Department of Housing and Urban Development February 2013 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

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 requirements 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. Eligible public housing agencies (PHAs) in areas most heavily impacted by Hurricanes Katrina and Rita will submit a Notice of Intent and Section 901 Fungibility Plan to inform HUD they will exercise funding flexibility and describe how program funds will be used. PHAs will submit quarterly and annual reports on funds utilization.

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

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 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 review, as required by the Paperwork Reduction Act. The Department is soliciting public comments on the subject proposal. The Department is conducting this study under contract with MDRC and its subcontractors (Branch Associates and M. Davis and Company, Inc.). The project is an evaluation of the Family Self-Sufficiency Program operated at Public Housing Agencies (PHAs) across the U.S. The study will use random assignment methods to evaluate the effectiveness of the program. FSS has operated since 1992 and serves voucher holders and residents of public housing. The FSS model is essentially case management plus an escrow account. FSS case managers create a plan with families to achieve goals and connect with services that will enhance their employment opportunities. Families accrue money in their escrow accounts as they increase their earnings. To date, HUD has funded two other studies of the FSS program, but neither can tell us how well families would have done in the absence of the program. A random assignment model is needed because participant self-selection into FSS limits the ability to know whether program features rather than the characteristics of the participating families caused tenant income gains. Random assignment will limit the extent to which selection bias is driving observed results. The demonstration will document the progress of a group of FSS participants from initial enrollment to program completion (or exit). The intent is to gain a deeper understanding of the program and illustrate strategies that assist participants to obtain greater economic independence. While the main objective of FSS is stable, suitable employment, there are many interim outcome of interest, which include: Getting a first job; getting a higher paying job; self-employment/small business ownership; no longer needing benefits provided under one or more welfare programs; obtaining additional education, whether in the form of a high school diploma, higher education degree, or vocational training; buying a home; buying a car; setting up savings accounts; or accomplishing similar goals that lead to economic independence. Data collection will include the families that are part of the treatment and control groups, as well as PHA staff. Data will be gathered through a variety of methods including surveys, informational interviews, direct observation, and analysis of administrative records.

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 information collected through HUD's Integrated Disbursement and Information System (IDIS) (Sec. 92.502) is used by HUD Field Offices, HUD Headquarters and HOME Program Participating Jurisdictions (PJs). The information on program funds committed and disbursed is used by HUD to track PJ performance and to determine compliance with the statutory 24-month commitment deadline and the regulatory 5-year expenditure deadline (Sec. 92.500(d)). The project-specific property, tenant, owner and financial data is used to compile annual reports to Congress required at Section 284(b) of the Act, as well as to make program management decisions about how well program participants are achieving the statutory objectives of the HOME Program. Program management reports are generated by IDIS to provide data on the status of program participants' commitment and disbursement of HOME funds. These reports are provided to HUD staff as well as to HOME PJs. Management reports required in conjunction with the Annual Performance Report (Sec. 92.509) are used by HUD Field Offices to assess the effectiveness of locally designed programs in meeting specific statutory requirements and by Headquarters in preparing the Annual Report to Congress. Specifically, these reports permit HUD to determine compliance with the requirement that PJs provide a 25% match for HOME funds expended during the Federal fiscal year (Section 220 of the Act) and that program income be used for HOME eligible activities (Section 219 of the Act), as well as the Women and Minority Business Enterprise requirements (Sec. 92.351(b)). Financial, project, tenant and owner documentation is used to determine compliance with HOME Program cost limits (Section 212(e) of the Act), eligible activities (Sec. 92.205), and eligible costs (Sec. 92.206), as well as to determine whether program participants are lenders on their overall program performance. The information collected is used to determine insurance eligibility and claim eligibility.

This rule revises the regulations governing FHA's Section 242 Hospital Mortgage Insurance Program (Section 242 program) for the purpose of codifying, in regulation, FHA's implementation of its authority to refinance existing loans of hospitals without FHA-insured mortgages, without conditioning the exercise of such authority on the expenditure of funds for construction or renovation. Hospitals with FHA's Section 242 mortgage insurance may refinance existing debt under section 223(a)(7) of the National Housing Act, and such refinancing under section 223(a)(7) is not conditioned upon the hospital undertaking new construction or renovation. When credit availability contracted considerably in 2008, FHA, in 2009, commenced the exercise of its authority to refinance the capital debt of hospitals without section 242 mortgage insurance. FHA exercised this authority through notices issued on July 1, 2009, and February 22, 2010. FHA initiated rulemaking to make this refinancing authority a permanent part of the Section 242 regulatory program through a January 29, 2010, proposed rule, which solicited comment on HUD's implementation of this refinancing authority to date. This final rule provides for codification in regulation of HUD's refinancing of existing debt and acquisitions for non-FHA insured loans of hospitals without conditioning such refinancing and acquisition on new construction or renovation. This rule makes certain changes to the regulations proposed January 2010 in response to public comments submitted on the proposed rule and further consideration of issues by HUD.

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