costs for some trust lands and potential applicants' inexperience with the mortgage lending process. VA has conducted outreach but has taken limited steps to meet the assessment and reporting requirements specified in the program's authorizing legislation. VA attends housing conferences, distributes promotional materials, and responds to inquiries about the program to meet outreach requirements specified in its authorizing legislation. https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/GAOREPORTS-GAO-02-654/html/GAOREPORTS-GAO-02-654.htm https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/GAOREPORTS-GAO-02-654/pdf/GAOREPORTS-GAO-02-654.pdf GAO-02-654 https://www.govinfo.gov/app/details/GAOREPORTS-GAO-02-654 Other Written Product GAO-02-654; Native American Housing: VA Could Address Some Barriers to Participation in Direct Loan Program; Federal aid for housing Homeowners loans Housing Housing programs Indian lands Low income housing Native Americans VA Native American Veterans Direct Home Loan Program Title 12 Section 1715 12 U.S.C. 1715 Title 42 Section 1472 42 U.S.C. 1472 Public Law 102-547