[Federal Register Volume 79, Number 46 (Monday, March 10, 2014)]
[Notices]
[Pages 13326-13327]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2014-05097]


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DEPARTMENT OF HOUSING AND URBAN DEVELOPMENT

[Docket No. FR-5758-N-03]


60-Day Notice of Proposed Information Collection: Pre-Purchase 
Homeownership Counseling Demonstration and Impact Evaluation

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

ACTION: Notice.

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SUMMARY: HUD is seeking approval from the Office of Management and 
Budget (OMB) for the information collection described below. In 
accordance with the Paperwork Reduction Act, HUD is requesting comment 
from all interested parties on the proposed collection of information. 
The purpose of this notice is to allow for 60 days of public comment.

DATES: Comments Due Date: May 9, 2014.

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: Colette Pollard, Reports 
Management Officer, QDAM, Department of Housing and Urban Development, 
451 7th Street SW., Room 4176, Washington, DC 20410-5000; telephone 
(202) 402-5564 (this is not a toll-free number) or email at 
[email protected] for a copy of the proposed forms or other 
available information. Persons with hearing or speech impairments may 
access this number through TTY by calling the toll-free Federal Relay 
Service at (800) 877-8339.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Colette Pollard, Reports Management 
Officer, QDAM, Department of Housing and Urban Development, 451 7th 
Street SW., Washington, DC 20410; email Colette Pollard at 
[email protected] or telephone (202) 402-3400. This is not a 
toll-free number. Persons with hearing or speech impairments may access 
this number through TTY by calling the toll-free Federal Relay Service 
at (800) 877-8339.
    Copies of available documents submitted to OMB may be obtained from 
Ms. Pollard.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: This notice informs the public that HUD is 
seeking approval from OMB for the

[[Page 13327]]

information collection described in Section A.

A. Overview of Information Collection

    Title of Information Collection: Focus Group Protocols and Consent 
Collection for Pre-Purchase Homeownership Counseling Demonstration and 
Impact Evaluation; Second Round.
    OMB Approval Number: 2528-0293.
    Type of Request: Revision.
    Description of the need for the information and proposed use: The 
Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) is conducting an 
important national study of the effectiveness of pre-purchase 
homeownership counseling services. This information collection covers 
two updates to the initial data collection: (a) Replacement of 
telephone interviews with focus groups to collect qualitative data and 
(b) changes to the approach used to collect consent from coborrowers of 
study participants. The information collected through the focus groups 
will be used to support the implementation analysis and to collect 
qualitative information about study participants' experiences with pre-
purchase homeownership counseling services. The collection of consent 
from study participants' coborrowers is necessary to allow the study to 
collect data related to the characteristics and performance of study 
participants' mortgage loans.
    Respondents (i.e. affected public): A total of up to 144 study 
participants will participate in 12 focus groups of 8-12 participants 
each. Each focus group will take approximately 120 minutes. Prior to 
the focus groups, the study team will contact eligible study 
participants in three cities to request participation in a focus group 
and confirm eligibility information. The recruitment calls are 
estimated to take approximately 5 minutes per person. The study's 
enrollment projections suggest that the three largest study sites will 
include approximately 720 eligible study participants, although 
recruitment will end sooner if the available focus group slots are 
filled.
    The collection of coborrower consent involves including the 
coborrower consent form in the study's regular tracking letters, along 
with a request for the coborrower to review, sign, and return the 
written consent form. The study estimates that approximately 1800 study 
participants will have coborrowers. The coborrowers' review and return 
of the coborrower consent form is estimated to require approximately 5 
minutes per coborrower.
    The focus group recruitment call, focus group, and coborrower will 
be completed once by each applicable respondent during the entire 
length of the study.

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                                                                                           Burden hours
         Information collection              Number of     Frequency  of   Responses per   per response    Annual burden    Hourly cost     Annual cost
                                            respondents      response          annum         (minutes)         hours       per response
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Focus group recruitment calls...........             720               1               1               5              60             $25          $1,500
Focus groups............................             144               1               1             120             288              25           7,200
Coborrower consent form.................            1800               1               1               5             150              25            3750
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    Total...............................            2520               3               3  ..............             498  ..............          12,450
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B. Solicitation of Public Comment

    This notice is soliciting comments from members of the public and 
affected parties concerning the collection of information described in 
Section A on the following:
    (1) Whether the proposed collection of information is necessary for 
the proper performance of the functions of the agency, including 
whether the information will have practical utility;
    (2) The accuracy of the agency's estimate of the burden of the 
proposed collection of information;
    (3) Ways to enhance the quality, utility, and clarity of the 
information to be collected; and
    (4) Ways to minimize the burden of the collection of information on 
those who are to respond, including through the use of appropriate 
automated collection techniques or other forms of information 
technology, e.g., permitting electronic submission of responses.
    HUD encourages interested parties to submit comment in response to 
these questions.

     Authority: Section 3507 of the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, 
44 U.S.C. Chapter 35.

    Dated: February 27, 2014.
Jean Lin Pao,
General Deputy Assistant Secretary for Policy, Development and 
Research.
[FR Doc. 2014-05097 Filed 3-7-14; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4210-67-P