[Federal Register Volume 70, Number 151 (Monday, August 8, 2005)]
[Notices]
[Pages 45739-45740]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 05-15550]


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DEPARTMENT OF HOUSING AND URBAN DEVELOPMENT

[Docket No. FR-4975-N-20]


Notice of Proposed Information Collection: Comment Request; 
Housing Counseling Program--Client Activity Reporting System (CARS)

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

ACTION: Notice.

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SUMMARY: 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.

DATES: Comments Due Date: October 7, 2005.

ADDRESSES: Interested persons are invited to submit comments regarding 
this proposal. Comments should refer to the proposal by name and/or OMB 
Control Number and should be sent to: Wayne Eddins, Reports Management 
Officer, Department of Housing and Urban Development, 451 7th Street, 
SW., L'Enfant Plaza Building, Room 8001, Washington, DC 20410 or 
[email protected].

[[Page 45740]]


FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: George H. Grotheer, Office of Single 
Family Program Support Division, Department of Housing and Urban 
Development, 451 7th Street SW., Washington, DC 20410, telephone (202) 
708-0317, x 2294 (this is not a toll free number) for copies of the 
proposed forms and other available information.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The Department is submitting the proposed 
information collection to OMB for review, as required by the Paperwork 
Reduction Act of 1995 (44 U.S.C. Chapter 35, as amended).
    This Notice is soliciting comments from members of the public and 
affected agencies concerning the proposed collection of information to: 
(1) Evaluate whether the proposed collection is necessary for the 
proper performance of the functions of the agency, including whether 
the information will have practical utility; (2) evaluate the accuracy 
of the agency's estimate of the burden of the proposed collection of 
information; (3) enhance the quality, utility, and clarity of the 
information to be collected; and (4) minimize the burden of the 
collection of information on those who are to respond; including the 
use of appropriate automated collection techniques or other forms of 
information technology, e.g., permitting electronic submission of 
responses.
    This Notice also lists the following information:
    Title of Proposal: Housing Counseling Program--Client Activity 
Reporting System (CARS).
    OMB Control Number, if Applicable: 2502-0261.
    Description of the Need for the Information and Proposed Use: HUD 
is seeking approval for the Client Activity Reporting System (CARS), an 
automated tool to interface with agencies' client management systems 
(CMS) to electronically transfer required agency, activity and client 
information into HUD's Housing Counseling System (HCS). A CMS is an 
existing online tool that housing counselors are currently using that 
automates much of the housing counseling process, including client 
intake, file maintenance, financial and credit analysis, outreach and 
client notification, and reporting. CARS is the interface system, or 
bridge, that links these various CMS systems to HUD's housing 
counseling database facilitating the sharing of data.
    A large percentage of HUD-approved housing counseling agencies 
already use one of the several CMS's that are available through the 
private sector. A proposed rule for HUD's Housing Counseling Program 
(FR-4798) would require all HUD-approved counseling agencies to utilize 
a CMS, but gives them the flexibility to choose from competing products 
in the market. HUD will issue specifications, including data and other 
requirements; a CMS vendor must meet to successfully interface with 
CARS.
    In conjunction with CARS, included in this proposal are proposed 
modifications to the existing form HUD-9902, the traditional 
performance data collection instrument for the Program, which will be 
automatically populated by the CMS utilized by the counseling agency 
and electronically submitted to HUD via CARS. These changes are 
designed to clarify instructions, capture additional outcomes, and 
generally enhance the quality of the data collected.
    Agency Form Numbers, if Applicable: HUD-9900, HUD-9904, HUD-27300, 
HUD-2880, HUD-2990, HUD-2991, HUD-2994, HUD-96010, HUD-9902, HUD-9908, 
HUD-9910.
    Estimation of the Total Number of Hours Needed To Prepare the 
Information Collection Including Number of Respondents, Frequency of 
Response, and Hours of Response: The estimated total number of hours 
needed to prepare the information collection is 10,090; the number of 
respondents is 2,856 generating approximately 10,324 annual responses; 
the frequency of response is on occasion or quarterly; and the 
estimated time needed to prepare the response varies from 5 minutes to 
18 hours.
    Status of the Proposed Information Collection: This is a revision 
of currently approved collection.

    Authority: The Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, 44 U.S.C., 
Chapter 35, as amended.

    Dated: August 1, 2005.
Frank L. Davis,
General Deputy Assistant Secretary for Housing-Deputy Federal Housing 
Commissioner.
[FR Doc. 05-15550 Filed 8-5-05; 8:45 am]
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