[Federal Register Volume 81, Number 140 (Thursday, July 21, 2016)]
[Notices]
[Pages 47403-47404]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2016-17255]
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
DEPARTMENT OF HOUSING AND URBAN DEVELOPMENT
[Docket No. FR- 5921-N-09]
Privacy Act of 1974; Notice of a Computer Matching Program
Between the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) and the
Department of Education (ED)
AGENCY: Office of Administration, HUD.
ACTION: Notice of a Computer Matching Program between HUD and ED.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
SUMMARY: In accordance with the Privacy Act of 1974 (5 U.S.C. 552a), as
amended by the Computer Matching and Privacy Protection Act of 1988
(Pub. L. 100-503), and the Office of Management and Budget (OMB)
Guidelines on the Conduct of Matching Programs (54 FR 25818 (June 19,
1989); and OMB Bulletin 89-22, ``Instructions on Reporting Computer
Matching Programs to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB),
Congress and the Public,'' HUD is issuing a public notice of its intent
to conduct a recurring computer matching program with ED for the
purpose of incorporating ED debtor files into the Credit Alert
Verification Reporting System (CAIVRS), which is a HUD computer
information system.
DATES: Effective Date: The effective date of the matching program shall
begin August 22, 2016, or at least 40 days from the date that copies of
the Computer Matching Agreement, signed by both HUD and ED Data
Integrity Boards (DIBs), are sent to OMB and Congress, whichever is
later, provided that no comments that would result in a contrary
determination are received.
Comments Due Date: August 22, 2016.
ADDRESSES: Interested persons are invited to submit comments regarding
this notice to the Rules Docket Clerk, Office of General Counsel,
Department of Housing and Urban Development, 451 Seventh Street, Room
10110, SW., Washington, DC 20410. Communications should refer to the
above docket number and title. A copy of each communication submitted
will be available for public inspection and copying between 8:00 a.m.
and 5:00 p.m. weekdays at the above address.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Contact the ``Recipient Agency''
Acting Departmental Privacy Officer, Department of Housing and Urban
Development, 451 Seventh Street SW., Room 10139, Washington, DC 20410,
telephone number (202) 402-6147 or the ``Source Agency'' Department of
Education, Federal Student Aid/Borrower Services, 830 First Street NE.,
Room UCP-41F2, Washington, DC 20202, telephone number (202) 377-3436.
[These are not a toll-free numbers.] A telecommunication device for
hearing- and speech-impaired individuals (TTY) is available at (800)
877-8339 (Federal Relay Service).
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: HUD's CAIVRS database includes delinquent
debt information from the Departments of Education (ED), Veteran's
Affairs (VA), Justice (DOJ), the Small Business Administration (SBA),
and the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA). This data match will
allow the prescreening of applicants for Federal direct loans or
Federally guaranteed loans, for the purpose of determining the
applicant's credit worthiness, by ascertaining whether the applicant is
delinquent or in default on a loan owed directly to, or Federally
guaranteed by, the Federal government. Lending Federal agencies and
authorized private lending institution will be able to use the CAIVRS
debtor file to verify that the loan applicant is not in default, or
delinquent on a Federal direct or Federally guaranteed loan, prior to
granting the applicant a loan. The CAIVRS database contains Personally
Identifiable Information (PII) contributed by participating Federal
agencies, including Social Security Numbers (SSNs) and other records of
borrowers delinquent or in default on debts owed to, or guaranteed by
HUD and other Federal agencies. Authorized users may not deny,
terminate, or make a final decision concerning any loan assistance to
an applicant or take other adverse action against such applicant based
on the information produced by data matches conducted under CAIVRS,
until such authorized users have independently verified such adverse
information.
Reporting of Matching Program
In accordance with Public Law 100-503, the Computer Matching and
Privacy Protection Act of 1988 as amended, and OMB Bulletin 89-22,
``Instructions on Reporting Computer Matching Programs to the Office of
Management and Budget (OMB), Congress and the Public,'' copies of this
notice and report are being provided to the U.S. House Committee on
Oversight Government Reform, the U.S. Senate Homeland Security and
Governmental Affairs Committee, and OMB.
