[Federal Register Volume 68, Number 161 (Wednesday, August 20, 2003)]
[Notices]
[Pages 50176-50178]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 03-21244]


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DEPARTMENT OF HOUSING AND URBAN DEVELOPMENT

[Docket No. FR-4837-D-06]


Delegations of Authority for the Office of Housing-Federal 
Housing Administration, Deputy Assistant Secretary for Finance and 
Budget

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

ACTION: Notice of revocation and redelegation of authority to the 
Office of Finance and Budget.

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SUMMARY: Published elsewhere in today's Federal Register is a revised 
delegation of authority for Housing Programs from the Secretary of HUD 
to the Assistant Secretary for Housing-Federal Housing Commissioner and 
the General Deputy Assistant Secretary for Housing-Deputy Federal 
Housing Commissioner. This notice advises the public of redelegation of 
authority from the Assistant Secretary and General Deputy Assistant 
Secretary to the Deputy Assistant Secretary for Finance and Budget.

EFFECTIVE DATE: August 11, 2003.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Sandy Allison, Associate Deputy 
Assistant Secretary for Finance and Budget, Office of Housing, 
Department of Housing and Urban Development, Room 9110, Washington, DC 
20410-8000, telephone (202) 708-2601. (This is not a toll-free number.) 
Persons with hearing or speech impairments may call HUD's toll-free 
Federal Information Relay at (800) 877-8339.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Section I. Deputy Assistant Secretary for Finance and Budget: 
Organization

    On July 19, 2002, HUD established a new position within the Office 
of Housing, which includes the Federal Housing Administration (FHA). 
The new position is the Deputy Assistant Secretary for Finance and 
Budget (FAB). Under the new organization, four offices report to the 
FAB Deputy Assistant Secretary. These are the (1) Office of Evaluation; 
(2) Office of Budget and Field Resources; (3) Office of Asset Sales; 
and (4) Office of the Housing-FHA Comptroller. The following is a brief 
summary of each of these offices.
    A. Office of Evaluation: The Office of Evaluation assesses the 
financial impact of new or revised HUD/FHA programs and policies, new 
or proposed legislation, and/or new or proposed rules and regulations 
of the Office of Management and Budget (OMB), the General Accounting 
Office (GAO), or the Department of Treasury. Based on these 
assessments, the office develops recommendations, alternatives, and 
various scenarios used by managers to determine appropriate actions. 
The Office is responsible for actuarial analyses and cash flow 
projections of the FHA insurance funds and evaluates relationships 
between current market conditions and FHA program goals and objectives. 
The Office uses both internal and external resources to estimate the 
financial impact of policy changes or external factors (such as 
regional recessions or natural disasters) on FHA programs. The 
following additional functions are conducted by the Office of 
Evaluation: monitoring daily cash flows to make sound investments; 
conducting quarterly analyses of economic developments; and on-going 
actuarial analyses of FHA's insurance funds.
    B. The Office of Budget and Field Resources: The Office of Budget 
and Field Resources is responsible for the formulation, presentation, 
and execution of the Office of Housing's program and administrative 
budgets. This includes fund assignments and control, financial resource 
management, coordination of financial resources in support of Field 
operations, and budget analysis and reporting. The Office is 
responsible for analyzing and evaluating the financial and budgetary 
impact of new or revised Housing programs and policies, proposed 
legislation, and new or revised OMB, GAO, or Treasury guidance. The 
responsibilities and duties of personnel within the Office of Budget 
and Field Resources pertain to internal HUD matters, do not require 
rendering decisions that bind HUD in relation to external clients and 
customers, and therefore, do not require delegations of authority.
    C. Office of Asset Sales: The Office of Asset Sales oversees the 
disposition of mortgage notes acquired by Housing upon a default by the 
mortgagor and assignment of the note to FHA in return for the payment 
of a claim. The Office is responsible for the sale of single family, 
multifamily, and hospital notes in the manner most advantageous to the 
Government. The Office develops alternative disposition methods that 
will reduce the acquisition and holding costs of these assets while 
increasing recovery upon sale.

[[Page 50177]]

