United States Government Publishing Office publisher pbl distributor dst United States Government Accountability Office Resources, Community, and Economic Development Division author aut Government Organization text government publication eng GAOREPORTS Legislative Agency Publications gao legislative 2010-08-12 U.S. Government Printing Office 1997-04-25 monographic deposited born digital 27 p. GA 1.13:RCED-97-104 https://www.govinfo.gov/app/details/GAOREPORTS-RCED-97-104 P0b002ee180387833 f:rc97104 DGPO 2010-08-12 2011-03-28 GAOREPORTS-RCED-97-104 machine generated eng fdlp REPORT GAOREPORTS-RCED-97-104 RCED-97-104 Conflict of interest Farm credit Agricultural programs Federal/state relations Loan repayments Federal employees Farm income stabilization programs Delinquent loans Direct loans Government guaranteed loans FSA Direct Farm Loan Program Letter Report RCED GAO reviewed conflicts of interest in the Farm Service Agency's (FSA) farm loan program, focusing on the: (1) number of FSA's federal and nonfederal employees and county committee members who have FSA farm loans; (2) comparative size and repayment history of farm loans to FSA's federal employees, FSA's nonfederal employees, county committee members, and other FSA borrowers; (3) number of cases FSA has identified requiring action to avoid conflicts of interest; and (4) actions FSA has taken to address these cases.<p/>GAO noted that: (1) as of September 30, 1996, FSA's loan portfolio indicated that 414 of about 16,300 FSA federal and nonfederal employees and 1,209 of about 8,150 members of county committees had 4,089 FSA farm loans; (2) while the outstanding principal of the loans of FSA's federal and nonfederal employees and county committee members was about $265 million of FSA's outstanding loan principal of $16.9 billion, these employees' loans differed in size when compared with the loans of other FSA borrowers; (3) as of September 30, 1996, the loans of FSA's federal employees averaged about $197,700 per borrower, the loans of nonfederal employees averaged about $127,000, the loans of FSA's county committee members averaged about $183,500, and the loans of all other borrowers averaged about $145,200 per borrower; (4) with respect to repayment history, FSA's federal and nonfederal employees and county committee members were delinquent and needed debt relief on their farm loans less often than other borrowers; (5) however, when these employees received debt relief, it was greater than the relief granted other borrowers, 53 percent, on average, for FSA's federal employees, and 7 percent and 2 percent, respectively, for nonfederal employees and county committee members; (6) as of March 1997, FSA had identified 1,767 cases in which its federal and nonfederal employees or county committee members had loans or relationships with other borrowers that required action to avoid conflicts of interest; (7) these cases were identified through FSA's review of 3,622 cases in which FSA's federal and nonfederal employees and county committee members reported that they or their relatives or business associates had FSA farm loans; (8) the total number of cases is likely to increase as FSA proceeds with its efforts to identify cases requiring action to avoid conflicts of interest; (9) although FSA has made progress in dealing with conflicts of interest, it has not provided its state offices with clear and consistent guidance on how to identify and address conflict-of-interest cases; (10) furthermore, FSA headquarters has not reviewed the state offices' efforts to address conflicts of interest; and (11) as a result, FSA's state offices vary in the extent to which they have identified and taken action on cases to avoid conflicts of interest. https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/GAOREPORTS-RCED-97-104/html/GAOREPORTS-RCED-97-104.htm https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/GAOREPORTS-RCED-97-104/pdf/GAOREPORTS-RCED-97-104.pdf GAO/RCED-97-104 https://www.govinfo.gov/app/details/GAOREPORTS-RCED-97-104 Letter Report GAO/RCED-97-104; Farm Service Agency: Additional Actions Needed to Address Employee Conflict-of-Interest Issues; Conflict of interest Farm credit Agricultural programs Federal/state relations Loan repayments Federal employees Farm income stabilization programs Delinquent loans Direct loans Government guaranteed loans FSA Direct Farm Loan Program