30-Day Notice of Proposed Information Collection: Implementation of the Housing for Older Persons Act of 1995 (HOPA), 40311-40312 [2013-15995]

Agencies

• DEPARTMENT OF HOUSING AND URBAN DEVELOPMENT

[Federal Register Volume 78, Number 128 (Wednesday, July 3, 2013)]
[Notices]
[Pages 40311-40312]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2013-15995]


-----------------------------------------------------------------------

DEPARTMENT OF HOUSING AND URBAN DEVELOPMENT

[Docket No. FR-5683-N-57]


30-Day Notice of Proposed Information Collection: Implementation 
of the Housing for Older Persons Act of 1995 (HOPA)

AGENCY: Office of the Chief Information Officer, HUD.

ACTION: Notice.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

SUMMARY: HUD has submitted the proposed information collection 
requirement described below to the Office of Management and Budget 
(OMB) for review, in accordance with the Paperwork Reduction Act. The 
purpose of this notice is to allow for an additional 30 days of public 
comment.

DATES: Comments Due Date: August 2, 2013.

ADDRESSES: Interested persons are invited to submit comments regarding 
this proposal. Comments should refer to the proposal by name and/or OMB 
Control Number and should be sent to: HUD Desk Officer, Office of 
Management and Budget, New Executive Office Building, Washington, DC 
20503; fax: 202-395-5806. Email: OIRA_Submission@omb.eop.gov.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Colette Pollard, Reports Management 
Officer, QDAM, Department of Housing and Urban Development, 451 7th 
Street SW., Washington, DC 20410; email Colette Pollard at 
Colette.Pollard@hud.gov or telephone 202-402-3400. Persons with hearing 
or speech impairments may access this number through TTY by calling the 
toll-free Federal Relay Service at (800) 877-8339. This is not a toll-
free number. Copies of available documents submitted to OMB may be 
obtained from Ms. Pollard.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: This notice informs the public that HUD has 
submitted to OMB a request for approval of the information collection 
described in Section A. The Federal Register notice that solicited 
public comment on the information collection for a period of 60 days 
was published on December 28, 2012.

A. Overview of Information Collection

    Title of Information Collection: Implementation of the Housing for 
Older Persons Act of 1995 (HOPA).
    OMB Approval Number: 2529-0046.
    Type of Request: Reinstatement without change of a previously 
approved collection.
    Form Number: None.
    Description of the need for the information and proposed use: The 
Fair Housing Act [42 U.S.C. 3601 et seq.], prohibits discrimination in 
the sale, rental, occupancy, advertising, insuring, or financing of 
residential dwellings based on familial status (individuals living in 
households with one or more children under 18 years of age). However, 
under Sec.  3607(b)(2) of the Act, Congress exempted three (3) 
categories of ``housing for older persons'' from liability for familial 
status discrimination: (1) Housing provided under any State or Federal 
program which the Secretary of HUD determines is ``specifically 
designed and operated to assist elderly persons (as defined in the 
State or Federal program)''; (2) housing ``intended for, and solely 
occupied by persons 62 years of age or older''; and (3) housing 
''intended and operated for occupancy by at least one person 55 years 
of age or older per unit [`55 or older' housing]''. In December 1995, 
Congress passed the Housing for Older Persons Act of 1995 (HOPA) [Pub. 
L. 104-76, 109 STAT. 787] as an amendment to the Fair Housing Act. The 
HOPA modified the ``55 or older'' housing exemption provided under 
Sec.  3607(b)(2)(C) of the Fair Housing Act by eliminating the 
requirement that a housing provider must offer ``significant facilities 
and services specifically designed to meet the physical or social needs 
of older persons.'' In order to qualify for the HOPA exemption, a 
housing community or facility must meet each of the following criteria: 
(1) At least 80 percent of the occupied units in the community or 
facility must be occupied by at least one person who is 55 years of age 
of older; (2) the housing provider must publish and adhere to policies 
and procedures that demonstrate the intent to operate housing for 
persons 55 years of age or older; and (3) the housing provider must 
demonstrate compliance with ``rules issued by the Secretary for 
verification of occupancy, which shall . . . provide for [age] 
verification by reliable surveys and affidavits.''
    The HOPA did not significantly increase the record-keeping burden 
for the ``55 or older'' housing exemption. It describes in greater 
detail the documentary evidence which HUD will

