[Federal Register Volume 71, Number 106 (Friday, June 2, 2006)]
[Notices]
[Pages 32123-32124]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E6-8532]


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DEPARTMENT OF HOUSING AND URBAN DEVELOPMENT

[Docket No. FR-4995-N-06]


Final Fair Market Rents for the Housing Choice Voucher Program 
and Moderate Rehabilitation Single Room Occupancy Program for Fiscal 
Year 2006; Additional Revision

AGENCY: Office of the Assistant Secretary for Policy Development and 
Research, HUD.

ACTION: Notice of Final Fair Market Rents (FMRs) for Fiscal Year 2006, 
Additional Revision.

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SUMMARY: This notice updates the FMRs for the metropolitan areas of 
Aquadilla, Arecibo, Barranquitas, Caguas, Fajardo, Guayama, Ponce, and 
San Juan, PR.

DATES: Effective Date: June 2, 2006.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION: For technical information on the methodology 
used to develop FMRs or a listing of all FMRs, please call the HUD USER 
information line at (800) 245-2691 or access the information on the HUD 
Web site, http://www.huduser.org/datasets/fmr.html. FMRs are listed at 
the 40th or 50th percentile in Schedule B. For informational purposes, 
a table of 40th percentile recent mover rents for those areas currently 
at the 50th percentile FMRs will be provided on the same website noted 
above. Any questions related to use of FMRs or voucher payment 
standards should be directed to the respective local HUD program staff. 
Persons with hearing or speech impairments may access this number 
through TTY by calling the toll-free Federal Information Relay Service 
at (800) 877-8339. (Other than the HUD USER information line and TTY 
numbers, telephone numbers are not toll-free.)

Update

    In response to numerous public comments about Puerto Rico's FY2006 
FMRs, HUD conducted a detailed analysis of the Random Digit Dialing 
rent surveys (RDDs) that were used in setting Puerto Rico's FY2006 
FMRs. According to the RDD surveys, 57 percent of all Puerto Rico 
rental units lacked hot and cold piped water in the kitchen, which 
makes them substandard units that would be ineligible for inclusion in 
the voucher program. HUD also compared the housing characteristics of 
the RDD sample with detailed information from the 2000 Census to 
correct for sampling bias. The bias occurs because HUD can only survey 
land-line telephones and yet, in Puerto Rico, there is a greater 
percentage of households using cell-phones instead of land-line 
telephones compared to the United States. A detailed analysis of the 
RDD surveys and weighting corrections to compensate for these factors 
produces changes in the FY2006 FMR estimates that HUD is implementing 
with this notice.
    FMRs for the affected areas are increased as follows:

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                                                                             Number of bedrooms
                2006 Fair market rent area                ------------------------------------------------------
                                                              0 BR       1 BR       2 BR       3 BR       4 BR
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Aguadilla-Isabela-San Sebastian, PR MSA..................       $300       $325       $361       $464       $519
Arecibo, PR HMFA.........................................        316        343        381        520        609
Barranquitas-Aibonito-Quebradillas, PR HMFA..............        311        336        374        476        547
Caquas, PR MSA...........................................        347        375        418        579        698
Fajardo, PR MSA..........................................        360        392        435        632        763
Guayama, PR MSA..........................................        316        341        380        539        668
Ponce, PR MSA............................................        368        399        442        614        700
San Juan-Guaynabo, PR HMFA...............................        385        419        465        607        723
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[[Page 32124]]

    Dated: May 24, 2006.
Darlene F. Williams,
Assistant Secretary for Policy, Development and Research.
 [FR Doc. E6-8532 Filed 6-1-06; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4210-67-P