HUD Announces Customer Experience Improvements Two Years Following President Biden’s Executive Order

WASHINGTON - Deputy Secretary Adrianne Todman announced significant improvements in customer experience implemented in the second year since President Biden’s signed the Executive Order, “Transforming Federal Customer Experience and Service Delivery to Rebuild Trust in Government.” This directive urged agencies to enhance the overall experience for individuals accessing government services and benefits. In alignment with HUD’s commitment to create strong, sustainable, and inclusive communities, as well as providing quality affordable homes for all, the Department has taken steps to keep the lived-experience of its public customers at the heart of everything the Department does to fulfil its mission. By gaining a deeper understanding of the needs of these end customers, HUD is actively developing innovative solutions aimed at revolutionizing customer interactions with the Department and its partners. This strategic approach underscores HUD's dedication to continually elevate and transform the customer experience landscape.

“The Biden-Harris Administration has prioritized improving customer experience (CX) to ensure all Americans who access federal government resources are served,” said Deputy Secretary Adrianne Todman. “I am committed to ensuring that the foundation of HUD’s future is people first.”

Over the past year:

• HUD's CX team conducted customer research across programs, focusing on our customers’ experience in disaster recovery, filing housing discrimination complaints, and finding and applying for affordable housing. They've reached out and listened directly to the public to understand the lived experience of our customers and partners and helped prioritize opportunities for HUD to improve their experience and further HUD’s mission.
• HUD’s CX team, the Office of Disaster Recovery, and the Office of Public Affairs/Web Team worked together to help disaster survivors access critical government resources through HUD.gov. The teams conducted customer research to understand survivors' needs and challenges, then they translated these insights into a website design for disaster survivors to easily access the federal resources they need most.
• HUD published the Housing Opportunity Through Modernization ACT (HOTMA) Rule in February 2023, which provides several burden reductions for tenants. These reductions update methods for calculating family income, assets, and simplify financial records review. The rule streamlines application and admission to HUD programs, making it significantly easier for customers to access these resources.
• HUD launched a digital self-service portal for FHA-backed lenders. The digital self-service portal allows lenders to streamline the process by uploading all documents directly to the portal. This eliminates wait times of up to 24 hours to review documents. The portal is estimated to save 654,000 hours of wait time. The portal will accelerate the path to homeownership for FHA loan applicants.
• HUD developed a detailed plan focusing on specialized, trauma-informed support for staff who handle housing discrimination cases, including cases involving survivors of sexual assault. This plan will ensure thousands of complainants feel empowered and supported throughout the discrimination complaint process.

HUD continues to prioritize CX so that all interactions with HUD feel easy, effective, positive, and equitable. With CX, HUD can better deliver on its mission, serve vulnerable populations more effectively and equitably, build customer trust and satisfaction, and more. Through additional customer research and design, HUD will empower employees to deliver exceptional products and services to the American public.

As this work continues, updates will be posted on https://performance.gov/cx. Most recently, High Impact Service Providers shared their 2023 Customer Experience Action Plans, and all agencies shared a point-by-point progress update on each of the CX Executive Order’s agency commitments.

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