[Federal Register Volume 79, Number 91 (Monday, May 12, 2014)]
[Notices]
[Pages 26983-26986]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2014-10868]


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DEPARTMENT OF HOUSING AND URBAN DEVELOPMENT

[Docket No. FR-5752-N-46]


Notice of Submission of Proposed Information Collection to OMB; 
Emergency Comment Request Applications for Housing Assistance Payments; 
Notice of Proposed Information Collection for Public Comment

AGENCY: Office of the Chief Information Officer.

ACTION: Notice of proposed information collection.

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SUMMARY: The proposed information collection requirement described 
below has been submitted to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) 
for emergency review and approval, as required by the Paperwork 
Reduction Act. The Department is soliciting public comments on the 
subject proposal.

DATES: Comments Due Date: May 19, 2014.

ADDRESSES: Interested persons are invited to submit comments regarding 
this proposal. Comments must be received within seven (7) days from the 
date of this Notice. Comments should refer to the proposal by name and/
or OMB Control Number and should be sent to: HUD Desk Officer, Office 
of Management and Budget, New Executive Office Building, Washington, DC 
20503; fax: 202-395-5806. Email: [email protected].

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Lanier M. Hylton, Housing Program 
Manager, Office of Program Systems Management, Office of Multifamily 
Housing Programs, Department of Housing and Urban Development, 451 7th 
Street SW., Washington, DC 20410, telephone (202) 402-2510 (this is not 
a toll free number) for copies of the proposed forms and 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. This is not a toll-free number. Copies of available documents 
submitted to OMB may be obtained from Mr. Hylton.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: This Notice informs the public that the U.S. 
Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) has submitted to OMB, 
for emergency processing, an information collection package with 
respect to this information collected on information collection number 
2502-0182 relative to system enhancements to the Tenant Rental 
Assistance Certification System (TRACS). The Department solicited 
stakeholder input through TRACS Industry Working Group sessions to 
identify enhancements for TRACS Release 202D.
    This Notice is soliciting comments from members of the public and 
affecting agencies concerning the proposed collection of information 
to: (1) Evaluate 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) 
Evaluate the accuracy of the agency's estimate of the burden of the 
proposed collection of information; (3) Enhance the quality, utility, 
and clarity of the information to be collected; and (4) 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.

A. Overview of Information Collection

    1. HUD-Form Number, Title of Information Collection, and OMB 
Approval Number:

------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                        Title of Information Collection
               Form No.                       Under No. 2502-0182
------------------------------------------------------------------------
HUD-52670............................  Housing Owner's Certification and
                                        Application for Housing
                                        Assistance Payments.
HUD-52670-A Part 1...................  Schedule of Tenant Assistance
                                        Payments Due.
HUD-52670-A Part 2...................  Special Claims Schedule.
HUD-52670-A Part 3...................  Adjustments to Schedule of Tenant
                                        Assistance Payments Due.
HUD-52670-A Part 4...................  Misc. Accounting Requests for
                                        Schedule of Tenant Assistance
                                        Payments Due.
HUD-52670-A Part 5...................  Approved Special Claims for
                                        Schedule of Tenant Assistance
                                        Payments Due.
HUD-52670-A Part 6...................  Repayment Agreements for Schedule
                                        of Tenant Assistance Payments
                                        Due.
HUD-52670-A..........................  Special Claims for Unpaid Rent/
                                        Damages.
HUD-52670-B..........................  Special Claims for Vacancies
                                        During Rent-up.
HUD-52670-C..........................  Special Claims for Regular
                                        Vacancies.
HUD-52670-D..........................  Special Claims for Debt Service.
HUD-93742............................  Senior Preservation Rental
                                        Assistance Contract
                                       (SPRAC I).
HUD-93742a...........................  Senior Preservation Rental
                                        Assistance Contract
                                       (SPRAC II).
------------------------------------------------------------------------

