[Federal Register Volume 61, Number 156 (Monday, August 12, 1996)]
[Notices]
[Pages 41946-41947]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 96-20172]


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DEPARTMENT OF HOUSING AND URBAN DEVELOPMENT
[Docket No. FR-3638-N-05]


Office of the Assistant Secretary for Housing-Federal Housing 
Commissioner; Submission for OMB Review; Comment Request

AGENCY: Office of the Assistant Secretary for Housing-Federal Housing 
Commissioner, HUD.

ACTION: Notice of proposed information collection.

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SUMMARY: The proposed information collection requirement described 
below has been submitted to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) 
for emergency review, as required by the Paperwork Reduction Act. The 
Department is soliciting public comments on the subject proposal. By 
separate notice in today's Federal Register, the Department is also 
soliciting comment for 60 days on a portion of the information 
collection requirements covered by this emergency review notice.

DATES: The due date for comments is: August 19, 1996.

ADDRESSES: Interested persons are invited to submit comments regarding 
this proposal. Comments must be

[[Page 41947]]

received within seven (7) days from the date of this Notice. Comments 
should refer to the proposal by name and should be sent to: Joseph F. 
Lackey, Jr., OMB Desk Officer, Office of Management and Budget, New 
Executive Office Building, Washington, DC 20503.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:
Kay F. Weaver, Reports Management Officer, Department of Housing and 
Urban Development, 451 Seventh Street, SE, Washington, DC 20410, 
telephone (202) 708-0050 (this is not a toll-free number). For hearing- 
and speech- impaired persons, this number may be accessed via TTY (text 
telephone) by calling the Federal Information Relay Service at 1-800-
877-8339. Copies of the proposed forms and other available documents 
submitted to OMB may be obtained from Ms. Weaver.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: This Notice informs the public that the 
Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) has submitted to OMB, 
for emergency processing, an information collection package with 
respect to a disclosure required for controlled business arrangements 
between affiliated settlement service providers. HUD seeks to implement 
this initiative as soon as possible. We are requesting that OMB approve 
this Information Collection Package by August 12, 1996. By two separate 
documents in today's Federal Register, the Department, simultaneously 
with this notice: (1) is publishing a correction for a rule that was 
published on June 7, 1996 (61 FR 29238) (``June 7 rule''), and 
contained erroneous information about the approval status of these 
information collections; and (2) is soliciting comment for the regular 
60-day review period on a portion of the information collection 
requirements (which were included in the June 7 rule) covered by this 
notice. Regulatory provisions implementing the statutory requirement 
for a disclosure under covered circumstances (see 12 U.S.C. 2607(c)(4)) 
are currently codified in 24 CFR 3500.15(b) and have been revised by 
the June 7 rule (effective October 7, 1996). Although the revisions in 
the June 7 rule will make small changes in the format provided for the 
controlled business disclosure, these revisions are not expected to 
affect the burden attributed to information collection requirements in 
the current regulations. Therefore, this notice is for the purpose of 
soliciting comment on the controlled business disclosure requirements 
under both the current regulations and the regulations as they will be 
amended on the effective date of the June 7 rule.
    In order for borrowers who seek federally related mortgage loans 
(including purchase money, refinances, assumptions, property 
improvement, lines of credit, etc.) to be better-informed shoppers, a 
settlement service provider, or employee thereof, is required to give 
the borrower a certain disclosure when the borrower is being referred 
to an affiliated settlement service provider. This controlled business 
disclosure alerts the borrower that the referral may be based on a 
business arrangement between the two providers, rather than on the best 
rate or best service. Section 8(c)(4) of the Real Estate Settlement 
Procedures Act (RESPA) (12 U.S.C. 2607(c)(4)), as well as the 
implementing regulations at 24 CFR 3500.15, require that borrowers 
receive this notice.
    The Department has submitted the proposal for the collection of 
information, as described below, to OMB for review, as required by the 
Paperwork Reduction Act (44 U.S.C. Chapter 35): Notice of Submission of 
Proposed Information Collection to OMB
    Proposal: Controlled Business Arrangement Disclosure (CBA 
disclosure) under 24 CFR 3500.15.
    Office: Office of Housing-Federal Housing Commissioner.
    Description of the Need for the Information and its Proposed Use: A 
settlement service provider or an employee of a settlement service 
provider is required to give the borrower a CBA disclosure prior to or 
at the time the borrower is referred to an affiliated provider. The CBA 
disclosure must be a separate piece of paper and the format must 
contain the following information.
    1. Specify the nature of the relationship (explaining the ownership 
and financial interest) between the person performing the settlement 
service and the person making the referral.
    2. Describe the estimated charges or range of charges generally 
made by the provider of settlement services.
    3. State that the borrower is not required to use the referred 
provider (except for certain circumstances).
    Form Numbers: None.
    Respondents: Respondents will be settlement service providers, or 
employees thereof, who refer borrowers to other affiliated providers.
    The estimated number of respondents is 10,000. The disclosure is 
required to be given each time a settlement service provider refers the 
borrower to an affiliated service provider. This specifically includes 
each time an employee who does not perform settlement services refers 
business to an affiliate.
    Frequency of Submission: The third party disclosure is required 
whenever a borrower is referred to an affiliated provider.
    Reporting Burden: (Although the revisions in the June 7 rule will 
make small changes in the format provided for the controlled business 
disclosure, these revisions are not expected to affect the burden 
attributed to information collection requirements in the current 
regulations.)

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  Number of           Frequency of          Hours per                   
 respondents    x       response      x     response     =  Burden hours
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10,000.......            2.4 mill.               0.10           240,000 
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    Total Estimated Burden Hours: 240,000.
    Status: New approval.

    Authority: 44 U.S.C. 3507; 42 U.S.C. 3535(d).

    Dated: August 1, 1996.
David S. Cristy,
Director, IRM Policy and Management Division.
[FR Doc. 96-20172 Filed 8-9-96; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4210-27-M