    D. Office of the Housing-FHA Comptroller: The Office of the 
Housing-FHA Comptroller (Comptroller) is a Headquarters operation. The 
Office contains one field component, the Financial Operations Center, 
located in Albany, New York, that reports to one of the three major 
Washington, DC offices within the Office of the Housing-FHA 
Comptroller. A description of the three major offices follows:
    (1) The Office of Financial Services: The Office of Financial 
Services is comprised of three Headquarters Divisions, and one field 
component, the Financial Operations Center, which is located in Albany, 
New York. The Office provides the policy direction, review, and 
coordination required to collect insurance premiums, to provide the 
financial services required to support FHA's multibillion dollar Single 
Family, Multifamily, and Title I insurance portfolios, and to provide 
the financial support necessary to manage FHA's asset management and 
disposition programs. The Office collects and maintains financial data 
necessary to generate accurate accounting entries to the General and 
Subsidiary ledgers and FHA's financial statements. The Office supports 
the systems and staff needed to maintain the insurance operations for 
FHA programs. The Office provides policy guidance and oversight for 
FHA's debt management and due diligence activities in the Financial 
Operations Center and supports FHA's asset sales programs. A summary of 
each division and the Financial Operations Center follows:
    (a) The Single Family Insurance Operations Division. This Division 
is responsible for performing the accounting functions and providing 
financial management services to FHA-approved lenders who originate 
and/or service FHA Single Family insured mortgages. The Division 
maintains the national portfolio that consists of 13 million insurance 
records of active and terminated Single Family FHA-insured loans. The 
Division collects the mortgage insurance premiums and processes refunds 
of premium overpayments to lenders and homeowners.
    (b) The Single Family Post Insurance Division. This Division is 
responsible for providing accounting and processing functions necessary 
to support the FHA single family asset acquisition, management, and 
disposition operations. The Division directs and coordinates all 
operating requirements, systems development, and reporting functions 
requirements for its areas of responsibility. The Division provides 
servicing support, claims processing and asset disposition processing. 
It also provides contractor oversight as appropriate.
    (c) The Multifamily Financial Operations Division. This Division is 
responsible for performing the accounting and financial management 
services necessary for the servicing of all multifamily, insured 
mortgages in the FHA portfolio and the support of the approved lenders 
who hold FHA-insured mortgages. The division is also responsible for 
the servicing of HUD-Held Multifamily mortgages and the payment of 
claims for Multifamily defaulted mortgages. These responsibilities 
include collection of insurance premiums, management of escrow 
accounts, payments of preservation and protection expenses, and 
recording of mortgage satisfactions.
    (d) The Financial Operations Center. The Financial Operations 
Center (or Center) is responsible for providing policy guidance, system 
support and general oversight of FHA debt management, collection and 
due diligence/asset liquidation activities for FHA Assets not elsewhere 
administered. The Center is also responsible for all financial duties 
relating to the HUD-owned Title I Insurance portfolio such as 
establishing repayment plans, administering the Treasury offset 
program, and accepting compromise plans or write-offs.
    (2) The Office of Financial Analysis and Reporting: The Office of 
Financial Analysis and Reporting is comprised of three Headquarters 
Divisions. The Office is responsible for classifying, summarizing, 
analyzing, and reporting the financial, accounting and budgetary 
activities and transactions for FHA/Housing activities as required for 
a wholly-owned government corporation, subject to the provisions of the 
Government Corporation Control Act. The Office also evaluates the 
impact of new or proposed OMB, GAO, or Treasury rules and regulations, 
develops financial performance measures, and oversees cash management 
and investment. Primary functions include developing and implementing 
accounting policies and procedures based on Federal Basis Generally 
Accepted Accounting Principles (FGAAP) requirements and directives and 
regulations from the Office of Management and Budget, the Treasury, 
Congress and the Administration; reconciling actual cash, accounting 
and budgetary events to independent source documents to assure the 
Department that the general ledger accounts are in order and the 
budgetary statements accurately represent account balances; 
participating with auditors, both internal and external, in the 
planning and conduct of accounting and financial management audits, 
investigations, and reviews; monitoring daily cash flows; making sound 
investments; and preparing the FHA Annual Report. A description of the 
three divisions follows.
    (a) Financial Analysis and Controls Division. This Division is 
responsible for developing and implementing accounting and budgetary 
reporting policy. It is responsible for ensuring that all requirements, 
internal and external, relating to financial reporting and accounting 
are followed in FHA's accounting practices and that any changes to such 
requirements are communicated to appropriate staff.
    (b). General Ledger Division. This Division is responsible for the 
preparation of all the cost accounting, Credit Reform accounting, FGAAP 
accounting, and budgetary accounting entries that update the General 
and Subsidiary ledgers of FHA. This includes all daily transactions and 
FGAAP entries at the end of each accounting period, as required, 
together with special entries as required by Credit Reform and 
budgetary accounting.
    (c) The Financial Reporting Division. This Division monitors and 
prepares Housing's official responses to audit issues. This involves 
both program and financial audits performed by both internal and 
external organizations.
    (3) Office of Systems and Technology: The Office of Systems and 
Technology coordinates the development and maintenance of integrated 
financial and management information systems necessary for accounting 
and management of the Housing and FHA programs.

