Ten Years of TARP: Examining the Hardest Hit Fund

Subject

Date

May 22, 2018

Time

10:00 am

Place

2154 Rayburn HOB

PURPOSE:

To mark the 10^th anniversary of the Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP) and to evaluate the Hardest Hit Fund’s (HHF) foreclosure mitigation performance.

BACKGROUND:

In response to the U.S. financial recession, Congress created the Department of Treasury’s TARP in 2008 with the intent to restart economic growth and stabilize the housing crisis. In 2010, Treasury established the HHF, a state-administered TARP program designed to provide locally-tailored aid to homeowners in states hit hardest by unemployment and house price declines. The HHF allocates $9.6 billion in TARP funds through 2020.
On August 25, 2017, SIGTARP issued a report questioning $3 million in administrative costs charged by state Housing and Finance Agencies (HFAs) under the HHF since 2010. Expenditures included bonuses, barbecues, trips to the zoo, settlements, severance payments, gym memberships, and other perks “to celebrate getting new HHF funds.” SIGTARP recommended actions for Treasury to improve oversight, including increasing information collected from the state HFAs and developing performance measures.