Authority: HUD has authority to collect and review mortgage data
pursuant to the National Housing Act, as amended, 12 U.S.C. 1701 et
seq., and related laws. The Department of Education (ED) oversees
and manages Federal student aid programs pursuant to the Higher
Education Act of 1965, as amended, 20 U.S.C. 1001 et seq. This
computer matching will be conducted pursuant to Pub. L. 100-503,
``The Computer Matching and Privacy Protection Act of 1988,'' as
amended, and OMB Circulars A-129 (Managing Federal Credit Programs).
One of the purposes of all Executive departments and agencies is to
implement efficient management practices for Federal Credit
Programs. OMB Circular A-129 was issued under the authority of the
Budget and Accounting Act of 1921, as amended; the Budget and
Accounting Act of 1950, as amended; the Debt Collection Act of 1982,
as amended by the Debt Collection Improvement Act of 1996; Section
2653 of Pub. L. 98-369; the Federal Credit Reform Act of 1990, as
amended; the Federal Debt Collection Procedures Act of 1990, the
Chief Financial Officers Act of 1990, as amended; Executive Order
8248; the Cash Management Improvement Act Amendments of 1992; and
pre-existing common law authority to charge interest on debts and to
offset payments to collect debts administratively.
Objectives To Be Met by the Matching Program
The objective of this matching program is to give program agencies
access to a system that allows them to prescreen applicants for loans
made, or loans guaranteed, by the Federal Government to ascertain if
the applicant is delinquent in paying a debt owed to or guaranteed by
the Federal Government. As part of this process, HUD will be provided
access to ED's debtor data for prescreening purposes.
The use of CAIVRS will allow HUD to better monitor its credit
programs and to reduce the credit extended to individuals with
outstanding delinquencies on debts owed to HUD and other Federal
agencies. ED expects that its participation in CAIVRS will further
other Federal agencies' efforts to reduce credit risks through loan
prescreening, and prompt student loan defaulters, who are denied credit
by other Federal agencies, to make arrangements to repay their
defaulted student loans.
Under this computer matching program, HUD/CAIVRS receives limited
information on borrowers who have defaulted on loans administered by
[[Page 47404]]
participating Federal agencies each month. The information includes:
Borrower ID Number--The Social Security Number (SSN), Employer
Identification Number (EIN) or Taxpayer Identification Number (TIN) of
the borrower on a delinquent or defaulted Federal direct loan or
Federally guaranteed loan. Federal agency personnel and authorized
lenders must enter a user authorization code followed by either a SSN
or EIN to access CAIVRS. Only the following information is returned or
displayed:
[cir] Yes/No as to whether the holder of that SSN/EIN is in default
on a Federal loan; and
[cir] If Yes, then CAIVRS provides to the lender:
[cir] Loan case number;
[cir] Record type (claim, default, foreclosure, or judgment);
[cir] Agency administering the loan program;
[cir] Phone number at the applicable Federal agency (to call to
clear up the default); and
[cir] Confirmation Code associated with the query.
Federal law mandates the suspension of the processing of
applications for Federal credit benefits (such as government-insured
loans) if the applicants are delinquent on Federal or Federally
guaranteed debt. Processing may continue only after the borrower
satisfactorily resolves the debt (e.g., pays in full or renegotiates a
new payment plan). To remove a CAIVRS sanction, the borrower must
contact the Federal agency that reported their SSN or EIN to HUD/CAIVRS
using the information provided.
