Agency Information Collection Activities: Information Collection Renewal; Comment Request; Fair Housing Home Loan Data System Regulation, 25917-25918 [2017-11545]

Agencies

• Office of the Comptroller of the Currency
• DEPARTMENT OF THE TREASURY

[Federal Register Volume 82, Number 106 (Monday, June 5, 2017)]
[Notices]
[Pages 25917-25918]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2017-11545]


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

DEPARTMENT OF THE TREASURY

Office of the Comptroller of the Currency


Agency Information Collection Activities: Information Collection 
Renewal; Comment Request; Fair Housing Home Loan Data System Regulation

AGENCY: Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC), Treasury.

ACTION: Notice and request for comment.

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

SUMMARY: The OCC, as part of its continuing effort to reduce paperwork 
and respondent burden, invites the general public and other federal 
agencies to take this opportunity to comment on a continuing 
information collection as required by the Paperwork Reduction Act of 
1995 (PRA).
    In accordance with the requirements of the PRA, the OCC may not 
conduct or sponsor, and the respondent is not required to respond to, 
an information collection unless it displays a currently valid Office 
of Management and Budget (OMB) control number.
    The OCC is soliciting comment concerning the renewal of its 
information collection titled ``Fair Housing Home Loan Data System 
Regulation.''

DATES: Comments must be received on or before August 4, 2017.

ADDRESSES:  Because paper mail in the Washington, DC area and at the 
OCC is subject to delay, commenters are encouraged to submit comments 
by email, if possible. Comments may be sent to: Legislative and 
Regulatory Activities Division, Office of the Comptroller of the 
Currency, Attention: 1557-0159, 400 7th Street SW., Suite 3E-218, 
Washington, DC 20219. In addition, comments may be sent by fax to (571) 
465-4326 or by electronic mail to prainfo@occ.treas.gov. You may 
personally inspect and photocopy comments at the OCC, 400 7th Street 
SW., Washington, DC 20219. For security reasons, the OCC requires that 
visitors make an appointment to inspect comments. You may do so by 
calling (202) 649-6700 or, for persons who are deaf or hard of hearing, 
TTY, (202) 649-5597. Upon arrival, visitors will be required to present 
valid government-issued photo identification and submit to security 
screening in order to inspect and photocopy comments.
    All comments received, including attachments and other supporting 
materials, are part of the public record and subject to public 
disclosure. Do not include any information in your comment or 
supporting materials that you consider confidential or inappropriate 
for public disclosure.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Shaquita Merritt, OCC Clearance 
Officer, (202) 649-5490 or, for persons who are deaf or hard of 
hearing, TTY, (202) 649-5597, Legislative and Regulatory Activities 
Division, Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, 400 7th Street 
SW., Washington, DC 20219.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Under the PRA (44 U.S.C. 3501-3520), federal 
agencies must obtain approval from OMB for each collection of 
information that they conduct or sponsor. ``Collection of information'' 
is defined in 44 U.S.C. 3502(3) and 5 CFR 1320.3(c) to include agency 
requests or requirements that members of the public submit reports, 
keep records, or provide information to a third party. Section 
3506(c)(2)(A) of title 44 requires federal agencies to provide a 60-day 
notice in the Federal Register concerning each proposed collection of 
information, including each renewal of an existing collection of 
information, before submitting the collection to OMB for approval. To 
comply with this requirement, the OCC is publishing notice of the 
renewal of the collection of information set forth in this document.
    The OCC is proposing to extend OMB approval of the following 
information collection:
    Title: Fair Housing Home Loan Data System Regulation.
    OMB Control No.: 1557-0159.
    Description: The Fair Housing Act (42 U.S.C. 3605) prohibits 
discrimination in the financing of housing on the basis of race, color, 
religion, sex, or national origin. The Equal Credit Opportunity Act 
(ECOA) (15 U.S.C. 1691 et seq.) prohibits discrimination in any aspect 
of a credit transaction on the basis of race, color, religion, national 
origin, sex, marital status, age, receipt of income from public 
assistance, or exercise of any right under the Consumer Credit 
Protection Act (CCPA) (15 U.S.C. 1601 et seq.). The OCC is responsible 
for ensuring that national banks and federal savings associations 
comply with those laws. This information collection is needed to 
promote compliance and for the OCC to fulfill its statutory 
responsibilities.
    The OCC uses the data to determine whether an institution treated 
applicants consistently and made credit decisions commensurate with the 
applicants' qualifications and in compliance with ECOA and CCPA.
    The information collection requirements are as follows:
     12 CFR 27.3(a) requires national banks that are required 
to collect data on home loans under 12 CFR part 203 \1\ to present the 
data on Form FR HMDA-LAR,\2\ or in automated format in accordance with 
the HMDA-LAR instructions, and to include one additional item (the 
reason for denial) on the HMDA-LAR. Section 27.3(a) also lists 
exceptions to the HMDA-LAR recordkeeping requirements. Federal savings 
associations report this information to the OCC pursuant to 12

