[Federal Register Volume 82, Number 15 (Wednesday, January 25, 2017)]
[Notices]
[Pages 8425-8426]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2017-01650]


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FEDERAL TRADE COMMISSION


 Agency Information Collection Activities; Submission for OMB 
Review; Comment Request

AGENCY: Federal Trade Commission (``FTC'').

ACTION: Notice and request for comment.

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SUMMARY: In compliance with the Paperwork Reduction Act (PRA) of 1995, 
the FTC is seeking public comments on its request to OMB for a three-
year extension of the current PRA clearance for the FTC's portion of 
the information collection requirements contained in the Consumer 
Financial Protection Bureau's Regulation O (the Mortgage Assistance 
Relief Services Rule). The FTC shares enforcement of Regulation O with 
the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (``CFPB''). This clearance 
expires on January 31, 2017.

DATES: Comments must be received by February 24, 2017.

ADDRESSES: Interested parties may file a comment online or on paper, by 
following the instructions in the Request for Comment part of the 
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION section below. Write ``Regulation O PRA 
Comment, FTC File No. P134812'' on your comment, and file your comment 
online at https://ftcpublic.commentworks.com/ftc/regulationopra2 by 
following the instructions on the web-based form. If you prefer to file 
your comment on paper, mail or deliver your comment to the following 
address: Federal Trade Commission, Office of the Secretary, 600 
Pennsylvania Avenue NW., Suite CC-5610 (Annex J), Washington, DC 20580, 
or deliver your comment to the following address: Federal Trade 
Commission, Office of the Secretary, Constitution Center, 400 7th 
Street SW., 5th Floor, Suite 5610 (Annex J), Washington, DC 20024.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Requests for additional information or 
copies of the proposed information requirements should be addressed to 
Rebecca Unruh, Attorney, Division of Financial Practices, Bureau of 
Consumer Protection, Federal Trade Commission, 600 Pennsylvania Ave. 
NW., Washington, DC 20580, (202) 326-3565.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
    Title: Mortgage Assistance Relief Services Rule (Regulation O), 12 
CFR part 1015.
    OMB Control Number: 3084-0157.
    Type of Review: Extension of a currently approved collection.
    Abstract: On November 17, 2016, the FTC sought public comment on 
the

[[Page 8426]]

information collection requirements associated with Regulation O. 81 FR 
81140. No germane comments were received.\1\ Pursuant to the OMB 
regulations, 5 CFR part 1320, that implement the PRA, 44 U.S.C. 3501 et 
seq., the FTC is providing this second opportunity for public comment 
while seeking OMB approval to renew the pre-existing clearance for the 
Rule.
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    \1\ The Commission received four non-germane comments.
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    Because the FTC and CFPB share enforcement authority for this rule, 
the FTC is seeking clearance for one-half of the following estimated 
PRA burden that the FTC attributes to the disclosure requirements under 
Regulation O. The potential entities providing MARS services are 
varied, and there are no ways to formally track them. By extension, 
there is no clear path to track how many affected individual entities 
have newly entered and departed from one year to the next or from one 
triennial PRA clearance cycle to the next. However, based on law 
enforcement experience and the CFPB's recent analysis conducted after 
the MARS Rule was restated as Regulation O, the FTC estimates that 
Regulation O affects roughly 107 MARS providers.\2\ This estimate 
informs the additional estimates detailed below.
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    \2\ See Bureau of Consumer Financial Protection, Agency 
Information Collection Activities: Submission for OMB Review; 
Supporting Statement (Jul. 23, 2015), available at http://www.reginfo.gov/public/do/PRAViewDocument?ref_nbr=201507-3170-002; 
OMB Control No: 3170-0007, clearance expires on Sept. 30, 2018.
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    Estimated annual hours burden: 321 (for the FTC).
    The above hours estimate is based on the assumption that compliance 
with all MARS disclosures requires 6 hours of labor annually. 
Multiplying this figure by 107 entities yields a total burden of 642 
hours, of which 321 hours are attributed to the FTC.
    Estimated annual labor cost: $10,677 (for the FTC).
    Commission staff assumes that a compliance officer or equivalent 
will prepare the required disclosures for 6 hours annually at an hourly 
rate of $33.26. Thus, the estimated labor cost is $21,353 (107 
providers x 6 hours x $33.26) of which the FTC assumes half, or 
$10,677.
    Estimated annual non-labor cost: $29,425 (for the FTC).
    Based on the CFPB's analysis, the FTC assumes that each of the 
estimated 107 MARS providers bears an additional $550 in material fees 
for acquiring relevant legal and technical compliance information, for 
a total additional burden of $58,850, of which the FTC assumes half, or 
$29,425. Based on law enforcement experience, the FTC assumes that any 
disclosures will likely be made electronically and thus will not 
generate additional non-labor costs such as printing and distribution.