Section II. Redelegations to the Office of the Deputy Assistant 
Secretary for Finance and Budget

    The Assistant Secretary redelegates program authority in broad 
terms to the Deputy Assistant Secretary for Finance and Budget. In 
addition, the Housing-FHA Comptroller, who reports to the Deputy 
Assistant Secretary, is redelegated concurrent authority, with that of 
the Deputy Assistant Secretary, to oversee the FHA financial operations 
and other Office of Housing programs. The general functions and a brief 
description of the authority delegated are as follows:
    A. General Authority: Authority is redelegated to the (1) Deputy 
Assistant Secretary to sign any and all documents necessary to carry 
out the business of the Office of Finance and Budget,

[[Page 50178]]

including oversight of FHA financial operations, and (2) Housing-FHA 
Comptroller to sign any and all documents necessary to carry out the 
oversight of FHA financial operations. In concert with the specific 
authorities redelegated to each of them, the Deputy Assistant Secretary 
and the Housing-FHA Comptroller, in considering a transaction, are also 
redelegated authority to waive any directives not mandated by statute 
or regulation, for good cause and with a written justification.
    B. Oversight of Financial Operations: The Deputy Assistant 
Secretary for Finance and Budget is delegated such authority as is 
necessary to oversee the financial management and operations of Housing 
programs. The FHA Comptroller, who reports to the Deputy Assistant 
Secretary, is responsible for overseeing the financial operations of 
the Federal Housing Administration.
    C. Investment of Surplus Funds: The Deputy Assistant Secretary is 
redelegated authority to invest FHA funds in certain specified types of 
accounts, e.g., U.S. Treasury securities.
    D. Borrowing From U.S. Treasury: The Deputy Assistant Secretary is 
redelegated authority to borrow from the U.S. Treasury such funds as 
necessary to maintain a positive cash flow in the various FHA insurance 
funds.
    E. Administration of the FHA Title I Loans: The Deputy Assistant 
Secretary is redelegated the authority to perform such duties as are 
necessary to carry out the financial functions of the FHA Title I 
Program.
    F. Administration of the FHA Title II Insured Loans: The Deputy 
Assistant Secretary is redelegated the authority to perform such 
actions as may be necessary to carry out the financial functions of all 
FHA Title II insured loans.
    G. Payment of FHA Claims: The Deputy Assistant Secretary is 
redelegated such authority to perform such actions as may be necessary 
to make FHA claim payments. These duties include but are not limited to 
determining the appropriate amount of benefits to be paid, making 
appropriate certifications for payments issued in debentures and/or 
cash, extending requisite time periods for a lender's submission of 
claim documentation, and collecting, through administrative offset, any 
indebtedness due HUD.
    H. Servicing of FHA Insured Loans: The Deputy Assistant Secretary 
is redelegated the authority to perform such duties as necessary to 
carry out the financial responsibilities for HUD-held notes and 
properties including but not limited to collecting mortgage payments, 
ensuring the protection and preservation of collateral, establishing 
and directing the use of funds in escrow accounts, and executing 
appropriate legal documents upon payment-in-full of a mortgage.
    I. Liaison with U.S. Treasury Department: The Deputy Assistant 
Secretary is redelegated such authority as is necessary to process and 
effect such transactions with the U.S. Treasury as may be required in 
the normal operation of FHA operations.
    J. Sale of FHA Assets: The Deputy Assistant Secretary is 
redelegated such authority as necessary to sell Secretary-held 
mortgages.
    K. Management of HUD-held Mortgages, Notes and HUD-Owned 
Properties: The Deputy Assistant Secretary is redelegated such 
authority as necessary to make disbursements on HUD-owned or managed 
properties for the payment of property related expenses, including 
property taxes, utility bills, property management fees, etc.

Section III. Further Redelegations

    The authority redelegated by the Assistant Secretary for Housing-
Federal Housing Commissioner and the General Deputy Assistant 
Secretary-Deputy Federal Housing Commissioner to the Deputy Assistant 
Secretary for Finance and Budget may be redelegated by memorandum. A 
copy of the redelegation will be maintained by the employee receiving 
the delegation and by the Deputy Assistant Secretary and available for 
public inspection. The Housing-FHA Comptroller may not redelegate the 
authority redelegated herein.

Section IV. Revocation of Delegations

    The Assistant Secretary for Housing-Federal Housing Commissioner or 
the General Deputy Assistant Secretary for Housing-Deputy Federal 
Housing Commissioner may, at any time, revoke any of the authority 
redelegated herein. Notice of any revocation will be published in the 
Federal Register. This redelegation of authority supersedes and/or 
revokes all prior redelegations of authority to staff in the Office of 
the Housing-FHA Comptroller.

    Authority: Section 7(d), Department of Housing and Urban 
Development Act, 42 U.S.C. 3535(d).

    Dated: August 11, 2003.
John C. Weicher,
Assistant Secretary for Housing-Federal Housing Commissioner.
[FR Doc. 03-21244 Filed 8-19-03; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4210-27-P