[[Page 40312]]

consider when determining, in the course of a familial status 
discrimination complaint investigation, whether or not a housing 
facility or community qualified for the ``55 or older'' housing 
exemption as of the date of the alleged Fair Housing Act violation.
    The HOPA information collection requirements are necessary to 
demonstrate a housing provider's eligibility to claim the ``55 or 
older'' housing exemption as an affirmative defense to a familial 
status discrimination complaint filed with HUD under the Fair Housing 
Act. The information will be collected in the normal course of business 
in connection with the sale, rental or occupancy of dwelling units 
situated in qualified senior housing facilities or communities. The 
HOPA's requirement that a housing provider must demonstrate the intent 
to operate a ``55 or older'' housing community or facility by 
publishing, and consistently enforcing, age verification rules, 
policies and procedures for current and prospective occupants reflects 
the usual and customary practice of the senior housing industry. Under 
the HOPA, a ``55 or older'' housing provider should conduct an initial 
occupancy survey of the housing community or facility to verify 
compliance with the HOPA's '80 percent' occupancy requirement, and 
should maintain such compliance by periodically reviewing and updating 
existing age verification records for each occupied dwelling unit at 
least once every two years. The creation and maintenance of such 
occupancy/age verification records should occur in the normal course of 
individual sale or rental housing transactions, and should require 
minimal preparation time. Further, a senior housing provider's 
operating rules, policies and procedures are not privileged or 
confidential in nature, because such information must be disclosed to 
current and prospective residents, and to residential real estate 
professionals.
    The HOPA exemption also requires that a summary of the occupancy 
survey results must be made available for public inspection. This 
summary need not contain confidential information about individual 
residents; it may simply indicate the total number of dwelling units 
actually occupied by persons 55 years of age or older. While the 
supporting age verification records may contain confidential 
information about individual occupants, such information .
    Estimation of the total numbers of hours needed to prepare the 
information collection including number of respondents, frequency of 
response, and hours of response: The HOPA information collection 
requirements are the responsibility of the individual housing facility 
or community that claims eligibility for the HOPA's ``55 or older'' 
housing exemption. The HOPA does not authorize HUD to require 
submission of this information by individual housing providers as a 
means of certifying that their housing communities or facilities 
qualify for the exemption. Further, since the HOPA has no mandatory 
registration requirement, HUD cannot ascertain the actual number of 
housing facilities and communities that are currently collecting this 
information with the intention of qualifying for the HOPA exemption. 
Accordingly, HUD has estimated that approximately 1,000 housing 
facilities or communities would seek to qualify for the HOPA exemption. 
HUD has estimated that the occupancy/age verification data would 
require routine updating with each new housing transaction within the 
facility or community, and that the number of such transactions per 
year might vary significantly depending on the size and nature of the 
facility or community. HUD also estimated the average number of housing 
transactions per year at ten (10) transactions per community. HUD 
concluded that the publication of policies and procedures is likely to 
be a one-time event and in most cases will require no additional burden 
beyond what is done in the normal course of business. The estimated 
total annual burden hours are 5,500 hours.

B. Solicitation of Public Comment

    This notice is soliciting comments from members of the public and 
affected parties concerning the collection of information described in 
Section A on the following:
    (1) Whether the proposed collection of information is necessary for 
the proper performance of the functions of the agency, including 
whether the information will have practical utility;
    (2) The accuracy of the agency's estimate of the burden of the 
proposed collection of information;
    (3) Ways to enhance the quality, utility, and clarity of the 
information to be collected; and
    (4) Ways to minimize the burden of the collection of information on 
those who are to respond; including through the use of appropriate 
automated collection techniques or other forms of information 
technology, e.g., permitting electronic submission of responses.
    HUD encourages interested parties to submit comment in response to 
these questions.

C. Authority

    Authority:  Section 3507 of the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, 
44 U.S.C. Chapter 35.

    Dated: June 27, 2013.
Colette Pollard,
Department Reports Management Officer, Office of the Chief Information 
Officer.
[FR Doc. 2013-15995 Filed 7-2-13; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4210-67-P