Request for Comment

    You can file a comment online or on paper. For the Commission to 
consider your comment, we must receive it on or before February 24, 
2017. Write ``Regulation O, PRA Comment, FTC File No. P134812'' on your 
comment. Your comment--including your name and your state--will be 
placed on the public record of this proceeding, including, to the 
extent practicable, on the public Commission Web site, at http://www.ftc.gov/os/publiccomments.shtm. As a matter of discretion, the 
Commission tries to remove individuals' home contact information from 
comments before placing them on the Commission Web site.
    Because your comment will be made public, you are solely 
responsible for making sure that your comment does not include any 
sensitive personal information, such as anyone's Social Security 
number, date of birth, driver's license number or other state 
identification number or foreign country equivalent, passport number, 
financial account number, or credit or debit card number. You are also 
solely responsible for making sure that your comment does not include 
any sensitive health information, like medical records or other 
individually identifiable health information. In addition, do not 
include any ``[t]rade secret or any commercial or financial information 
which is . . . privileged or confidential,'' as discussed in Section 
6(f) of the FTC Act, 15 U.S.C. 46(f), and FTC Rule 4.10(a)(2), 16 CFR 
4.10(a)(2). In particular, do not include competitively sensitive 
information such as costs, sales statistics, inventories, formulas, 
patterns, devices, manufacturing processes, or customer names.
    If you want the Commission to give your comment confidential 
treatment, you must file it in paper form, with a request for 
confidential treatment, and you are required to follow the procedure 
explained in FTC Rule 4.9(c), 16 CFR 4.9(c). Your comment will be kept 
confidential only if the FTC General Counsel grants your request in 
accordance with the law and the public interest.
    Postal mail addressed to the Commission is subject to delay due to 
heightened security screening. As a result, we encourage you to submit 
your comment online, or to send it to the Commission by courier or 
overnight service. To make sure that the Commission considers your 
online comment, you must file it at https://ftcpublic.commentworks.com/ftc/regulationopra2, by following the instructions on the web-based 
form. If this Notice appears at http://www.regulations.gov, you also 
may file a comment through that Web site.
    If you file your comment on paper, write ``Regulation O, PRA 
Comment, FTC File No. P134812'' on your comment and on the envelope, 
and mail or deliver it to the following address: Federal Trade 
Commission, Office of the Secretary, Room H-113 (Annex J), 600 
Pennsylvania Avenue NW., Washington, DC 20580, or deliver your comment 
to the following address: Federal Trade Commission, Office of the 
Secretary, Constitution Center, 400 7th Street SW., 5th Floor, Suite 
5610 (Annex J), Washington, DC 20024. If possible, submit your paper 
comment to the Commission by courier or overnight service.
    Visit the Commission Web site at http://www.ftc.gov to read this 
Notice. The FTC Act and other laws that the Commission administers 
permit the collection of public comments to consider and use in this 
proceeding as appropriate. The Commission will consider all timely and 
responsive public comments that it receives on or before February 24, 
2017. You can find more information, including routine uses permitted 
by the Privacy Act, in the Commission's privacy policy, at http://www.ftc.gov/ftc/privacy.shtm.
    Comments on the information collection requirements subject to 
review under the PRA should also be submitted to OMB. If sent by U.S. 
mail, address comments to: Office of Information and Regulatory 
Affairs, Office of Management and Budget, Attention: Desk Officer for 
the Federal Trade Commission, New Executive Office Building, Docket 
Library, Room 10102, 725 17th Street NW., Washington, DC 20503. 
Comments sent to OMB by U.S. postal mail, however, are subject to 
delays due to heightened security precautions. Thus, comments instead 
should be sent by facsimile to (202) 395-5167.

Christian S. White,
Deputy General Counsel.
[FR Doc. 2017-01650 Filed 1-24-17; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 6750-01-P