    2. Description of the Need for the Information Collection and 
Proposed Use:
    HUD's Office of Multifamily Housing Programs needs to collect this 
information in order to establish an applicant's eligibility for 
admittance to subsidized housing, specify which eligible applicants may 
be given priority over others, and prohibit racial discrimination in 
conjunction with selection of tenants and unit assignments.
    HUD must specify tenant eligibility requirements as well as how 
tenants' incomes, rents and assistance must be verified and computed so 
as to prevent HUD from making improper payments to owners on behalf of 
assisted tenants. These information collections are essential to ensure 
the reduction of improper payments standard in providing $9.5 billion 
in rental assistance to low-income families in HUD Multifamily 
properties.
    a. These collections are authorized by the following statutes:

[[Page 26984]]

     Section 8 (42 U.S.C. 1437 et seq.).
     Rent Supplement (12 U.S.C. 1701s).
     Rental Assistance Payments (12 U.S.C. 1715z-1).
     Section 236 (12 U.S.C. 1172z-1).
     Section 221(d) (3) Below Market Interest Rate (12 U.S.C. 
1715l).
     Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964.
     Title VIII of the Civil Rights Act of 1968, as amended 
(Section 808).
     Executive Order 11063, Equal Opportunity in Housing
     Social Security Numbers (42 U.S.C. 3543).
     Section 562 of the Housing and Community Development Act 
of 1987.
     Section 202 of the Housing Act of 1959, as amended.
     Section 811 of the National Affordable Housing Act of 
1980.
     Computer Matching and Privacy Protection Act of 1988 (102 
Statute 2507).
     Privacy Act of 1974 (5 U.S.C. 552a), Records Maintained on 
Individuals
     Quality Housing and Work Responsibility Act of 1998 
(QHWRA)
     Section 658 of Title VI of Subtitle D of the Housing and 
Community Development Act of 1992.
     Executive Order 13520 of November 20, 2009, The Improper 
Payments Elimination and Recovery Act (IPERA)
     Executive Order 13515 of October 14, 2009, Increasing 
Participation of Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders in Federal 
Programs
    b. These collections are covered by the following regulations:
     Section 8: 24 CFR Part 5, 24 CFR 880, 24 CFR 884, 24 CFR 
886, 24 CFR 891 Subpart E.
     Section 236 and Rental Assistance Payments: 24 CFR 236.
     Section 221(d) (3): 24 CFR 221.
     Racial, Sex, Ethnic Data: 24 CFR 121.
     Nondiscrimination and Equal Opportunity in Housing: 24 CFR 
107.
     Nondiscrimination in Federal Programs: 24 CFR 1.
     Social Security Numbers: 24 CFR Part 5.
     Procedures for Obtaining Wage and Claim Information 
Agencies: 24 CFR Part 760.
     Implementation of the Privacy Act of 1974: 24 CFR Part 16.
     Mandated use of HUD's Enterprise Income Verification (EIV) 
System: 24 CFR 5.233
    3. Describe Respondents
    The primary users of TRACS or its data outputs include:

Internal

     HUD Multifamily Housing 63 Field Offices
     HUD Headquarters Multifamily Housing Staff
     Office of the Chief Financial Officer (CFO)
     Office of Housing--Office of Finance and Accounting (OFA)
     Office of Chief Financial Officer--Office of Budget (OB)
     Office of Policy Development & Research (PD&R)
     Federal Housing Administration (FHA)/Comptroller's Office
     Departmental Enforcement Center (DEC)
     Real Estate Enforcement Center (REAC)
     Office of Multifamily Housing--Office of Affordable 
Housing
     HUD Office of the Inspector General (OIG)

External

     Performance Based Contract Administrators
     Contract Administrators
     Owners and Property Management Agents
     State Housing Finance Agencies
     Public Housing Authorities (PHA)
     The Government Accountability Office
     U. S. Census Bureau
     Office of Management and Budget (OMB)
     Congress/Public Requests (Under FOIA)

