[Federal Register Volume 74, Number 81 (Wednesday, April 29, 2009)]
[Notices]
[Pages 19576-19577]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E9-9677]


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DEPARTMENT OF HOUSING AND URBAN DEVELOPMENT

[Docket No. FR-5299-N-01]


Request for Recommendations Regarding Administrative and 
Procedural Changes To Expedite the Approval of Applications for FHA-
Insured Multifamily Mortgages Involving Low-Income Housing Tax Credits 
or Tax-Exempt Bonds

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

ACTION: Notice.

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SUMMARY: This notice, pursuant to statute, solicits recommendations 
from stakeholders in HUD's insured multifamily projects, as well as 
interested members of the public, on administrative and procedural 
changes that HUD should adopt to expedite approval of multifamily 
housing projects involving low-income housing tax credits or tax-exempt 
bonds under the jurisdiction of HUD. In addition to soliciting, 
generally, recommendations on expediting the approval process of 
multifamily housing projects, HUD is soliciting recommendations on 
specific topics as stated in this notice.

DATES: Comment Due Date: June 29, 2009.

ADDRESSES: Interested persons are invited to submit comments regarding 
this notice to the Regulations Division, Office of General Counsel, 451 
7th Street, SW., Room 10276, Department of Housing and Urban 
Development, Washington, DC 20410-0500. Communications must refer to 
the above docket number and title. There are two methods for submitting 
public comments. All submissions must refer to the above docket number 
and title.
    1. Submission of Comments by Mail. Comments may be submitted by 
mail to the Regulations Division, Office of General Counsel, Department 
of Housing and Urban Development, 451 7th Street, SW., Room 10276, 
Washington, DC 20410-0500.
    2. Electronic Submission of Comments. Interested persons may submit 
comments electronically through the Federal eRulemaking Portal at 
http://www.regulations.gov. HUD strongly encourages commenters to 
submit comments electronically. Electronic submission of comments 
allows the commenter maximum time to prepare and submit a comment, 
ensures timely receipt by HUD, and enables HUD to make them immediately 
available to the public. Comments submitted electronically through the 
http://www.regulations.gov website can be viewed by other commenters 
and interested members of the public. Commenters should follow the 
instructions provided on that site to submit comments electronically.

    Note:  To receive consideration as public comments, comments 
must be submitted through one of the two methods specified above. 
Again, all submissions must refer to the docket number and title of 
the rule.

    No Facsimile Comments. Facsimile (FAX) comments are not acceptable.
    Public Inspection of Public Comments. All properly submitted 
comments and communications submitted to HUD will be available for 
public inspection and copying between 8 a.m. and 5 p.m. weekdays at the 
above address. Due to security measures at the HUD Headquarters 
building, an advance appointment to review the public comments must be 
scheduled by calling the Regulations Division at 202-708-3055 (this is 
not a toll-free number). Individuals with speech or hearing impairments 
may access this number through TTY by calling the Federal Information 
Relay Service at 800-877-8339. Copies of all comments submitted are 
available for inspection and downloading at http://www.regulations.gov.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Eric Stevenson, Deputy Director, 
Office of Multifamily Development, Department of Housing and Urban 
Development, 451 Seventh Street, SW., Room 6152, Washington, DC 20410, 
Telephone 202-708-1142; e-mail: [email protected]. Individuals 
with speech or hearing impairments may access this number through TTY 
by calling the toll-free Federal Information Relay Service at (800) 
877-8339.
    Background: Title VIII, subtitle B of the Housing and Economic 
Development Recovery Act of 2008 (HERA), (Pub. L. 110-289, approved

[[Page 19577]]

July 30, 2008), which is cited as the ``Housing Tax Credit Coordination 
Act of 2008,'' increases HUD's ability to facilitate and coordinate the 
use of low income housing tax credits or tax-exempt bonds with 
multifamily projects that receive FHA assistance.
    Section 2832 of HERA requires that HUD implement ``administrative 
and procedural'' changes to expedite the approval of assistance for 
certain multifamily assisted housing projects for which HUD approval is 
required. The multifamily housing projects covered by this section 
include projects for which HUD provides assistance in conjunction with 
low-income housing tax credits under section 42 of the Internal Revenue 
Code of 1986 (26 U.S.C. 42) or tax-exempt housing bonds, and public or 
assisted housing projects for transactions, in conjunction with any 
low-income housing tax credits or tax-exempt bonds, involving the 
preservation or rehabilitation of the project.
    Section 2832(c) of HERA directs HUD to solicit recommendations from 
project owners and sponsors, investors and stakeholders in housing tax 
credits, state and local housing finance agencies, public housing 
agencies, tenant advocates, and other stakeholders in multifamily 
housing projects that will be receiving the benefit of low income 
housing tax credits or tax-exempt bonds, regarding administrative and 
procedural changes that could be implemented to expedite the approval 
of applications for HUD insured mortgages for such projects. The 
category of assisted multifamily housing projects to which this notice 
applies also includes, in addition to projects applying for FHA 
mortgage insurance, projects that will no longer have FHA insured 
mortgages, but which request to continue to retain the benefits of 
interest reduction payments under Section 236 of the National Housing 
Act (12 U.S.C. 1715z-1), with LIHTC or tax-exempt bond financing. This 
notice seeking comment from stakeholders and other interested members 
of the public is issued in response to the direction in section 2832 of 
HERA to solicit recommendations on the multifamily housing approval 
process.
    In addition to soliciting recommendations, generally, on 
administrative and procedural changes that HUD should adopt to expedite 
and facilitate its approval of multifamily housing projects, HUD 
specifically solicits public comment on the following areas:
    (A) Improving the efficiency of approval procedures;
    (B) Simplifying approval requirements,
    (C) Establishing time deadlines or target deadlines for required 
approvals;
    (D) Modifying division of approval authority between field and 
national offices;
    (E) Improving outreach to project sponsors regarding information 
that is required to be submitted for such approvals;
    (F) Requesting additional funding for increasing staff, if 
necessary; and
    (G) Any other actions which would expedite approvals.

    Those stakeholders and interested members of the public who wish to 
comment on these or related topics should submit their comments as 
provided in the Addresses section of this notice.

    Dated: April 17, 2009.
Brian D. Montgomery,
Assistant Secretary for Housing--Federal Housing Commissioner.
[FR Doc. E9-9677 Filed 4-28-09; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4210-67-P