[Federal Register Volume 70, Number 79 (Tuesday, April 26, 2005)]
[Notices]
[Pages 21411-21430]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 05-8333]


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FEDERAL HOUSING FINANCE BOARD

[No. 2005-N-02]


Proposed Collection; Comment Request

AGENCY: Federal Housing Finance Board.

ACTION: Notice.

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SUMMARY: In accordance with the requirements of the Paperwork Reduction 
Act of 1995, the Federal Housing Finance Board (Finance Board) is 
seeking public comments concerning proposed changes to the information 
collection entitled ``Affordable Housing Program (AHP),'' which has 
been assigned control 3069-0006 by the Office of Management and Budget 
(OMB). The Finance Board intends to submit the entire AHP information 
collection, with the proposed changes described in this Notice, to OMB 
for review and approval of a three-year extension of the control 
number, which is due to expire on July 31, 2007.

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DATES: Interested persons may submit comments on or before June 27, 
2005.

COMMENTS: Submit comments by any of the following methods:
    E-mail: [email protected].
    Fax: 202-408-2580.
    Mail/Hand Delivery: Federal Housing Finance Board, 1777 F Street 
NW., Washington, DC 20006, ATTENTION: Public Comments.
    Federal eRulemaking Portal: http://www.regulations.gov. Follow the 
instructions for submitting comments. If you submit your comment to the 
Federal eRulemaking Portal, please also send it by e-mail to the 
Finance Board at [email protected] to ensure timely receipt by the 
agency.
    Include the following information in the subject line of your 
submission: Federal Housing Finance Board. Proposed Collection; Comment 
Request: Affordable Housing Program (AHP). 2005-N-02.
    We will post all public comments we receive on this notice without 
change, including any personal information you provide, such as your 
name and address, on the Finance Board website at http://www.fhfb.gov/pressroom/pressroom_regs.htm.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Charles E. McLean, Associate Director, 
Community Investment and Affordable Housing Division, Office of 
Supervision, [email protected], 202-408-2537, or Deattra D. Perkins, 
Community Development Specialist, Community Investment and Affordable 
Housing Division, Office of Supervision, [email protected], 202-408-
2527. You also can contact staff by facsimile at 202-408-2850 or 
regular mail to the Federal Housing Finance Board, 1777 F Street NW., 
Washington, DC 20006.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

A. Background

    Section 10(j) of the Federal Home Loan Bank Act (Bank Act) requires 
the Finance Board to promulgate regulations under which each of the 12 
Federal Home Loan Banks (Banks) must establish an Affordable Housing 
Program (AHP) to make subsidized advances to members engaged in lending 
for long term, low- and moderate-income, owner-occupied and affordable 
rental housing at subsidized interest rates. See 12 U.S.C. 1430(j). 
Section 10(j) also establishes the standards and requirements for 
making subsidized AHP advances to Bank members. Part 951 of the Finance 
Board regulations implements the statutory requirements and authorizes 
the Banks to make AHP funding decisions. See 12 CFR part 951.
    Under the AHP, each Bank contributes at least 10 percent of its 
previous year's net earnings to subsidize the cost of affordable owner-
occupied and rental housing targeted to individuals and families with 
incomes at or below 80 percent of the area median income. The Banks 
make the majority of the AHP subsidy available through a competitive 
program that requires members to submit applications on behalf of one 
or more sponsors of eligible housing projects. In 2004, the competitive 
program contributed $3.4 billion toward the construction of 31,000 
housing units. Since its inception in 1990, the competitive program has 
contributed $35 billion toward the construction of 380,000 housing 
units.
    The rest of the AHP subsidy is awarded through non-competitive 
homeownership set-aside programs under which each Bank annually can set 
aside an amount up to the greater of $3 million or 25 percent of its 
AHP funds to assist low- and moderate-income households purchase homes. 
A Bank also may contribute up to the greater of $1.5 million or 10 
percent of its AHP funds each year to fund an additional set-aside 
program to assist low- and moderate-income households that also are 
first-time homebuyers. Members obtain AHP set-aside funds from their 
Bank and give the funds as grants to eligible households. A household 
can use a set-aside grant for down-payment or closing cost assistance 
or counseling costs in connection with the purchase or rehabilitation 
of owner-occupied units. Each Bank sets its own maximum grant amount, 
which may not exceed $15,000 per household. In 2004, the Banks awarded 
$39 million in grants to 8,121 households under set-aside programs, 
making an average grant of $4,916. Since the inception of the set-aside 
program in 1995, the Banks have awarded $213 million in grants to 
47,813 households.

