[Federal Register Volume 64, Number 26 (Tuesday, February 9, 1999)]
[Notices]
[Pages 6371-6374]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 99-3080]


-----------------------------------------------------------------------

DEPARTMENT OF HOUSING AND URBAN DEVELOPMENT

[Docket No. 4456-N-01]


Privacy Act; Proposed Amendment to a System of Records

AGENCY: Office of the Assistant Secretary for Administration, HUD.

ACTION: Notification of a proposed amendment to an existing system of 
records.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

SUMMARY: Pursuant to the provision of the Privacy Act of 1974, as 
amended (5 U.S.C. 552a), the Assistant Secretary for Public and Indian 
Housing is amending the system of records titled, ``Tenant Eligibility 
Verification Files''--HUD/PIH-1, previously published at 60 FR 53633; 
October 16, 1995. The amended notice cites two additional locations 
where records are maintained: HUD's Income Verification Centers in 
Chicago, Illinois and Seattle, Washington. HUD established the Income 
Verifications Centers in calendar year 1998 to facilitate expanded use 
of techniques to verify income of tenants who receive rental 
assistance. In addition, the amended notice expands routine use 10 to 
include evaluations of: (a) Legal and regulatory compliance with rental 
assistance program requirements, (b) program policies, and (c) actions 
taken by entities that administer HUD's rental assistance programs, to 
resolve income discrepancies identified through computer matching. The 
Authority for Maintenance of the System section of the system of 
records notice cites provisions in HUD's 1998 Appropriation Act 
eliminating sunset provisions in two statutes, and references the 
Native American Housing Assistance and Self-Determination Act of 1996. 
The system of records notice below supersedes the system of records 
notice published at 60 FR 53633; October 16, 1995. The prior published 
exemptions of HUD/PIH-1 from certain provisions of the Privacy Act of 
1974 continue to apply to HUD/PIH-1, as amended.
    HUD/PIH-1 contains computer matching and tenant eligibility 
verification records necessary to support the identification of tenants 
who have been or may be obtaining excessive rental assistance. The 
system of records also supports referrals of information concerning 
those tenants to entities that administer HUD rental assistance 
programs (i.e., housing agencies, Indian Tribes and Tribally Designated 
Housing Entities participating in the Section 8 Program, owners of 
subsidized multifamily projects, and management agents) and to law 
enforcement agencies for possible administrative or legal actions, as 
appropriate.

DATES: Effective Date: This proposal shall become effective without 
further notice in 30 calendar days (March 11, 1999) unless comments are 
received during or before this period which would result in a contrary 
determination.
    Comments Due By: March 11, 1999.

ADDRESSEES: Interested persons are invited to submit comments regarding 
this notice to the Rules Docket Clerk, Office of General Counsel, Room 
10276, Department of Housing and Urban Development, 451 Seventh Street, 
SW, Washington, DC 20410-0500. Communications should refer to the above 
docket number and title. An original and four copies of comments should 
be submitted. Facsimile (FAX) comments are not acceptable. A copy of 
each communication submitted will be available for public inspection 
and copying between 7:30 a.m. and 5:30 p.m. weekdays at the above 
address.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Jeanette Smith, Departmental Privacy 
Act Officer, Telephone Number (202) 708-2374, concerning Privacy Act 
matters. Regarding records maintained in Washington, DC; Chicago, 
Illinois; and Seattle, Washington contact the following, respectively: 
David L. Decker, Director, Computer Matching, Office of the Public and 
Indian Housing, Telephone Number (202) 708-0099, Turhan Brown, Acting 
Director, Chicago Income Verification Center, Telephone Number (312) 
353-6236; and Gordon Brandhagen, Acting Director, Seattle Income 
Verification Center, Telephone Number (206) 220-5312. (These are not 
toll free numbers.) A telecommunications device for hearing-and speech-
impaired individuals (TTY) is available at 1-800-877-8339 (Federal 
Information Relay Service).

