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

This rule amends HUD's Acquisition Regulation (HUDAR) to codify the suspension and debarment procedures applicable to HUD's procurement contracts. Such an amendment affirms that the suspension and debarment procedures in 24 CFR part 24 apply to both procurement and nonprocurement contracts. The contracting community is familiar with the suspension and debarment procedures in part 24, and this rule is limited to amending the HUDAR regulations to reflect the applicability of these requirements to procurement contracts. This final rule follows a July 17, 2007, proposed rule. HUD received no public comments on the proposed rule. This final rule adopts the proposed rule without change.

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. A Public Housing Agency (PHA) which is designated troubled or substandard under the Public Housing Assessment System (PHAS) must enter into a Memorandum of Agreement (MOA) with HUD to outline its planned improvements. Similarly, a PHA which is a standard performer, but receives a total PHAS score of less than 70% but not less than 60% is required to submit an improvement Plan (IP). These plans are designed to address deficiencies in a PHA's operations found through the PHAS assessment process (management, financial, physical, or resident related) and any other deficiencies identified by HUD through independent assessments or other methods.

This notice establishes annual factors used in calculating renewal rents and rent adjustments under certain provisions of MAHRA and LIHPRHA.

In accordance with section 102(a)(4)(C) of the Department of Housing and Urban Development Reform Act of 1989, this document notifies the public of funding awards for the Fiscal Year (FY) 2007 Doctoral Dissertation Research Grant (DDRG) Program. The purpose of this document is to announce the names and addresses of the award winners and the amount of the awards to be used to help doctoral candidates complete dissertations on topics that focus on housing and urban development issues.

This final rule revises HUD's regulations for the homeownership option authorized under the Housing Choice Voucher (HCV) program. Through the homeownership option, a public housing agency (PHA) may provide voucher assistance for an eligible family that purchases a dwelling unit for residence by the family. This final rule authorizes the use of voucher homeownership assistance for the purchase of units not yet under construction at the time the family contracts to purchase the home. This revision will expand the housing choices available to families participating in the homeownership option under the HCV program. This final rule follows publication of a May 29, 2007, proposed rule and takes into consideration the one public comment received on it. After careful consideration of the issues raised by the commenter, HUD has decided to adopt the proposed rule without change.

This final rule establishes new Model Manufactured Home Installation Standards (Model Installation Standards) for the installation of new manufactured homes and includes standards for the completion of certain aspects necessary to join all sections of multi- section homes. The National Manufactured Housing Construction and Safety Standards Act of 1974 requires HUD to develop and establish Model Installation Standards after receiving proposed installation standards from the Manufactured Housing Consensus Committee (MHCC). HUD received and reviewed the MHCC's recommended proposed model installation standards and published a proposed rule for public comment. Based on HUD's review of the comments that were submitted, including those from the MHCC, a number of revisions to the proposed rule have been made in this final rule. This final rule also incorporates certain amendments to definitions contained in the Manufactured Home Construction and Safety Standards (MHCSS) that are affected by definitions provided in the Model Installation Standards.

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. Cities, counties, and states that have received program grants describe their recovery needs, develop action plans, and report performance on a Disaster Recovery Grant Reporting System. HUD also uses the information for quarterly reports to Congress.

In accordance with HUD regulations, this notice announces the changes in the mortgage insurance premiums (MIP) for the following Federal Housing Administration (FHA) multifamily mortgage insurance programs whose commitments will be issued or reissued in Fiscal Year (FY) 2008. The new MIPs will be effective as of December 1, 2007.

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.

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

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 collection of information will be used in binding contracts between the purchaser and HUD in implementing the Good Neighbor Next Door Program. The respondents are purchasers of HUD-owned properties, teachers, law enforcement officers, and firefighters/emergency responders.

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.

This final rule revises HUD's regulations under the single family mortgage insurance program that govern actions by mortgagees with respect to mortgages in default to implement recent statutory changes. The rule also amends regulations under the program to make them consistent with industry practices. The Department believes that these changes will help to increase the administrative efficiency of the single family mortgage insurance program. This final rule follows a proposed rule published on November 10, 2004, and takes into consideration and adopts changes in response to the public comments received.

In accordance with section 102(a)(4)(C) of the Department of Housing and Urban Development Reform Act of 1989, this document notifies the public of funding awards for Fiscal Year (FY) 2007 Historically Black Colleges and Universities Program. The purpose of this document is to announce the names, addresses and the amount awarded to the winners to be used to help Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) expand their role and effectiveness in addressing community development needs in their localities, consistent with the purposes of Title I of the Housing and Development Act of 1974, as amended.

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.

Section 8(c)(1) of the United States Housing Act of 1937 (USHA) requires the Secretary to publish FMRs periodically, but not less than annually, adjusted to be effective on October 1 of each year. The primary uses of FMRs are to determine payment standard amounts for the Housing Choice Voucher program, to determine initial renewal rents for some expiring project-based section 8 contracts, to determine initial rents for housing assistance payment (HAP) contracts in the Moderate Rehabilitation Single Room Occupancy program (Mod Rehab), and to serve as a rent ceiling in the HOME rental assistance program. Today's notice provides final FY2008 FMRs for all areas that reflect the estimated 40th and 50th percentile rent levels trended to April 1, 2008. The FY2008 FMRs are based on 2000 Census data updated with more current survey data. For the first time, HUD is using data from the Census Bureau's American Community Survey (ACS). HUD is largely replacing the accumulated 2001-through-2005 FMR update factors from various sources with data from ACS's first full implementation year, 2005. HUD uses ACS data in different ways according to how many two- bedroom, standard-quality and recent-mover sample cases are available in the FMR area or in its Core-Based Statistical Area (CBSA), as described in detail later in this notice. Random digit dialing (RDD) surveys, as well as some limited private surveys, performed between 2001 and 2005 may also be used under certain conditions. Revised 2005 FMRs based on 2000 Census and 2005 ACS data have been updated with Consumer Price Index (CPI) data through the end of 2006 and then trended to April 2008, the midpoint of FY2008. FY2008 FMRs are the first to be able to take advantage of the full-implementation ACS, a major new Census survey that is being conducted annually. The ACS will replace the Decennial Census ``long-form'' sample survey that is the source of Decennial Census rent information. The ACS will permit more accurate FMR estimates each year than were possible using the Decennial Census trending techniques of previous FMR estimates.