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The Government Accountability Office, or GAO, has released an annual report required by the Dodd-Frank Act. GAO interviewed community banks, credit unions, and industry associations.  Those interviewed cited an increase in compliance burdens associated with rules that Dodd-Frank required to be implemented.  This included increases in staff, training, and time allocation for regulatory compliance and updates to compliance systems. Some of these industry officials also reported a decline in specific business activities, such as loans that are not qualified mortgages, due to fear of litigation or not being able to sell those loans to secondary markets.

According to the report the results of the surveys suggested that there have been moderate to minimal initial reductions in the availability of credit among those responding to the various surveys and regulatory data to date have not confirmed a negative impact on mortgage lending. However, these results do not necessarily rule out significant effects or the possibility that effects may arise in the future.

GAO stated the full impact of the Dodd-Frank Act remains uncertain because many of its rules have yet to be implemented and insufficient time has passed to evaluate others.

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