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: A notice of the HUD/SSA/IRS computer 
matching program concerning earned and unearned income, social security 
and supplemental security income is published at 63 FR 68129; December 
9, 1998.
    A report of the Department's intention to establish the system has 
been submitted to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB), the Senate 
Committee on Governmental Affairs, and the House Committee on 
Government Operations pursuant to paragraph 4c of Appendix I to OMB 
Circular No. A-130, ``Federal Agency Responsibilities for Maintaining 
Records About Individuals,'' July 25, 1994; 59 FR 37914.

     Authority: 5 U.S.C. 552a, 88 Stat. 1896; 342 U.S.C. 3535(d),

    Dated: January 28, 1999.
Gloria R. Parker,
Chief Information Officer.
HUD/PIH-1

System Name:
    Tenant Eligibility Verification Files.

System Locations:
    The files will be maintained at the following locations: (1) U.S. 
Department of Housing and Urban Development, 451 Seventh Street, SW, 
Washington,

[[Page 6372]]

DC 20410; (2) Chicago Income Verification Center, U.S. Department of 
Housing & Urban Development, Ralph H. Metcalfe Federal Building, 77 
West Jackson Boulevard, Chicago, Illinois 60604; (3) Seattle Income 
Verification Center, U.S. Department of Housing & Urban Development, 
Seattle Federal Building, 901 First Avenue, Seattle, Washington 98104.
* * * * *

Categories of Records in the System:
* * * * *

CATEGORIES OF INDIVIDUALS COVERED BY THE SYSTEM:
    Tenants receiving rental assistance provided by programs 
administered by the Department of Housing and Urban Development, or 
information concerning those tenants obtained from other Federal or 
state agencies, housing agencies, Indian Tribes and Tribally Designated 
Housing Entities participating in the Section 8 Program, owners, and 
management agents.

CATEGORIES OF RECORDS IN THE SYSTEM:
    Records consist of: (1) Automated tenant data obtained from HUD/H-
11, Tenant Housing Assistance and Contract Verification Data, published 
at 62 FR 11909; March 13, 1997, (two HUD automated systems--the 
Multifamily Tenant Certification System and the Tenant Rental 
Assistance Certification System--are the primary components of HUD/H-
11); (2) automated tenant data provided by housing agencies, Indian 
Tribes and Tribally Designated Housing Entities participating in the 
Section 8 Program, owners or management agents (generally these records 
are available in HUD/H-11); (3) information obtained from computer 
matching with automated earned income data that the Social Security 
Administration (SSA) provides under 26 U.S.C. 6103(l)(7)(A) from the 
Earnings Recording and Self-Employment Income System (HHS/SSA/OSR, 09-
60-0059) (Earnings Record) and Master Beneficiary Record (HHS/SSA/OSR, 
09-60-0090; (4) information obtained from computer matching with 
automated unearned income data that the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) 
provides to HUD under 26 U.S.C. 6103(l)(7)(B) from Treasury/IRS 22.061, 
Wage and Information Returns Processing (IRP) File Treasury/IRS; (5) 
information obtained from computer matching with automated Title II 
(social security) and Title XVI (supplemental security income) data 
that the SSA provides to HUD under a routine use from the Supplemental 
Security Income Record, HHS/SSA/OSR 90-60-0103; (6) information 
obtained from computer matching with wage and unemployment compensation 
data from State wage information collection agencies; (7) information 
obtained from computer matching with automated data from the Office of 
Personnel Management's General Personnel Records (OPM/GOVT-1), and the 
Civil Service Retirement and Insurance Records System (OPM/Central-1) 
pursuant to a routine use; (8) information obtained from computer 
matching with automated data from the Department of Defense's Defense 
Manpower Data Center Data Base (S322.10.DMDC) pursuant to a routine 
use; (9) information obtained from computer matching with automated 
records from the SSA's Master Files of Social Security Number Holders, 
known as the Enumeration Verification System--(HHS/SSA/OSR, 09-60-0058) 
pursuant to a routine use; (10) applications for rental assistance and 
other related documentation obtained from tenant case files maintained 
by housing agencies, Indian Tribes and Tribally Designated Housing 
Entities participating in the Section 8 Program, owners, and management 
agents; (11) data received from employers confirming income or 
deductions supporting determinations of eligibility for, and the amount 
of, rental assistance benefits; (12) automated records provided by 
other Federal agencies under the investigative exclusion of the 
Computer Matching and Privacy Protection Act of 1988; and (13) 
automated records provided by housing agencies, Indian Tribes and 
Tribally Designated Housing Entities participating in the Section 8 
Program, owners and management agents regarding actions taken on 
computer matching results.

