60-Day Notice of Proposed Information Collection: Comment Request; Implementation of the Housing for Older Persons Act of 1995 (HOPA), OMB Control No: 2529-0046, 37340-37342 [2021-14976]

Agencies

• DEPARTMENT OF HOUSING AND URBAN DEVELOPMENT

[Federal Register Volume 86, Number 133 (Thursday, July 15, 2021)]
[Notices]
[Pages 37340-37342]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2021-14976]


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DEPARTMENT OF HOUSING AND URBAN DEVELOPMENT

[Docket No. FR-7037-N-03]


60-Day Notice of Proposed Information Collection: Comment 
Request; Implementation of the Housing for Older Persons Act of 1995 
(HOPA), OMB Control No: 2529-0046

AGENCY: Office of the Assistant Secretary for Fair Housing and Equal 
Opportunity, HUD.

ACTION: Notice.

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SUMMARY: The proposed reinstatement, without change, of an expired, 
previously approved information collection requirement established 
under the Housing for Older Persons Act of 1995 (HOPA) will be 
submitted to the Office of Management and Budget

[[Page 37341]]

(OMB) for review, as required by the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995. 
HUD is soliciting public comments on the subject proposal.

DATES: Comment Due Date: September 13, 2021.

ADDRESSES: Interested persons are invited to submit comments regarding 
this proposed information collection requirement. Comments should refer 
to the proposal by name and/or OMB Control Number and should be sent to 
Erik A. Heins, Director, Enforcement Support Division, Office of 
Enforcement, U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, 451 7th 
Street SW; Room 5214, Washington, DC 20410-2000; telephone (202) 402-
5887 (this is not a toll-free number); or email at 
[email protected]. Hearing or speech-impaired individuals may access 
this number via TTY by calling the toll-free Federal Relay Service at: 
1-(800) 877-8339.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Erik A. Heins, Director, Enforcement 
Support Division, Office of Enforcement, U.S. Department of Housing and 
Urban Development, 451 7th Street SW, Room 5214, Washington, DC 20410-
2000; telephone (202) 402-5887 (this is not a toll-free number); or 
email at [email protected]. Hearing or speech-impaired individuals 
may access this number via TTY by calling the toll-free Federal Relay 
Service at: 1-(800) 877-8339.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: HUD is submitting this proposed 
reinstatement, without change, of an expired, previously approved 
information collection requirement to the OMB for review, as required 
under the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 [44 U.S.C. chapter 35, as 
amended].

A. Overview of Information Collection

    Title of Information Collection: Implementation of the Housing for 
Older Persons Act of 1995 (HOPA).
    OMB Control Number: 2529-0046.
    Type of Request: Proposed reinstatement without change of an 
expired, previously approved information collection requirement.
    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 consider when 
determining, during 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 on which the 
alleged Fair Housing Act violation occurred.
    The HOPA information collection requirements are necessary to 
establish 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 
that are 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 would be 
protected from disclosure unless the housing provider claims the ``55 
or older'' housing exemption as an affirmative defense to a 
jurisdictional familial status discrimination complaint filed with HUD 
under the Fair Housing Act. HUD's Office of Fair Housing and Equal 
Opportunity will only require a housing provider to disclose such 
confidential information to HUD if and when HUD investigates a 
jurisdictional familial status discrimination complaint filed against 
the housing provider under the Fair Housing Act, and if and when the 
housing provider claims the ``55 or older'' housing exemption as an 
affirmative defense to the complaint.
    Agency form number(s), if applicable: None.
    Members of affected public: The HOPA requires that small businesses 
and other small entities that operate housing intended for occupancy by 
persons 55 years of age or older must routinely collect and update 
reliable age verification information necessary to meet the eligibility 
criteria for the HOPA exemption. The record keeping

[[Page 37342]]

requirements are the responsibility of the housing provider that seeks 
to qualify for the HOPA exemption.
    Estimation of the total numbers of hours needed to prepare the 
information collection, including the number of respondents, frequency 
of response, and hours of response: Housing providers claiming 
eligibility for the HOPA's ``55 or older'' housing exemption must 
demonstrate ongoing compliance with the HOPA exemption requirements. 
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 [See Table below].

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                                             Number of     Frequency of    Responses per    Burden hour    Annual burden    Hourly cost
       Type of collection activity          respondents      response          annum       per response        hours       per response     Annual cost
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One: Collect reliable age verification             1,000               1           1,000               1           1,000          $18.18          $18.18
 records for at least one occupant per
 dwelling unit to meet the HOPA's
 minimum ``80% occupancy'' requirement..
Two: Publication of & adherence to                 1,000               1           1,000               2            2,00           18.18          36,360
 policies & procedures that demonstrate
 intent to operate ``55 or older''
 housing................................
Three: Periodic updates of age                     1,000               1           1,000            2.50           2,500           18.18          45,450
 verification records...................
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    Total Burden Hours & Costs..........  ..............  ..............           3,000  ..............           5,500  ..............          99,990
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B. Solicitation of Public Comments

    This Notice is soliciting comments from members of the public and 
affected agencies concerning the proposed information collection in 
order to: (1) Evaluate whether the proposed information collection is 
necessary for the proper performance of HUD's program functions; (2) 
Evaluate the accuracy of HUD's assessment of the paperwork burden that 
may result from the proposed information collection; (3) Enhance the 
quality, utility, and clarity of the information which must be 
collected; and (4) Minimize the burden of the information collection on 
responders, including the use of appropriate automated collection 
techniques or other forms of information technology (e.g., permitting 
electronic submission of responses).

    Authority:  Section 3506 of the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, 
44 U.S.C. chapter 35, as amended.

Erik Heins,
Director, Enforcement Support Division.
[FR Doc. 2021-14976 Filed 7-14-21; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4210-67-P