Implementation of the Privacy Act of 1974, as Amended; System of Records Notice Amendment, Distributive Shares and Refunds Subsystem, 22293-22296 [2016-08774]

Agencies

• DEPARTMENT OF HOUSING AND URBAN DEVELOPMENT

[Federal Register Volume 81, Number 73 (Friday, April 15, 2016)]
[Notices]
[Pages 22293-22296]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2016-08774]


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DEPARTMENT OF HOUSING AND URBAN DEVELOPMENT

[Docket No. FR-5921-N-04]


Implementation of the Privacy Act of 1974, as Amended; System of 
Records Notice Amendment, Distributive Shares and Refunds Subsystem

AGENCY: Office of Housing, HUD.

ACTION: System of records notice amendment.

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SUMMARY: HUD is proposing to amend information published in the Federal 
Register about one of its system of records, Distributive Shares and 
Refunds Subsystem (DSRS). The revision implemented under this 
republication reflects administrative changes to the system of records 
location, authority, purpose, and records retention statements to 
refine previously published information, and incorporates a new coding 
structure to easily differentiate this system of records notice (SORN) 
from other program specific SORNs. This update improves previously 
published details in a clear and cohesive format. A more detailed 
description of the present systems status is republished under this 
notice. This notice deletes and supersedes prior notice published in 
the Federal Register at 72 FR 40890 on July 25, 2007. The scope and 
functional purpose in place for this system remain unchanged.

DATES: This action shall become effective immediately upon publication 
of this notice April 15, 2016.

ADDRESSES: Interested persons are invited to submit comments regarding

[[Page 22294]]

this notice to the Rules Docket Clerk, Office of the General Counsel, 
Department of Housing and Urban Development, 451 Seventh Street SW., 
Room 10276, Washington, DC 20410-0500. Communication should refer to 
the above docket number and title. Faxed comments are not accepted. A 
copy of each communication submitted will be available for public 
inspection and copying between 8 a.m. and 5 p.m. weekdays at the above 
address.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Frieda B. Edwards, Acting Chief 
Privacy Officer, 451 Seventh Street SW., Room 10139, Washington, DC 
20410, telephone number 202-402-6828 (this is not a toll-free number). 
Individuals who are hearing- and speech-impaired may access this number 
via TTY by calling the Federal Relay Service telephone number at 800-
877-8339 (this is a toll-free number).

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Publication of this notice allows the 
Department to satisfy its reporting requirement and keep an up-to-date 
accounting of its SORN publications. The amended SORN proposal will 
incorporate Federal privacy requirements and the Department's policy 
requirements. The Privacy Act provides individuals with certain 
safeguards against an invasion of their personal privacy by requiring 
Federal agencies to protect records contained in an agency system of 
records from unauthorized disclosure, by ensuring that the information 
collected is current and collected only for its intended use, and by 
providing adequate safeguards to prevent misuse of such information. In 
addition, this notice demonstrates the Department's focus on following 
industry best practices to protect the personal privacy of the 
individuals covered by this SORN. This SORN states the name and 
location of the record system, the authority for and manner of its 
operations, the categories of individuals that it covers, the type of 
records that it contains, the sources of the information for those 
records, the routine uses made of the records and the type of exemption 
in place for the records. This notice includes the business address of 
Department officials who will inform interested persons of the 
procedures whereby they may gain access to and/or request amendments to 
records pertaining to them.
    This publication does not meet the threshold requirements 
established by the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) for filing a 
report to OMB, the Senate Committee on Homeland Security and 
Governmental Affairs, and the House Committee on Oversight and 
Government Reform as instructed by Paragraph 4c of Appendix l to OMB 
Circular No. A-130, ``Federal Agencies Responsibilities for Maintaining 
Records About Individuals,'' November 28, 2000. Accordingly, this 
notice is being revised to provide non-substantive changes that clarify 
text published under the prior notice location, purpose, and retention 
and disposal of records sections.

    Authority:  5 U.S.C. 552a; 88 Stat. 1896; 42 U.S.C. 3535(d).

    Dated: April 8, 2016.
Patricia A. Hoban-Moore,
Senior Agency Official for Privacy.
HSNG.SF/FB.01


System of Records No.: HSNG.SF/FB.01
System Name:
    Distributive Shares and Refunds Subsystem (DSRS)-A80D.

System Location:
    Department of Housing and Urban Development, 470 L'Enfant Plaza 
East, Room 3119, Washington, DC 20026; HUD Information Technology 
Systems Production Data Center in South Charleston, West Virginia, and 
Lanham, Maryland; and at the location of the service providers under 
contract with HUD.

Categories of Individuals Covered by the System:
    Homeowners (Mortgagors) who had Federal Housing Administration 
(FHA) mortgage insured loans and may be eligible for an upfront 
mortgage insurance premium (UFMIP) or distributive shares refund.

