Department of Housing and Urban Development January 2012 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

The revised 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.

This notice announces changes in the interest rates to be paid on debentures issued with respect to a loan or mortgage insured by the Federal Housing Administration (FHA) under the provisions of the National Housing Act (the Act). The interest rate for debentures issued under section 221(g)(4) of the Act during the 6-month period beginning January 1, 2012, is 1\7/8\ percent. The interest rate for debentures issued under any other provision of the Act is the rate in effect on the date that the commitment to insure the loan or mortgage was issued, or the date that the loan or mortgage was endorsed (or initially endorsed if there are two or more endorsements) for insurance, whichever rate is higher. The interest rate for debentures issued under these other provisions with respect to a loan or mortgage committed or endorsed during the 6-month period beginning January 1, 2012, is 2\7/8\ percent. However, as a result of an amendment to section 224 of the Act, if an insurance claim relating to a mortgage insured under sections 203 or 234 of the Act and endorsed for insurance after January 23, 2004, is paid in cash, the debenture interest rate for purposes of calculating a claim shall be the monthly average yield, for the month in which the default on the mortgage occurred, on United States Treasury Securities adjusted to a constant maturity of 10 years.

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 of 1995, Public Law 104-13 (44 U.S.C. 3506(c)(2)(A)). The Department is soliciting public comments on the subject proposal.

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 Assisted Living Conversion Program (ALCP). This announcement contains the names of the grantees and the amounts of the awards made available by HUD.

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 is sponsoring this research effort to explore and document how public housing agencies (PHAs) currently serve and interact with homeless households. The goal of the study is to establish a baseline level of PHAs' current engagement in serving homeless households and to better understand the current opportunities provided by PHAs that either have an explicit preference for homeless households or that target assistance to homeless households in other ways.

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. Application for the Family Unification Program: Makes Housing Choice Vouchers available to eligible families to promote family reunification. Youths 18 to 21 who left foster care at age 16 or older are also eligible to receive assistance under the program for a maximum of 18 months. Eligible applicants are Public Housing Agencies, who must work with a Public Child Welfare Agency to identify and assist FUP voucher recipients. Information collected will be used to evaluate applications and award grants through the HUD SuperNOFA process.

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

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 Fiscal Year (FY) 2010 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 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 collection of the requested information requires that the sites for HUD insured structures must be free of termite hazards. Builders certify and guarantee that all required treatment for termites are performed and there is no infestation of treated areas for a year. Also, pest control companies are required to provide a record of any soil treatment methods used to prevent subterranean termite infestation. The respondents for this collection are builders, pest control companies, mortgage lenders and homebuyers.

This proposed rule would eliminate the process for requesting alternative FHA maximum mortgage amounts. HUD currently sets the area- based loan limits on a yearly basis and permits appeals of these loan limits. At the time the regulations permitting appeals were promulgated, there were no comprehensive, national databases of home sales transactions. As a result, HUD relied on sales data provided by interested parties in determining loan limits for certain areas. Today, however, HUD has available comprehensive direct sales transaction data and indirect home value data at the county level. In addition, since HUD began this new information collection on price trends at a county level, the number of parties utilizing the appeals process has gone from 105 for the 2008 loan limits to zero for the 2011 loan limits. For these reasons, HUD has determined that the regulations governing requests for alternative maximum mortgage amounts are outdated and unnecessarily disrupt HUD's loan limit determination process. The elimination of this appeals process would allow HUD to release its annual loan limits one month earlier than it has for the past three calendar years. This difference would provide more certainty in the mortgage lending market.

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