[Federal Register Volume 78, Number 215 (Wednesday, November 6, 2013)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 66670-66671]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2013-26586]


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DEPARTMENT OF HOUSING AND URBAN DEVELOPMENT

24 CFR Part 214

[Docket No. FR-5339-N-02]


Housing Counseling Program: New Certification Requirements; 
Extension of Public Comment Period

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

ACTION: Proposed rule; extension of public comment period.

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SUMMARY: On September 13, 2013, HUD published a rule in the Federal 
Register inviting public comment on proposed changes to the Housing 
Counseling Program regulations for the purpose of implementing the 
Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act amendments to 
the housing counseling statute. This document announces that HUD is 
extending the public comment period, for an additional 30-day period, 
to December 12, 2013.

DATES: Comment Due Date: For the proposed rule published on September

[[Page 66671]]

13, 2013 (78 FR 56625), the comment due date is extended to December 
12, 2013.

ADDRESSES: Interested persons are invited to submit comments responsive 
to this request for information to the Office of General Counsel, 
Regulations Division, Department of Housing and Urban Development, 451 
7th Street SW., Room 10276, Washington, DC 20410-0001. Communications 
must refer to the above docket number and title and should contain the 
information specified in the ``Request for Comments'' of this notice.
    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 Web site can be viewed by interested members 
of the public. Commenters should follow instructions provided on that 
site to submit comments electronically.
    Submission of Hard Copy Comments. Comments may be submitted by mail 
or hand delivery. To ensure that the information is fully considered by 
all of the reviewers, each commenter submitting hard copy comments, by 
mail or hand delivery, should submit comments or requests to the 
address above, addressed to the attention of the Regulations Division. 
Due to security measures at all federal agencies, submission of 
comments or requests by mail often result in delayed delivery. To 
ensure timely receipt of comments, HUD recommends that any comments 
submitted by mail be submitted at least 2 weeks in advance of the 
public comment deadline. All hard copy comments received by mail or 
hand delivery are a part of the public record and will be posted to 
http://www.regulations.gov without change.
    No Facsimile Comments. Facsimile (FAX) comments are not acceptable.
    Public Inspection of Comments. All comments submitted to HUD 
regarding this notice will be available, without charge, 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 documents must be scheduled by 
calling the Regulations Division at 202-708-3055 (this is not a toll-
free number). Copies of all comments submitted will also be available 
for inspection and downloading at http://www.regulations.gov.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Ruth Rom[aacute]n, Office of Housing 
Counseling, Office of Housing, Department of Housing and Urban 
Development, 451 7th Street SW., Room 9224, Washington, DC 20410-8000; 
telephone number 202-708-0317 (this is not a toll-free number). Persons 
with hearing or speech challenges may access this number through TTY by 
calling the toll-free Federal Relay Service at 800-877-8339.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: On September 13, 2013 (78 FR 56625), HUD 
published a proposed rule in the Federal Register that would implement 
changes made by the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer 
Protection Act (Pub. L. 111-203, 124 Stat. 1376 (July 21, 2010)) (Dodd-
Frank Act) to HUD's Housing Counseling Program, established pursuant to 
section 106 of the Housing and Urban Development Act of 1968 (12 U.S.C. 
1701x) (1968 Act). The Dodd-Frank Act amended section 106 of the 1968 
Act to improve the effectiveness of HUD's Housing Counseling Program 
by, among other things: defining certain commonly used terms in the 
program; ensuring that HUD-approved counselors provide counseling 
covering the entire process of homeownership, from the purchase of a 
home to its disposition; requiring that housing counseling agencies 
provide materials on home inspections, as part of home purchase 
counseling; ensuring that rental or homeownership counseling provided 
in connection with HUD programs is administered in accordance with 
procedures established by HUD; and requiring that all HUD-related 
homeownership counseling and rental housing counseling, provided in 
connection with any HUD program, is provided by HUD-certified housing 
counseling agencies through their HUD-certified housing counselors. 
Interested readers should refer to the preamble of the September 13, 
2013, proposed rule for additional information on the proposed 
regulatory changes.
    In the September 13, 2013 proposed rule, HUD established a comment 
due date of November 12, 2013. In response to recent requests for 
additional time to submit public comments and given the application of 
the rule to both housing counseling agencies and individual counselors, 
HUD believes an extension of the deadline would provide the time needed 
for housing counseling agencies to disseminate the information to 
affected housing counselors and time for housing counselors to provide 
comments. Therefore, HUD is announcing through this notice an extended 
public comment period, for an additional 30-day period, to December 12, 
2013.

    Dated: October 31, 2013.
Sarah S. Gerecke,
Deputy Assistant Secretary for Housing Counseling.
[FR Doc. 2013-26586 Filed 11-5-13; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4210-67-P