Categories of Records in the System:
    Homeowners (Mortgagors) information is made up of the following 
elements: Borrower and/or co-borrower names, Social Security number 
(SSN), mailing address, property address, FHA case number, loan 
endorsement and termination dates, homeowners distributive shares 
refunds amount due, correspondence actions, including the number of 
times it was mailed to the homeowner, type of correspondence sent, and 
status of issued refund check.

Authority for Maintenance of the System:
    The National Housing Act and Section 7(d) of the Department of 
Housing and Urban Development Act, section 203; Public Law 89-174; 24 
CFR 5.210, 24 CFR 200.1101; 24 CFR 203.35; Debt Collection Act of 1982, 
Public Law 97-365; Housing and Community Development Act of 1987, 42 
U.S.C Sec.  3543, titled ``Preventing fraud and abuse in Department of 
Housing and Urban Development programs'' and enacted as part of the 
Housing and Community Development Act of 1987, which permits the 
collection of SSN.

Purpose(s):
    The DSRS was designed in response to a Congressional mandate, 
wherein HUD established a new method for collecting and processing FHA 
UFMIP refunds or distributive share payments. The DSRS maintains 
records on individuals that are entitled to either two types of 
payments: (1) An UFMIP refund, or (2) a distributive share payment. The 
system is operated by the Department's Office of Single Family 
Insurance Operations to service unclaimed terminated loan transactions, 
should a homeowner terminate their mortgage insurance prior to loan 
maturity, entitling the homeowner to a premium refund. The DSRS 
records, controls, and tracks appropriations data for all terminations, 
disbursements, transfers, transactions, and produces daily, weekly, 
monthly, quarterly, and annual reports on these transactions. The 
system gives the Department's operating areas access to their own cash 
data, provides management access to all the cash data in prescribed 
formats, produces appropriation reports in accordance with the Federal 
Credit Reform Act of 1990, 2 U.S.C. 661 et.1 seq., produces and 
transmits monthly cash reconciliation to the Department's accountants, 
and processes returned checks, check tracer actions, and related 
correspondence for distribution to homeowners.
    DSRS interfaces with the following systems to facilitate payment 
and refund transactions:
    (1) Single Family Insurance System (SFIS)--to calculate the 
unearned portion of the UFMIP for eligible cases, to send refund data 
to the DSRS for distribution of payments to the homeowner for the 
unearned portions of the UFMIP or distributive shares.
    (2) Single Family Premium Collection Subsystems (SFPCS) Upfront, 
and the Single Family Premium Collection Subsystems for Periodic 
(SFPCS-P)--to receive refund data from DSRS to generate the UFMIP 
refund or distributive share payments.
    a. Equally important, the Department utilizes the DSRS to generate 
correspondence actions to attempt to notify each unpaid mortgagor of 
their FHA insurance refund for a period of 2 years. This process occurs 
once the Department receives notification of a mortgage insurance 
termination. After this 2-year hold, the Department makes available to 
the general public a

[[Page 22295]]

cumulative listing of any unpaid refund that remains unpaid. The 
information includes the homeowner's name, last known address, FHA case 
number, termination data, and refund amount. This information is also 
made available to the public by HUD's refund database, ``Does HUD Owe 
You a Refund?''

Routine Uses of Records Maintained in the System, Including Categories 
of Users and the Purposes of Such Uses.
    In addition to those disclosures generally permitted under 5 U.S.C. 
Section 552a(b) of the Privacy Act, all or a portion of the records or 
information contained in this system may be disclosed outside HUD as a 
routine use pursuant to 5 U.S.C. 552a(b)(3) as follows:
    (1) To authorized requesters or third party tracers who request 
access to UFMIP and distributive shares homeowner refund information, 
when such information is unavailable on HUD's FOIA reading room or 
refunds database Web sites. This information is releasable under FOIA. 
Third party release of this material may require authorized consent of 
the homeowner to whom the records belong, and must adhere to all HUD 
procedures prior to release.
    (2) To the U.S. Department of the Treasury for collection and 
disbursement of check transactions.
    (3) To the recorders' offices for recording legal documents and 
responses to offsets (i.e., child support) or other legal responses 
required during the servicing of the insured loan to allow HUD to 
release mortgage liens, and respond to bankruptcies or deaths of 
mortgagors to protect the interest of the Secretary of HUD.
    (4) To the Office of Inspector General to investigate possible 
fraud revealed in servicing homeowners refunds to allow HUD to protect 
the interest of the Secretary.
    (5) To contractors, grantees, experts, consultants and their 
agents, or others performing or working under a contract, service, 
grant, or cooperative agreement with HUD, when necessary to accomplish 
an agency function related to a system of records. Disclosure 
requirements are limited to only those data elements considered 
relevant to accomplishing an agency function. Individuals provided 
information under this routine use conditions are subject to Privacy 
Act requirements and disclosure limitations imposed on the Department.
    (6) To appropriate agencies, entities, and persons when:
    (a) HUD suspects or has confirmed that the security or 
confidentiality of information in a system of records has been 
compromised;
    (b) HUD has determined that as a result of the suspected or 
confirmed compromise there is a risk of harm to economic or property 
interests, identity theft, or fraud, or harm to the security or 
integrity of systems or programs (whether maintained by HUD or another 
agency or entity) that rely upon the compromised information; and
    (c) The disclosure made to such agencies, entities, and persons is 
reasonably necessary to assist in connection with HUD's efforts to 
respond to the suspected or confirmed compromise and prevent, minimize, 
or remedy such harm for purposes of facilitating responses and 
remediation efforts in the event of a data breach.
    (7) To appropriate agencies, entities, and persons to the extent 
that such disclosures are compatible with the purpose for which records 
in this system were collected, as set forth by Appendix I \1\--HUD's 
Library of Routine Uses published in the Federal Register.
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    \1\ https://portal.hud.gov/hudportal/documents/huddoc?id=append1.pdf.
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Policies and Practices for Storing, Retrieving, Accessing, Retaining, 
and Disposing of Records in the System:
Storage:
    Electronic records are maintained on the mainframe and on CD and 
DVD. Paper records are maintained in locked file cabinets and destroyed 
immediately after electronic imaging and payment verification has 
occurred. This is usually done within 30 days of receipt.