AUTHORITY FOR MAINTENANCE OF THE SYSTEM:
    Subparagraph (D) of section 6103(l)(7) of the Internal Revenue Code 
26 U.S.C. 6103(l)(7)(D), permits HUD to request from the Commissioner 
of the SSA and the Secretary of the Treasury, SSA and IRS earned and 
unearned income information, respectively, needed to verify the incomes 
of tenants who receive rental assistance. Section 6103(l)(7)(D) 
precludes HUD from redisclosing that information to entities that 
administer HUD programs (i.e. housing agencies, Indian Tribes and 
Tribally Designated Housing Entities participating in the Section 8 
Program, owners and management agents). Section 542(b) of HUD's 1998 
Appropriations Act (Pub. L. 105-65; October 27, 1997) eliminated a 
September 30, 1998 sunset provision to 26 U.S.C. 6103(l)(7)(D), 
effectively making permanent the authority for SSA and IRS disclosures 
of Federal tax return information to HUD.
    The Stewart B. McKinney Homeless Assistance Amendments Act of 1988, 
42 U.S.C. 3544, as amended, allows HUD to notify those entities that 
disparities exist between the tenant-reported incomes and income 
obtained from independent income sources, i.e., the SSA or the IRS. The 
McKinney Amendments of 1988 also authorized HUD to request, under 
Section 303(i) of the Social Security Act, wage and claim information 
from state agencies responsible for the administration of state 
unemployment law. Section 542(a)(1) of HUD's 1998 Appropriation Act, 
referenced above, eliminated an October 1, 1994 sunset provision to 
Section 303(i) of the Social Security Act, effectively making permanent 
the authority requiring state agencies to disclose wage and claim 
information to HUD and public housing agencies.
    Section 165 of the Housing and Community Development Act of 1987, 
Pub. L. 100-242; authorizes HUD to require applicants and participants 
in HUD-administered programs involving rental assistance to disclose to 
HUD their social security numbers as a condition of initial or 
continuing eligibility for participation. Subpart T of 24 CFR part 200 
applies this requirement to member of households six (6) years of age 
and older.
    Applicable laws concerning HUD's assisted housing programs include: 
the United States Housing Act of 1937, 42 U.S.C. 1437 note; and section 
101 of the Housing and Urban Development Act of 1965, 12 U.S.C. 1701s, 
and the Native American Housing Assistance and Self-Determination Act 
of 1996, 25 U.S.C. 4101, et seq.

PURPOSE(S):
    The primary purposes of HUD/PIH-1 are to aid HUD and entities that 
administer HUD's assisted housing programs in: (a) Increasing the 
availability of rental assistance to individuals who meet the 
requirements of Federal rental assistance programs, (b) detecting 
abuses in assisted housing programs, (c) taking administrative or legal 
actions to resolve past abuses of assisted housing programs and (d) 
deterring abuses. HUD/PIH-1 serves as a repository for automated 
information used in and resulting from computer matching tenant data 
for recipients of Federal rental assistance to other data sources; HUD/
PIH also contains non-automated information used in and resulting from 
verifying computer matching results and in accomplishing the purposes 
previously cited. Records

[[Page 6373]]

in this system are subject to use in authorized and approved computer 
matching programs regulated under the Privacy Act of 1974, as amended.

