[Federal Register Volume 78, Number 80 (Thursday, April 25, 2013)]
[Notices]
[Pages 24420-24422]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2013-09702]


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FEDERAL HOUSING FINANCE AGENCY

[No. 2013-N-07]


Proposed Collection; Comment Request

AGENCY: Federal Housing Finance Agency.

ACTION: 60-day Notice of Submission of Information Collection for 
Approval From Office of Management and Budget.

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SUMMARY: In accordance with the requirements of the Paperwork Reduction 
Act of 1995, the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) is seeking 
public comments concerning a proposed information collection to be 
known as the ``National Survey of Mortgage Borrowers'' (NSMB). This is 
a new collection that has not yet been assigned a control number by the 
Office of Management and Budget (OMB). FHFA intends to submit the 
proposed information collection to OMB for review and approval of a 
three-year control number.

DATES: Interested persons may submit comments on or before June 24, 
2013.

ADDRESSES: Submit comments to FHFA using any one of the following 
methods:
     Email: [email protected]. Please include Proposed 
Collection; Comment Request: ``National Survey of Mortgage Borrowers, 
(No. 2013-N-07)'' in the subject line of the message.
     Federal eRulemaking Portal: http://www.regulations.gov. 
Follow the

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instructions for submitting comments. If you submit your comment to the 
Federal eRulemaking Portal, please also send it by email to FHFA at 
[email protected] to ensure timely receipt by the agency.
     Mail/Hand Delivery: Federal Housing Finance Agency, 
Constitution Center, Eighth Floor (OGC), 400 Seventh Street SW., 
Washington, DC 20024, ATTENTION: Public Comments/Proposed Collection; 
Comment Request: ``National Survey of Mortgage Borrowers, (No. 2013-N-
07)''. The package should be logged at the Seventh Street entrance 
Guard Desk, First Floor, on business days between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m.
    We will post all public comments we receive without change, 
including any personal information you provide, such as your name, 
phone number, and address (email or home), on the FHFA Web site at 
http://www.fhfa.gov/Default.aspx?Page=89. In addition, copies of all 
comments received will be available for examination by the public on 
business days between the hours of 10 a.m. and 3 p.m., at the Federal 
Housing Finance Agency, Constitution Center, Eighth Floor (OGC), 400 
Seventh Street SW., Washington, DC 20024. To make an appointment to 
inspect comments, please call the Office of General Counsel at (202) 
649-3804.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Theresa DiVenti, Senior Economist, 
Office of Systemic Risk and Market Surveillance, by email at 
[email protected] or by telephone at (202) 649-3113; or Eric 
Raudenbush, Assistant General Counsel, by email at 
[email protected] or by telephone at (202) 649-3084, (these are 
not toll-free numbers), Federal Housing Finance Agency, Constitution 
Center, Eighth Floor (OGC), 400 Seventh Street SW., Washington, DC 
20024. The Telecommunications Device for the Hearing Impaired is (800) 
877-8339.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

