Department of Housing and Urban Development February 2011 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

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 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 changes implemented by this interim rule are intended to enhance the efficiency and utility of HUD's Public Housing Assessment System (PHAS). The interim rule makes 2 sets of amendments to improve evaluation and oversight of the Public Housing Program. First, it amends the PHAS regulations for the purposes of: Consolidating the regulations governing assessment of public housing in one part of the Code of Federal Regulations (CFR); revising certain PHAS regulations based on HUD's experience with PHAS since it was established as the new system for evaluating a public housing agency (PHA) in 1998; and updating certain PHAS procedures to reflect recent changes in public housing operations from conversion by PHAs to asset management. Second, this interim rule establishes new regulations that specify the actions or inactions by which a PHA can be determined to be in substantial default, the procedures for a PHA to respond to such a determination or finding, and the sanctions available to HUD to address and remedy substantial default by a PHA.

This notice provides additional information to public housing agencies (PHAs) and members of the public about HUD's process for issuing scores under the Capital Fund program indicator of the Public Housing Assessment System (PHAS).

This notice provides additional information to public housing agencies (PHAs) and members of the public about HUD's process for issuing scores under the physical condition indicator of the Public Housing Assessment System (PHAS). This notice amends the current Physical Condition Scoring Process notice that was published on June 29, 2000, as corrected and updated by the Physical Condition Scoring Process notice that was published on November 26, 2001.

In accordance with section 102(a)(4)(C) of the Department of Housing and Urban Development Reform Act of 1989, this announcement notifies the public of funding decisions made by the Department in a competition for funding under the Notice of Funding Availability (NOFA) for the Rural Housing and Economic Development Program. This announcement contains the names of the awardees and the amounts of the awards made available by HUD.

The proposed extension of information collection requirements for Consolidated Planning for Community Planning and Development (CPD) programs 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 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.

HUD is proposing to revise its regulations that implement statutory requirements concerning how manufacturers and others address reports of problems with manufactured homes. These ``Subpart I'' regulations establish a system of protections with respect to imminent safety hazards and violations of the Federal construction and safety standards, assuring a minimum of formality and delay, while protecting the rights of all parties. The regulations implement requirements established by Congress in the National Manufactured Housing Construction and Safety Standards Act of 1974. Manufacturers, retailers, and distributors, State Administrative Agencies, primary inspection agencies, and the Secretary would follow the procedures set out in Subpart I to assure that notification and correction are provided with respect to manufactured homes, when required. These remedial actions are not required, however, for failures that occur in any manufactured home or component as the result of normal wear and aging, unforeseeable consumer abuse, or unreasonable neglect of maintenance.

In accordance with the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (Pub. L. 111-05, approved February 17, 2009) (Recovery Act), and implementing guidance of the Office of Management and Budget (OMB), this notice advises that certain exceptions to the Buy American requirement of the Recovery Act have been determined applicable for work using Capital Fund Recovery Formula and Competition (CFRFC) grant funds. Specifically, exceptions were granted to the St. Clair Shores Housing Commission of St. Clair Shores, MI for the purchase and installation, of Ground Fault Circuit Interrupter (GFCI) outlets and electronic door chimes at the Leisure Manor Apartments I & II, and to the Housing Authority of the City of Columbia, Columbia, SC, for the purchase and installation of door stops, GFCI receptacles, telephone wall communication plates, range outlets, telephone/CATV combo communication wall plates, three-way switches, single pole switches, dryer outlets, door chimes and door viewers at the Dorrah-Randall Phase VI Modernization Project.

In accordance with section 102(a)(4)(C) of the Department of Housing and Urban Development Reform Act of 1989, this announcement notifies the public of funding decisions made by the Department in a competition for funding under the Notice of Funding Availability (NOFA) for the Special Needs Assistance Programs Technical Assistance program. This announcement contains the names of the awardees and amounts of the awards made available by HUD.

