HUD, short for Housing and Urban Development, is a cabinet department of the U.S. government created to develop and execute policy on housing and cities. The HUD statement that must be produced as part of any real estate transaction in the United States, is the most important way in which the HUD provides oversight for U.S. real estate transactions. One of the main purposes of the HUD is to ensure protection of under-informed buyers and sellers. This is accomplished partly through the disclosures required to be made as part of the HUD statements.