B. Need for and Use of the Information Collection

    The Finance Board currently requires the Banks to collect 183 data 
elements related to the AHP. The Banks use this data to determine 
whether an AHP applicant satisfies the statutory and regulatory 
requirements to receive subsidized advances or direct subsidies under 
the AHP. The Finance Board uses the information to ensure that Bank 
funding decisions, and the use of the funds awarded, are consistent 
with statutory and regulatory requirements.
    In February 2005, the Finance Board proposed moving many of its 
data requirements, including the AHP data, into a Data Reporting Manual 
(DRM) that will represent an investigatory order enforceable through 
the Finance Board's statutory powers. 70 FR 9551 (Feb. 28, 2005). After 
the DRM is approved in final form, the Finance Board expects that the 
AHP information collection will move from part 951 to the DRM.

C. Proposed Changes to the Information Collection

    In September 2004, Finance Board staff informally solicited input 
from the 12 Banks on proposed changes to AHP Data reporting and has 
taken their responses (nine from individual Banks and one from the 
Banks' Chief Investment Officers on behalf of all Banks) into account 
in the proposed changes it is seeking comment upon in this Notice.
    The first proposed change would update the underlying AHP database 
application, which currently collects data from the Banks using a web-
based system that is technologically obsolete. The new AHP database 
application will capture uniform and accurate data that can be easily 
queried and analyzed. Data submission from the Banks to the Finance 
Board will be in formatted files that can be created by a Bank in the 
manner it considers most efficient or convenient. In changing the 
manner in which it collects data, the Finance Board does not intend to 
require the Banks to modify or adopt new electronic information 
management systems. Therefore, the proposed changes to the database 
application should not result in significant electronic system upgrade 
costs to the Banks.
    The second proposed change would reduce the number of AHP data 
elements, deleting 88 and adding 13, and change the reporting format 
for some data elements. The Finance Board currently collects 183 AHP 
data elements, most of which relate to competitive program projects. 
The Finance Board proposes eliminating 88 competitive program data 
elements, such as ongoing entry of project modification changes.
    The Finance Board proposes adding 13 new data elements, including 
geo-coded information in competitive and set-aside program applications 
that is necessary to monitor the distribution of AHP awards and the 
national impact of the program. Respondents can obtain geo-coded 
information by entering the project/property address into the Federal 
Financial Institutions Examination Council (FFIEC) geo-coding Web site 
at http://www.ffiec.gov/geocode/default.htm or through use of specific 
software.

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    Other new elements include the amount of first and second mortgages 
and interest rate(s) (stated as an annual percentage rate) for a set-
aside grant recipient's mortgage, and whether the mortgage is subject 
to the Home Ownership and Equity Protection Act (HOEPA).\1\ The Finance 
Board needs this information to ensure that AHP subsidies provided by a 
Bank to a member are passed on to the ultimate borrower. See 12 U.S.C. 
1430(j)(9)(E). The majority of Bank members already are required under 
other statutes\2\ to collect the data the Finance Board proposes to add 
to the AHP database. Therefore, the incremental additional burden 
imposed to report the information to the Finance Board should be 
minimal.
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    \1\ See 15 U.S.C. 1639; 12 CFR 226.31, et seq. For information 
about HOEPA go to: http://www.the.gov/bcp/conline/pubs/homes/32mortgs.htm.
    \2\ For instance, many Bank members already are required to 
collect geo-coding information and HOEPA status under the Home 
Mortgage Disclosure Act (HMDA). See 12 U.S.C. 2801 et seq. For 
information about HDMA reporting go to: http://www.ffiec.gov/hmda/about.htm. Members also are required to disclose the loan amount and 
interest rate to borrowers under the Truth in Lending Act (TILA). 
See 15 U.S.C. 1601 et seq. For information about TILA disclosure go 
to: http://www.occ.treas.gov/handbook/til/
pdf#search=`Truth%20in%20Lending%20Act'.
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    In order to reduce data entry time, the Finance Board is proposing 
to change reporting for 19 data elements from a numeric format to a 
categorical (yes/no) entry. The Finance Board also expects to reduce 
the reporting frequency for project level data from up to eight times a 
year to one annual report.
    To facilitate public input on these proposed changes, Appendix A 
lists the proposed AHP data elements and Appendix B is a side-by-side 
chart listing the existing AHP data elements that will be retained or 
eliminated in the proposed database.