TRACS Industry Working Group

    HUD established a working group in February 2012 to identify 
enhancements for TRACS Release 202D. The working group consists of 123 
members from HUD Industry Partners (Contract Administrators, Occupancy 
Trainers, Owners, Property Management Agents, state housing finance 
agencies, and Occupancy Software Vendors) and HUD staff. The working 
group conducted eighteen work sessions to determine the requirements 
for TRACS Release 202D. During these sessions, forms relative to 2502-
0204 were finalized for OMB forms approval (see Exhibit 1 for TRACS 
Industry Working Group Members.)
    On January 14 and 15, 2014, HUD held the Quarterly TRACS Industry 
Meeting in Washington DC for approximately 130 Industry Partners 
(Contract Administrators, Owners/Agents, Service Bureaus, Trainers and 
Software Vendors). During the Industry Meeting, a special session was 
conducted where each form relative to 2502-0204 were presented to the 
attendees for open discussion. After the Industry Meeting, the Form 
Presentation was posted to the HUD TRACS Announcement Web page for 
review. On February 20, 2014, HUD held a Virtual Meeting with 115 
Contract Administrators and HUD staff where the forms and TRACS 202D 
enhancements were presented followed by a question and answer period. 
No comments from the Quarterly TRACS Industry Meeting, Postings or 
Virtual Meeting resulted in changes to the forms being submitted to OMB 
for review and final approval.
    HUD consulted with the following industry partners to discuss ways 
in which the burden to owners/management agents and tenants can be 
reduced and the impact these revised collections will have on the 
tenant certification and subsidy payment processes. After discussion, 
the conclusion was reached that these revised collections had been 
fully documented in the TRACS Monthly Activity Transaction (MAT) Guide 
and software vendors would have very little impact due to the fact that 
the requirements are already in place and the provision of HUD forms, 
notices, leases, etc., in lieu of using documents they or their 
software contractor have developed, ensures their compliance with the 
revised program requirements.
    The new TRACS MAT Guide for TRACS 202(d) has been approved by 
industry partners and is located at: http://portal.hud.gov/hudportal/HUD?src=/program_offices/housing/mfh/trx/trxsum.

TRACS Software Vendors

    TRACS collections are 100% electronic, which required HUD to 
coordinate system development with 21 software firms through a defined 
system development lifecycle:

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                                                                         Business
              Company name                    Point of contact       telephone number        E-mail address
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Bostonpost Technology..................  Jed Greaf.................      440-409-2942  software.com">jed.graef@mrisoftware.com
                                                                                        .
BP Software............................  Ron Barlean...............      800-344-7611  [email protected].
CGI....................................  Gregg Sargi...............      216-416-6454  [email protected].

[[Page 26985]]

 
Emphasys Software......................  Paul Maltby...............      800-899-4227  pmaltby@emphasys-
                                                                             EXT 1102   software.com.
HAB....................................  Jill Fularczyk............      608-785-4950  [email protected]
                                                                                        .
Hopewell Software......................  Richard Hilton............      954-353-9242  [email protected].
Housing Development Software...........  Charlene Vassil...........      954-217-9597  charlene.vassil@hdsoftwar
                                                                              EXT 218   e.com.
IPM Software...........................  Dan Dulleba...............      802-985-9319  software.net">ddulleba@ipm-software.net.
Lindsey Software, Inc..................  John Lindsey..............      501-372-5324  software.com">john_lindsey@lindseysoftware.com.
MultiSite Systems, LLC.................  Brent Lawrence............      888-409-5393  [email protected].
PHA Web................................  Nathan Hoff...............      608-784-0354  web.com">nathan@pha-web.com.
PM Services, LLC.......................  Maura Harris..............      314-496-8005  [email protected].
Property Solutions.....................  Janel Gamin...............      801-375-5522  jganim@propertysolutions.
                                                                             EXT 5729   com.
RealPage Inc...........................  Gaye Williamson...........      972-820-3265  [email protected].
SACS Software..........................  Grant Dark................      256-329-1205  software.com">grant@sacssoftware.com.
ShofCorp LLC...........................  Frank Shofner.............      800-824-1657  [email protected].
                                                                               EXT 31
Simply Computer Software, Inc..........  Craig Tinsley.............      800-626-2431  [email protected].
                                                                                EXT 3
Tenmast Software.......................  Julie Rutherford..........      877-359-5492  [email protected].
                                                                             EXT 1406
Tracker Systems, Inc...................  Stephen Vigeant...........      508-485-4160  [email protected].
Yardi Systems, Inc.....................  Jenny Dyer................      770-729-0007  [email protected].
                                                                             EXT 6265
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TRACS 202(d) Development Lifecycle