This proposed rule combines and streamlines the former legacy public housing modernization programs, including the Comprehensive Grant Program (CGP), the Comprehensive Improvement Assistance Program (CIAP), and the Public Housing Development Program (which encompasses mixed-finance development), into the Capital Fund Program (CFP). This rule proposes a change to the Public Housing Agency Annual Plan regulation to incorporate the definition of qualified public housing agencies (PHAs), which was mandated by the Housing and Economic Recovery Act (HERA) of 2008, and to decouple or separate the CFP informational requirements from the PHA Annual Plan requirements. Also proposed is the ability for PHAs to request a total development cost (TDC) exception for integrated utility management, capital planning, and other capital and management activities that maximize energy conservation and efficiency, including green construction and retrofits, which include windows; heating system replacements; wall insulation; site-based generation; advanced energy savings technologies, including renewable energy generation; and other such retrofits. The structure of the proposed Public Housing Capital Fund Program regulation is described in section IV of the SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION. Several regulations would be eliminated with the implementation of this rule, along with the issuance of new and/or revised CFP forms, including the CFP Annual Statement/Performance and Evaluation Report (form HUD-50075.1), CFP 5-Year Action Plan (form HUD-50075.2), and the CFP Annual Contributions Contract (ACC) Amendment, as well as a new guidebook.

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 is collected from owners seeking to convert efficiency units into one bedroom units in certain types of HUD assisted and/or insured housing. The Department has developed standards and requirements via Housing Notice and forms to permit the conversion of efficiencies to one-bedrooms provided it can be demonstrated that the conversion is warranted by local demands and results in the long- term financial and physical repositioning of the project.

This notice announces that FHA is extending the availability of the temporary waiver of its regulation that prohibits the use of FHA financing to purchase single family properties that are being resold within 90 days of the previous acquisition, until December 31, 2011. This waiver, which was issued in January 2010, took effect for all sales contracts executed on or after February 1, 2010, and is set to expire on February 1, 2011. Prior to the waiver, a mortgage was not eligible for FHA insurance if the contract of sale for the purchase of the property that is the subject of the mortgage is executed within 90 days of the prior acquisition by the seller and the seller does not come under any of the exemptions to this 90-day period that are specified in the regulation. As a result of the high foreclosures that have been taking place across the nation, FHA, through the regulatory waiver, encourages investors that specialize in acquiring and renovating properties to renovate foreclosed and abandoned homes with the objective of increasing the availability of affordable homes for first-time and other purchasers and helping to stabilize real estate prices as well as neighborhoods and communities where foreclosure activity has been high. While the waiver is available for the purpose of stimulating rehabilitation of foreclosed and abandoned homes, the waiver is applicable to all single family properties being resold within the 90- day period after prior acquisition, and was not limited to foreclosed properties. Additionally, the waiver is subject to certain conditions, and eligible mortgages must meet these conditions to take advantage of the waiver. The waiver is not applicable to mortgages insured under HUD's Home Equity Conversion Mortgage (HECM) Program. On May 21, 2010, HUD published a notice that solicited public comment on the waiver, and specifically the conditions to which the waiver is subject. This notice issued in today's edition of the Federal Register not only announces the extension of HUD's waiver of its property flipping regulations, but also responds to the public comments submitted in response to the May 21, 2010, notice. HUD considered the public comments but makes no changes in response to these comments. The waiver is therefore extended without change. Although no changes are made to the conditions to which the waiver is subject, this notice also includes guidance on the waiver conditions in response to questions that have arisen from time to time during the first year in which the waiver was made available. Additionally, this notice again welcomes public comment on the waiver.

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 HECM reverse mortgage application and related documents are used to determine the eligibility of the borrower and proposed mortgage transaction for FHA insurance endorsement. This submission is a consolidation of additional consumer notification requirements formerly approved under 2502-0534 and 2502-0546.

HUD announces the availability on its website of the applicant information, submission deadlines, funding criteria, and other requirements for the HUD's Fiscal Year (FY) 2010 Service Coordinators in Multifamily Housing NOFA. This NOFA announces the availability of $31 million in Fiscal Year (FY) 2010 funding for the employment and support of Service Coordinators in insured and assisted housing properties that were designed for the elderly or nonelderly persons with disabilities and continue to operate as such. Service coordinators help residents obtain supportive services from the community that are needed to enable independent living and aging in place. The notice providing information regarding the application process, funding criteria and eligibility requirements can be found using the Department of Housing and Urban Development agency link on the Grants.gov/Find Web site at https://www.grants.gov/search/agency.do. A link to Grants.gov is also available on the HUD Web site at https:// www.hud.gov/offices/adm/grants/fundsavail.cfm. The Catalogue of Federal Domestic Assistance (CFDA) number for this program is 14.191. Applications must be submitted electronically through Grants.gov.