[[Page 25918]]

CFR 128.6 and the CFPB's Regulation C, 12 CFR part 1003.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \1\ This regulation has been transferred to the Consumer 
Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) (12 CFR part 1003).
    \2\ Loan Application Register, https://www.ffiec.gov/hmda/pdf/hmdalar2011.pdf.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

     12 CFR 27.3(b) lists the information national banks shall 
attempt to obtain from an applicant as part of a home loan application 
and sets forth the information that banks must disclose to an 
applicant.
     12 CFR 27.3(c) sets forth additional information national 
banks must maintain in the loan file.
     12 CFR 27.4 states that the OCC may require a national 
bank to maintain a Fair Housing Inquiry/Application Log found in 
Appendix III to part 27 if there is reason to believe that the bank is 
engaging in discriminatory practices or if analysis of the data 
compiled by the bank under the Home Mortgage Disclosure Act (12 U.S.C. 
2801 et seq.) and 12 CFR part 203 indicates a pattern of significant 
variation in the number of home loans between census tracts with 
similar incomes and home ownership levels differentiated only by race 
or national origin. Section 27.4(a)(2) also requires a log if 
complaints filed with the Comptroller or letters in the Community 
Reinvestment Act file are found to be substantive in nature, indicating 
that the bank's home lending practices are, or may be, discriminatory.
     12 CFR 27.5 requires a national bank to maintain the 
information required by Sec.  27.3 for 25 months after the bank 
notifies the applicant of action taken on an application or after 
withdrawal of an application.
     12 CFR 27.7 requires a national bank to submit the 
information required by Sec. Sec.  27.3(a) and 27.4 to the OCC upon its 
request prior to a scheduled examination using the Monthly Home Loan 
Activity Format form in Appendix I to part 27 and the Home Loan Data 
Form in Appendix IV to part 27. Section 27.7(c)(3) states that a bank 
with fewer than 75 home loan applications in the preceding year will 
not be required to submit such forms unless the home loan activity is 
concentrated in the few months preceding the request for data, 
indicating the likelihood of increased activity over the subsequent 
year or there is cause to believe that a bank is not in compliance with 
the fair housing laws based on prior examinations and/or complaints, 
among other factors.
     Sec.  27.7(d) provides that if there is cause to believe 
that a bank is in noncompliance with fair housing laws, the Comptroller 
may require submission of additional Home Loan Data Submission Forms. 
The Comptroller may also require submission of the information 
maintained under Sec.  27.3(a) and Home Loan Data Submission Forms at 
more frequent intervals.
    OCC-regulated institutions now have access to a CFPB-developed web-
based data submission and edit-check system (the HMDA Platform) that 
may be used to process HMDA data. Some institutions, typically those 
with small volumes of reported loans or those who do not use a vendor 
or other software to prepare their HMDA data for submission, will still 
need a software solution for integrating HMDA data from paper records 
or electronic systems. Therefore, the CFPB created a prototype ``LAR 
Formatting Tool'' which will allow financial institutions with small 
volumes of reported loans, or those who do not use a vendor or other 
software to prepare their HMDA data for submission, to enter HMDA data 
and to create a pipe delimited text file to upload to the HMDA 
Platform. The institution can then proceed through the interactive Web 
pages of the HMDA Platform to process HMDA data.
    Type of Review: Regular.
    Affected Public: Businesses or other for-profit.
    Frequency of Response: On occasion.
    Estimated Number of Respondents: 1,927.
    Estimated Total Annual Burden: 31,704 hours.
    Comments submitted in response to this notice will be summarized 
and included in the request for OMB approval. All comments will become 
a matter of public record. Comments are invited on:
    (a) Whether the collection of information is necessary for the 
proper performance of the functions of the OCC, including whether the 
information has practical utility;
    (b) The accuracy of the OCC's estimate of the burden of the 
information collection;
    (c) Ways to enhance the quality, utility, and clarity of the 
information to be collected;
    (d) Ways to minimize the burden of the collection on respondents, 
including through the use of automated collection techniques or other 
forms of information technology; and
    (e) Estimates of capital or start-up costs and costs of operation, 
maintenance, and purchase of services to provide information.

    Dated: May 30, 2017.
Karen Solomon,
Deputy Chief Counsel, Office of the Comptroller of the Currency.
[FR Doc. 2017-11545 Filed 6-2-17; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 4810-33-P