    Each of the 21 software vendors listed above agreed to systems 
development life cycle composed of the following defined and distinct 
work phases which are used by systems engineers and systems developers 
to plan for, design, build, test, and deliver information systems 
(includes all OMB approved data collections forms under 2502-0204):
     Preliminary analysis: The objective of phase 1 is to 
conduct a preliminary analysis, propose alternative solutions, describe 
costs and benefits and submit a preliminary plan with recommendations.
     Systems analysis, requirements definition: Defines project 
goals into defined functions and operation of the intended application 
and OMB approved forms.
     Systems design: Describes desired features and operations 
in detail, including screen layouts, business rules, process diagrams, 
pseudo-code and other documentation.
     Development: The real code is written here.
     Integration and testing: Brings all the pieces together 
into a special TRACS testing environment hosted within HUD's 
infrastructure, then TRACS checks each vendor's software for errors, 
bugs and interoperability.
     Acceptance, installation, deployment: The final stage of 
initial development, TRACS 202(d) Release software was put into 
production.

    Note: The 21 software vendors listed above cannot implement 
TRACS 202(d) until OMB approves the HUD-Forms under collection 
number 2502-0204.

HUD Seeks Approval Not To Display the Expiration

Date for OMB Approval of the Information Collection

    All forms will be posted on HUD's Web site (www.hudclips.org) and 
will contain the OMB expiration date. However, HUD requests forms 
produced by automated systems do not display or print the OMB 
expiration date.
    HUD is seeking an extension not to display/print the expiration 
date on forms included in these information collections. To reduce this 
burden on Software Vendors, HUD is requesting an extension for Vendor 
software applications to reference/display the HUDCLIPS URL 
(www.hudclips.org). HUDCLIPS contains official HUD forms depicting the 
OMB expiration date and OMB control number. When OMB changes an 
expiration date on a form, HUD loads the form with the new expiration 
date onto HUDCIPS. Allowing Vendor's to use screens, facsimiles and 
reference HUDCLIPS eliminates the need for software vendors to change 
their existing applications to accommodate new OMB mandated expiration 
dates.
    Whenever a HUD form changes or a new form is added, Industry 
Software Vendors must perform the software development life cycle 
phases (Analysis, Design, Development, Testing and Implementation, 
etc.) to ensure the change gets implemented at roughly 26,800 HUD 
Business Partner sites. With a number of HUD forms being relatively 
static, only the form expiration date changes over time. Software 
Vendors incur unnecessary cost when modifying their software 
applications to accommodate changing expiration dates. An expiration 
date change in vendor software adds no value.
    4. Estimated Number of Respondents, Estimated Number of Responses, 
Frequency of Response, Average Hours per Response, and Total Estimated 
Burdens:

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                 Estimated       Estimated                                             Total
          Form No.               number of       number of       Frequency of      Average hours     estimated
                                respondents      responses         response        per response       burden
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
HUD-52670...................  ..............  ..............  ..................            0.50
HUD-52670-A Part 1..........  ..............  ..............  ..................           0.125
HUD-52670-A Part 2..........  ..............  ..............  ..................           0.125

[[Page 26986]]

 
HUD-52670-A Part 3..........  ..............  ..............  ..................           0.125
HUD-52670-A Part 4..........  ..............  ..............  ..................           0.125
HUD-52670-A Part 5..........  ..............  ..............  ..................           0.125
HUD-52670-A Part 6..........  ..............  ..............  ..................           0.125
Total HUD-Form 52670........          22,731         272,772  Monthly...........           1.125         306,869
HUD-52671-A.................             321           3,852  Monthly...........            1.33           5,123
HUD-52671-B.................              11             132  Monthly...........            1.33             176
HUD-52671-C.................           2,742          44,904  Monthly...........            1.33          59,722
HUD-52670-D.................              38             456  Monthly...........            1.33             607
HUD-92742...................              12              12  Annually..........             .50               6
HUD-92743a..................              12              12  Annually..........             .25               3
                             -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
    Total...................          25,867         322,140  ..................  ..............         372,506
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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: May 6, 2014.
Colette Pollard,
Departmental Reports Manager.
[FR Doc. 2014-10868 Filed 5-9-14; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4210-67-P