Department of Housing and Urban Development January 2007 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

On May 22, 2006, HUD published a notice entitled, ``Emergency Capital Repair Grants for Multifamily Housing Projects Designated for Occupancy by the Elderly,'' which announced the availability of approximately $30 million in grant funds to make emergency capital repairs to eligible multifamily projects designated for occupancy by elderly tenants. The notice published in today's Federal Register revises the May 22, 2006 notice to expand the eligibility requirements to include those eligible projects located in presidentially declared disaster areas regardless of when final closing occurred. Those projects not located in presidentially declared disaster areas must have had final closing on or before January 1, 1999.

The proposed information collection requirement described below has been submitted to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) for review, as required by the Paperwork Reduction Act. The Department is soliciting public comments on the subject proposal. PHAs establish allowances for PHA-furnished utilities and for resident-purchased utilities. PHAs document, and provide for resident inspection, the basis upon which allowances and scheduled surcharges (and revisions thereof) are established. PHAs complete energy audits, benefit/cost analyses for individual meters vs. master-metering. Additionally, PHAs review annual and updated tenant utility allowances, as necessary.

The proposed information collection requirement described below has been submitted to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) for review, as required by the Paperwork Reduction Act. The Department is soliciting public comments on the subject proposal. This information collection requirement covers the criteria that a nonprofit organization must meet to participate in Single Family programs. In general, a nonprofit organization must be HUD-approved and meet specific requirements to maintain approval and remain on the Nonprofit Organization Roster (Roster). This includes an application, affordable housing plan, annual reports, and required record keeping. Participants must submit a new application and updated affordable housing plan every two years to remain on the Roster.

This Notice identifies unutilized, underutilized, excess, and surplus Federal property reviewed by HUD for suitability for possible use to assist the homeless.

On January 22, 2007, HUD published in the Federal Register final guidance on ``Federal Financial Assistance Regarding Title VI Prohibition against National Origin Discrimination Affecting Limited English Proficient Persons'' (LEP Final Guidance). This guidance becomes effective on February 21, 2007. This notice announces that HUD will hold a meeting at HUD Headquarters on February 13, 2007, to brief interested members of the public on the LEP Final Guidance and respond to questions about the guidance.

This Notice identifies unutilized, underutilized, excess, and surplus Federal property reviewed by HUD for suitability for possible use to assist the homeless.

The proposed information collection requirement described below has been submitted to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) for review, as required by the Paperwork Reduction Act. The Department is soliciting public comments on the subject proposal. The study of the Section 5(H) and Section 32 programs will provide the answer to a number of important questions about the homeownership programs. Information will provide a detailed assessment of the homeownership programs, to identify their strengths and weaknesses.

The proposed information collection requirement described below has been submitted to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) for review, as required by the Paperwork Reduction Act. The Department is soliciting public comments on the subject proposal. The 2007 AHS is a longitudinal study that provides a periodic measure on the quality, availability, and cost of housing for both the nation (AHS-N) and seven select metropolitan areas (AHS-MS). The study also provides information on demographic and other characteristics of the occupants. Federal and local agencies use AHS data to evaluate housing issues.