Retrievability:
    Records are retrieved by FHA case number and by an individual's 
name. Paper records are not retrieved from the system.

Safeguards:
    CDs and DVDs are maintained in secured office space and secure file 
rooms to which access is limited to those personnel who service the 
records. Access to electronic records is granted by user ID and 
password and to users who have a need to access such records. Paper 
records are maintained in locked file cabinets and destroyed 
immediately after electronic imaging and payment verification has 
occurred.

Retention and Disposal:
    DSRS records are maintained in accordance with HUD's Deposition 
General Records Schedule 1.1, Financial Management and Reporting 
Records, Item 010. Paper records do not require storage by the Federal 
Records Center. Paper records consist of the HUD form, HUD-27050-B 
(Application for Premium Refund or Distributive Share Payment), which 
is transferred to electronic media, and then destroyed immediately 
after electronic imaging and payment verification has occurred. Paper 
records are destroyed by shredding. Paper records are maintained for a 
period not to exceed 30 days. CD and DVD images of records are 
maintained for 40 years after which they are destroyed as instructed by 
guidelines outlined in HUD's IT Security Handbook (2400.25), pursuant 
to NIST Special Publication 800-88 ``Guidelines for Media 
Sanitization.''

System Manager(s) and Address:
    Department of Housing and Urban Development, Office of Single 
Family Insurance Operations Division, Chief, Disbursements and Customer 
Service Branch, 470 L'Enfant Plaza East, Room 3119, Washington, DC 
20026.

Notification and Record Access Procedures:
    For Information, assistance, or inquiries about the existence of 
records contact Frieda B. Edwards, Acting Chief Privacy Officer, 451 
Seventh Street SW., Room 10139, Washington, DC 20410, telephone number 
202-402-6828. When seeking records about yourself from this system of 
records or any other HUD system of records, your request must conform 
with the Privacy Act regulations set forth in 24 CFR part 16. You must 
first verify your identity by providing your full name, current 
address, and date and place of birth. You must sign your request, and 
your signature must either be notarized or submitted under 28 U.S.C. 
1746, a law that permits statements to be made under penalty of perjury 
as a substitute for notarization. In addition, your request should:
    (1) Explain why you believe HUD would have information on you.
    (2) Identify which HUD office you believe has the records about 
you.
    (3) Specify when you believe the records would have been created.
    (4) Provide any other information that will help the Freedom of 
Information Act (FOIA) staff determine which HUD office may have 
responsive records.
    If you are is seeking records pertaining to another living 
individual, you must obtain a statement from that individual certifying 
their agreement for you to access their records. Without the above 
information, the HUD FOIA Office may not be able to conduct an 
effective search, and your request may be denied due to lack of 
specificity or lack of compliance with applicable regulations.

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Contesting Records Procedures:
    The Department's rules for contesting contents of records and 
appealing initial denials appear in 24 CFR part 16, Procedures for 
Inquiries. Additional assistance may be obtained by contacting Frieda 
B. Edwards, Acting Chief Privacy Officer, 451 Seventh Street, SW., Room 
10139, Washington, DC 20410, or the HUD Departmental Privacy Appeals 
Officers, Office of General Counsel, Department of Housing and Urban 
Development, 451 Seventh Street, SW., Room 10110 Washington DC 20410.

Record Source Categories:
    The records maintained by the system are provided directly by the 
homeowners, by completion of the Uniform Residential Loan Application 
(form HUD-92900-A). Information is also collected by the mortgagees 
(lenders), who collect the personal information from the homeowner and 
enters the information into the HUD Single Family Computerized Home 
Underwriting Management System (CHUMS). After the case is endorsed, 
CHUMS sends case data to SFIS, which is maintained in SFIS until the 
case is terminated (non-claim, claim, or other type of cancellation). 
Once the case is non-claim terminated, termination data is sent to the 
DSRS.

Exemptions From Certain Provisions of the Act:
    None.

[FR Doc. 2016-08774 Filed 4-14-16; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 4210-67-P