ROUTINE USES OF RECORDS MAINTAINED IN THE SYSTEM, INCLUDING CATEGORIES 
OF USERS AND PURPOSES OF SUCH USES:
    1. Records included in the system may be used in conducting 
computer matching with Federal and State agencies to aid in the 
identification of tenants who have received excessive rental housing 
assistance.
    2. Records that HUD obtains from the SSA and the IRS under the 
authority of 26 U.S.C. 6103(l)(7), may be disclosed only to the tenant/
taxpayer, to HUD employees responsible for investigating or prosecuting 
such violation or enforcing or implementing a statute, rule or 
regulation, or as otherwise permitted under 26 U.S.C. 6103.
    3. Records that indicate a potential violation of law, whether 
criminal, civil or regulatory in nature, except for records obtained 
from the SSA and the IRS under 26 U.S.C. 6103(l)(7), may be disclosed 
to the appropriate Federal, state or local agency charged with the 
responsibility for investigating or prosecuting such violation or 
enforcing or implementing a statute, rule or regulation.
    4. Records, except for those obtained from the SSA or IRS under the 
authority of 26 U.S.C. 6103(l)(7), may be disclosed to a congressional 
office in response to an inquiry from that congressional office made at 
the request of the individual who is the subject of the records.
    5. Records, with the exception of those obtained pursuant to 26 
U.S.C. 6103(l)(7), may be disclosed to housing agencies, Indian Tribes 
and Tribally Designated Housing Entities participating in the Section 8 
Program, owners and management agents in order to assist them in 
determining tenants' eligibility for rental assistance, and the amount 
of that assistance and to facilitate recovery of money or property or 
other administrative actions, i.e., eviction, necessary to promote the 
integrity of programs.
    6. Records, except for those obtained from the SSA and the IRS 
under 26 U.S.C. 6103(l)(7), may be disclosed during the course of an 
administrative proceeding where HUD or housing agencies, Indian Tribes 
and Tribally Designated Housing Entities participating in the Section 8 
Program, owner or management agent are a party to the litigation and 
disclosure is relevant and reasonably necessary to adjudicate the 
matter.
    7. Records, except for those obtained from the SSA and the IRS 
under 26 U.S.C. 6103(l)(7), may be disclosed to a Federal agency, in 
response to its request, in connection with the hiring or retention of 
an employee, the issuance of a security clearance, the reporting of an 
investigation of an employee, the letting of a contract, or the 
issuance of a license, grant or other benefit by the requesting agency, 
to the extent that the record is relevant and necessary to the 
requesting agency's decision on the matter.
    8. Records, except for those obtained from the SSA and the IRS 
under 26 U.S.C. 6103(l)(7), may be disclosed to a Federal agency to 
initiate Federal salary or annuity offsets as necessary to collect 
excessive rental assistance received by the tenant.
    9. Records, except for those obtained from the SSA and the IRS 
under 26 U.S.C. 6103(l)(7), concerning an individual's receipt of 
excessive rental assistance, including the individual's actions to 
repay the same, may be disclosed to the Federal agency that employs 
such individual, for the purpose of notifying the employer of potential 
violation of the Standards of Ethical Conduct for Employees of the 
Executive Branch.
    10. Records may be used to provide statistical information to 
Congress and the Office of Management and Budget for use in evaluating: 
The effectiveness of computer matching and income verification 
programs; program policies; and actions taken by entities that 
administer HUD's rental assistance programs to resolve income 
discrepancies identified through computer matching.

POLICIES AND PRACTICES FOR STORING, RETRIEVING, ACCESSING, RETAINING 
AND DISPOSING OF RECORDS IN THE SYSTEM:
STORAGE:
    Records are stored manually in tenant case files and electronically 
in office automation equipment. Records, except for those obtained from 
the SSA and the IRS under 26 U.S.C. 6103(l)(7)(A) and (B), may also be 
stored on mainframe computer facilities.

RETRIEVABILITY:
    Records may be retrieved by manual or computer search of indices by 
the name, social security number, housing agency, Indian Tribe and 
Tribally Designated Housing Entity participating in the Section 8 
Program, owner or management agent.