A. Need for and Use of the Information Collection

    The NSMB will be a quarterly survey of individuals who have 
recently obtained a loan secured by a first mortgage on single-family 
residential property. The survey questionnaire will be sent to 
approximately 7,000 new mortgage borrowers each calendar quarter and 
will consist of approximately 80-85 multiple choice and short answer 
questions designed to obtain information about individual residential 
mortgages and borrowers that is not available elsewhere. The NSMB is 
one component of a larger project, known as the ``National Mortgage 
Database,'' which is a joint effort of FHFA and the Consumer Financial 
Protection Bureau (CFPB).
    Section 1324 of the Housing and Economic Recovery of 2008 (HERA) 
requires that FHFA conduct a monthly survey to collect data on the 
characteristics of individual prime and subprime mortgages, and on the 
borrowers and properties associated with those mortgages. Specifically, 
FHFA is required to collect data on: the sales price of the mortgaged 
property; the loan-to-value ratio of the mortgage; the terms of the 
mortgage; the creditworthiness of the borrowers; whether borrowers on 
subprime mortgages would have qualified for prime lending; and whether 
the mortgage was purchased by Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac.\1\ The stated 
purposes of the monthly mortgage survey required under HERA are to 
enable FHFA to prepare a detailed annual report on the mortgage market 
activities of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac relative to the rest of the 
market for the Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs of the 
Senate and the Committee on Financial Services of the House of 
Representatives,\2\ and to compile a database of timely and otherwise 
unavailable residential mortgage market information to be made 
available to the public.\3\ In order to fulfill those statutory 
mandates, as well as to support policymaking and research efforts, 
FHFA, along with CFPB, is committed to fund, build, and manage the 
National Mortgage Database. The key purpose of the National Mortgage 
Database is to make accessible accurate, comprehensive information for 
monitoring the residential mortgage market by Congress, regulators, and 
other interested parties.
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    \1\ See 12 U.S.C. 4544(c).
    \2\ See 12 U.S.C. 4544(a), (b).
    \3\ See 12 U.S.C. 4544(c)(3).
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    FHFA draws the core data for the National Mortgage Database from a 
random 1-in-20 sample of mortgages in the common database of credit 
information on individual consumers that is maintained by one of the 
three national credit repositories. These core data may be 
supplemented, for example, with additional information from sources 
such as the Home Mortgage Disclosure Act database that is maintained by 
the Federal Financial Institutions Examination Council,\4\ property 
valuation models, and data files maintained by Fannie Mae and Freddie 
Mac. The purpose of the NSMB is to complete the National Mortgage 
Database by obtaining critical information that is not available from 
existing sources.
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    \4\ See 12 U.S.C. 2801-2811.
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    Under section 1324 of HERA, FHFA must collect information on the 
characteristics of individual subprime and nontraditional mortgages, as 
well as on the characteristics of borrowers on such mortgages, 
including information on the creditworthiness of those borrowers and 
information sufficient to determine whether those borrowers would have 
qualified for prime lending.\5\ The NSMB questionnaire is designed, in 
part, to elicit this information directly from borrowers, who are 
likely to be the most reliable and accessible--and, in some cases, the 
only--source for this information. In addition, the questionnaire is 
designed to elicit more complete information on mortgage terms, 
mortgaged properties, and borrowers' household demographics than can be 
obtained from the existing sources. The information obtained from the 
NSMB, in combination with that obtained from the existing sources, will 
make the National Mortgage Database a high quality and uniquely 
comprehensive and timely resource for information on developments in 
the residential mortgage market. The NSMB will be especially critical 
in ensuring that the National Mortgage Database contains complete and 
timely information on the range of nontraditional and subprime mortgage 
products being offered, the methods by which these mortgages are being 
marketed, and the characteristics, and particularly creditworthiness, 
of borrowers for these types of loans.
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    \5\ See 12 U.S.C. 4544(c)(2).
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    The information in the National Mortgage Database, including that 
obtained through the NSMB, will be used for three primary purposes: (1) 
To prepare the report to Congress on the mortgage market activities of 
Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac that FHFA is required to submit under 
section 1324 of HERA; (2) for research and analysis by FHFA and other 
federal agencies that have regulatory and supervisory responsibilities/
mandates related to mortgage markets; and (3) to provide a resource for 
research and analysis by academics and other interested parties outside 
of the government. Generally, the National Mortgage Database will allow 
Congress, regulators, and other interested parties to track emerging 
trends in the mortgage origination process throughout the United States 
and will allow them to determine more quickly and accurately when the 
mortgage origination process is changing in a way that may adversely

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affect financial markets, borrowers, and consumers. FHFA intends that 
the availability of this information, as well as the research and 
analyses derived from it, will provide sufficient warning to allow it 
and other regulators to take steps to avoid, or at least to mitigate, 
major mortgage market crises in the future.

B. Burden Estimate

    FHFA estimates the total annual average number of survey recipients 
at 28,000 (7,000 x 4 calendar quarters), with one response per 
recipient. The estimate for the average amount of time to complete each 
survey is 30 minutes. The estimate for the total annual hour burden for 
respondents is 14,000 hours (28,000 respondents x 0.5 hours).

C. Comment Request

    FHFA requests written comments on the following: (1) Whether the 
collection of information is necessary for the proper performance of 
FHFA functions, including whether the information has practical 
utility; (2) The accuracy of FHFA'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 survey respondents, 
including through the use of automated collection techniques or other 
forms of information technology.

    Dated: April 19, 2013.
Kevin Winkler,
Chief Information Officer, Federal Housing Finance Agency.
[FR Doc. 2013-09702 Filed 4-24-13; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 8070-01-P