This notice provides prospective applicants for HUD competitive funding with the opportunity to become familiar with the General Section of HUD's FY2007 SuperNOFA, in advance of publication of the FY2007 SuperNOFA. HUD plans to publish its annual SuperNOFA early in 2007. Early publication of the General Section is one of several steps instituted to improve the funding process for the grantee community. Early publication of the General Section gives prospective applicants additional time to become familiar with and address provisions in the General Section, which constitute part of almost every individual program application. HUD will publish with the SuperNOFA any changes to this General Section made after today's publication. HUD will continue to require that applicants submit their applications electronically via Grants.gov. To submit an application via Grants.gov, new users will be required to complete a five-step registration process, which can take 2 to 4 weeks to complete. The process includes ensuring that information provided by your organization to Dun and Bradstreet (D&B) matches information previously provided by your organization and contained in Internal Revenue Service (IRS) records. If there is a discrepancy in the information, the registration cannot be completed until discrepancy issues are resolved. Applicants that are already registered have to update the information previously provided in the Central Contractor Registration (CCR). During the update process, the CCR will check the D&B information against the IRS records for your organization. If there are discrepancies, the update cannot be completed until the discrepancies are resolved. Please allow adequate time to resolve any registration issues. To submit an application to HUD, the Authorized Organization Representative (AOR) must be able to make a legally binding agreement for the organizational entity. Please see detailed registration instructions in Section IV.B. of this notice. For FY2007, the Continuum of Care applications are the lone SuperNOFA paper applications that HUD will accept without first granting a waiver. Continuum of Care applicants should be aware that HUD intends to have the Continuum of Care applicants applying via Grants.gov no later than FY2008. Therefore, it is in the interest of Continuum of Care applicants to complete the Grants.gov registration process in anticipation of moving to electronic application submission in 2008. Continuum of Care agencies would benefit from becoming familiar with the Grants.gov filing requirements so that they do not limit their ability to apply for funding from federal sources. HUD recommends that all prospective applicants take the time to carefully read the Federal Register notice published on October 31, 2006, entitled ``Notice of Opportunity to Register Early and other Important Information for Electronic Application Submission via Grants.gov'' and register prior to the publication of the Program Sections of the FY2007 SuperNOFA. The early registration notice can be found on HUD's Web site at https://www.hud.gov/offices/[fxsp0]adm/grants/fundsavail.cfm.

This notice advises the public that HUD's Office of the Inspector General (HUD/OIG) plans to close its Nashville, Tennessee post-of-duty station, and also provides a cost-benefit analysis of the impact of this closure.

The proposed information collection requirement described below has been submitted to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) for review, as required by the Paperwork Reduction Act. The Department is soliciting public comments on the subject proposal. For all loans for purchase money mortgages, lenders must obtain and submit to HUD documentation that the seller is the owner of record and that the transaction does not involve any sale or assignment of the sales contract. For properties resold with one year of acquisition by the seller (with limited exceptions), or if the sale price exceeds HUD's threshold for an area, additional appraisal requirements may apply. HUD uses the information to ensure that purchasers are not victims of predatory sales or lending practices.

The proposed information collection requirement described below has been submitted to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) for review, as required by the Paperwork Reduction Act. The Department is soliciting public comments on the subject proposal. HUD requires project owners to submit information when requesting adjustments to established rents and utility allowances. HUD uses the information to ensure that rent charges are in accordance with HUD regulatory and administrative policy.

The proposed information collection requirement described below has been submitted to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) for review and approval, as required by the paperwork Reduction Act. The Department is soliciting public comments on the subject proposal. This is a request for information collection that will be used by PHAs and owners to request that an individual, in response to an incident or incidents of actual or threatened domestic violence, dating violence or stalking that may affect a tenant's participation in the housing program to request in writing that an individual complete, sign and submit within 14 business days of the request, a HUD-approved certification form. On the form, the individual certifies that he/she is a victim of domestic violence, dating violence, or stalking, and that the incident or incidences in question are bona fide incidences of such actual or threatened abuse. On the certification form, the individual must provide the name of the perpetrator. PHAs are instructed that the delivery of the certification form to the tenant in response to incident via mail may place the victim at risk, e.g., the abuser may monitor the mail; consequently, PHAs, owners and managers may require that the tenant come into the office to pick up the certification form. PHAs and owners are also encouraged to work with tenants to make delivery arrangements that do not place the tenant at risk. If the individual does not provide the certification form or alternate documentation that may satisfy the certification requirements by the 14th business days or after any extension of that date provided by the PHA, owner or manager, none of the protections afforded to the victim of domestic violence, dating violence or stalking by sections 606 or 607 will apply. The PHA, owner or manager would therefore be free to evict, or terminate assistance, in the circumstances authorized by otherwise applicable law and lease provisions, without regard to the amendments made by section 606 and 607.

This proposed rule would amend HUD's HECM regulations to establish testing standards to qualify individuals as HECM counselors eligible to provide HECM counseling to prospective HECM borrowers. The rule also would establish a roster of eligible HECM counselors and provide for their removal for cause. HUD believes that this proposed rule would contribute to improving the quality of HECM counseling. HECM counseling helps to enable elderly homeowners to make more informed decisions when considering whether to pursue a HECM loan.

The proposed information collection requirement described below will be submitted to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) for review, as required by the Paperwork Reduction Act. The Department is soliciting public comments on the subject proposal.