SAFEGUARDS:
    Records are maintained in locked file cabinets or in metal file 
cabinets in secured rooms or premises with access limited to those 
persons whose official duties require access. Computer files and 
printed listings are maintained in locked cabinets. Computer terminals 
are secured in controlled areas which are locked when unoccupied. 
Access to automated records is limited to authorized personnel who must 
use a password system to gain access. HUD will safeguard the SSA and 
the IRS records obtained pursuant to 26 U.S.C. 6103(l)(7)(A) and (B) in 
accordance with 26 U.S.C. 6103(p)(4) and the IRS' ``Tax Information 
Security Guidelines for Federal, State and Local Agencies,'' 
Publication 1075 (REV. 1-98).

RETENTION AND DISPOSAL:
    Only those computer files and printouts created from the computer 
matching that meet predetermined criteria are maintained. These records 
will be destroyed as soon as they have served the matching program's 
purpose. All other records will be destroyed as soon as possible within 
1 year. Paper listings containing personal identifiers will be 
shredded. Computer source files provided by other organizations will be 
returned to those organizations or destroyed in accordance with 
computer matching agreements.
    Information obtained through computer matching and tenant case file 
reviews will be destroyed as soon as follow-up processing of this 
information is completed, unless the information is required for 
evidentiary reasons or needed by housing agencies, Indian Tribes and 
Tribally Designated Housing Entities participating in the Section 8 
Program, owners and agents for use in program eligibility 
determinations. When needed for evidentiary documentation, the 
information will be referred to the HUD Office of Inspector General 
(OIG) or other appropriate Federal, state or local agencies charged 
with the responsibility for investigating or prosecuting such 
violations. When referred to the HUD OIG the information then becomes a 
part of the Investigative Files of the Office of Inspector General, 
HUD/OIG-1.

SYSTEM MANAGER(s) AND ADDRESS:

    Director, Computer Matching, Office of the Public and Indian 
Housing, U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, 451 Seventh 
Street, SW, Room 5156, Washington, DC 20410.

NOTIFICATION AND RECORD ACCESS PROCEDURES:
    Individuals seeking to determine whether this system of records 
contains information about themselves, or seeking access to such 
records, should address inquiries to the Director, Computer Matching, 
Office of the Public

[[Page 6374]]

and Indian Housing, U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, 
451 Seventh Street, SW, Room 5156, Washington, DC 20410.
    Written requests should contain the full name, Social Security 
Number, date of birth, current address and telephone number of the 
individual.
    For personal visits, the individual must be able to provide some 
acceptable identification, such as a driver's license or other 
identification card.

CONTESTING RECORD PROCEDURES:
    The procedures for amendment or correction of records, and for 
appealing initial agency determinations, appear in 24 CFR part 16.

RECORD SOURCE CATEGORIES:
    The Assistant Secretary for Public and Indian Housing and the 
Assistant Secretary for Housing-Federal Housing Commissioner collect 
information from a variety of sources, including: housing agencies, 
Indian Tribes and Tribally Designated Housing Entities participating in 
the Section 8 Program, owners and management agents, state wage 
information collection agencies, other Federal and state agencies, law 
enforcement agencies, program participants, complainants, and other 
nongovernmental sources.

EXEMPTIONS FROM CERTAIN PROVISIONS OF THE ACT:
    To the extent that information in this system of records falls 
within the coverage of subsection (k)(2) of the Privacy Act, 5 U.S.C. 
552(k)(2), the system is exempt from the requirements of subsections 
(c)(3), (d)(1), (d)(2) and (e)(1) of the Privacy Act. To the extent 
that information in this system of records falls within the coverage of 
subsection (k)(5) of the Privacy Act, 5 U.S.C. 552a(k)(5), the system 
is exempt from the requirements of subsection (d)(1) of the Privacy 
Act. See 24 CFR 16.15 (c) and (d).

[FR Doc. 99-3080 Filed 2-8-99; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4210-01-P