Records To Be Matched
HUD will use records from the Single Family Default Monitoring
System (SFDMS/F42D (72 FR 65350 November 20, 2007)), and Single Family
Insurance System--Claims Subsystem (CLAIMS/A43C (72 FR65348 November
20, 2007)), as combined in CAIVRS to provide an up-to-date dataset to
be used in records matching. SFDMS maintains data on mortgages that are
90 or more days delinquent. The Mortgagee or Servicer must submit a
Monthly Delinquent Loan Report (HUD-92068-A) to HUD on a monthly basis
until the mortgage status has been completed by all Mortgagees, or is
otherwise terminated or deleted. Mortgagees and Servicers provide
default data to HUD via Electronic Data Interchange (EDI) or using the
Internet via FHA Connection, through which the data is sorted, pre-
screened, key entered, edited, and otherwise processed. Reports are
generated for HUD Headquarters and Field Offices to review.
CLAIMS provides automated receipt, tracking and processing of form
HUD-27011, Single Family Application for Insurance Benefits. CLAIMS
provides online update and inquiry capability to Single Family
Insurance and Claims databases, and to cumulative history files. Claim
payments are made by Electronic Funds Transfer (EFT) via an HDS
platform (IBM mainframe/Treasury interface) on a daily basis.
For the actual data match, ED will use records from the system of
records entitled ``Title IV Program Files'' (18-11-05), originally
published in the Federal Register on June 4, 1999 (64 FR 30163), and
subsequently amended on December 27, 1999 (64 FR 72407). However, the
ED records from which the match information is compiled are maintained
in the ``Student Financial Assistance Collection Files'' system of
records (18-11-07), 64 FR 30166 (June 4, 1999), as amended, 64 FR 72407
(December 27, 1999). The ED routine use for this match is published as
``routine use number one'' in the system of records notice for the
``Student Financial Assistance Collection Files'' (18-11-07), which
permits disclosures of the pertinent information to HUD.
Notice Procedures
HUD and ED have separate procedures for notifying individuals that
their records will be matched to determine whether they are delinquent
or in default on a Federal debt. HUD will notify individuals at the
time of application for a HUD/FHA mortgage, and ED will notify
individuals at the time of application for Title IV, Higher Education
Act (HEA) Federal student loan. The application for Title IV, HEA
program assistance explains that as part of the application process, ED
may disclose information from that application to other Federal
agencies under a published ``routine use'' without the applicants'
consent, as permitted by law. HUD and ED published a notice concerning
routine use disclosures in the Federal Register to inform individuals
that a computer match may be performed to determine a loan applicant's
credit status with the Federal Government. The Privacy Act also
requires that a copy of each Computer Matching Agreement entered into
with a recipient agency shall be available upon request to the public.
Categories of Records/Individuals Involved
Data elements disclosed in computer matching governed by this
Agreement are Personally Identifiable Information (PII) from the
specified ED system of record. The data elements supplied by ED to
CAIVRS are the following:
Borrower ID Number--The Social Security Number (SSN),
Employer Identification Number (EIN) or Taxpayer Identification Number
(TIN) of the borrower on a delinquent or defaulted federal direct loan
or Federally guaranteed loan.
Case Number--A reference number issued by the reporting
agency for the delinquent or defaulted federal direct loan or Federally
guaranteed loan.
Agency Code--A code assigned to the reporting agency.
Type Code--A code that indicates the type of record--
claim, default, foreclosure, or judgment.
Borrower ID Type--A code that indicates whether the
Borrower ID Number is a SSN, EIN, or TIN.
Period of the Match
Matching will begin at least 40 days from the date that copies of
the Computer Matching Agreement, signed by HUD and ED DIBs, are sent to
both Houses of Congress and OMB; or at least 30 days from the date this
notice is published in the Federal Register, whichever is later,
provided that no comments that would result in a contrary determination
are received. The matching program will be in effect and continue for
18 months with an option to renew for 12 additional months unless one
of the parties to the Agreement advises the other in writing to
terminate or modify the Agreement.
Dated: June 22, 2016.
Patricia A. Hoban-Moore,
Chief Administrative Officer.
[FR Doc. 2016-17255 Filed 7-20-16; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4210-67-P