D. Burden Estimate

    In a Federal Register notice published in May 2004 (69 FR 24600 
(May 4, 2004)), the Finance Board analyzed the cost and hour burden for 
the seven facets of the AHP information collection--AHP applications, 
AHP modification requests, AHP monitoring agreements, AHP recapture 
agreements, homeownership assistance program applications, 
verifications of statutory and regulatory compliance at the time of 
subsidy disbursement, and Bank Advisory Council reports and 
recommendations on AHP implementation plans. The total annual hour 
burden for four of the seven facets will not be affected by the 
proposed changes to the AHP database. These four facets are the same as 
in the May 2004 Federal Register notice and are not repeated here. The 
three facets that will be affected--AHP applications, AHP modification 
requests, and homeownership assistance program applications--are 
described in detail below.
    The estimate for the total hour burden for applicant and member 
respondents for all seven facets of the AHP information collection, 
including the proposed changes, is 61,313 hours, a decrease of 1,725 
hours.

1. AHP Applications

    The Finance Board estimates that the proposed changes to the AHP 
database would reduce the 25 hour processing time for each application 
by 1 hour. The Finance Board estimates a total annual average of 2,050 
applicants for AHP funding, with 1 response per applicant. The estimate 
for the total annual hour burden for AHP applications is 49,200 hours 
(2,050 applicants x 1 application x 24 hours).

2. AHP Modification Requests

    The Finance Board estimates that the reduction in reporting 
frequency that is part of the proposed changes to the AHP database 
would reduce the 3-hour processing time for each modification request 
by 30 minutes. The Finance Board estimates a total annual average of 
150 requests, with 1 response per requestor. The estimate for the total 
annual hour burden for AHP modification requests is 375 hours (150 
requestors x 1 request x 2.5 hours).

3. Homeownership Assistance Program Applications

    The Finance Board estimates that the proposed changes to the AHP 
database would increase the 2-hour processing time for each application 
by 10 minutes. The Finance Board estimates a total annual average of 
2,400 homeownership assistance program applications, with 1 application 
per respondent. The estimate for the total annual hour burden for 
homeownership assistance program applications is 5,200 hours (2,400 
respondents x 1 application x 130 minutes).

E. Comment Request

1. Proposed Changes to the AHP Database

    The Finance Board requests comments on the utility and practicality 
of the proposed data elements, including whether additional elements 
should be included, deleted, or modified.

2. Paperwork Reduction Act Burden Estimate

    The Finance Board requests written comments on the following: (1) 
Whether the collection of information is necessary for the proper 
performance of Finance Board functions, including whether the 
information has practical utility; (2) the accuracy of the Finance 
Board's estimates of the burdens of the collection of information; (3) 
ways to enhance the quality, utility, and clarity of the information 
collected; and (4) ways to minimize the burden of the collection of 
information on respondents, including through the use of automated 
collection techniques or other forms of information technology.

    Dated: April 19, 2005.

    By the Federal Housing Finance Board.
Mark J. Tenhundfeld,
General Counsel.
BILLING CODE 6725-01-P

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[FR Doc. 05-8333 Filed 4-25-05; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6725-01-C