[Federal Register Volume 82, Number 129 (Friday, July 7, 2017)]
[Notices]
[Pages 31622-31624]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2017-14299]


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DEPARTMENT OF HOUSING AND URBAN DEVELOPMENT

[Docket No. FR-5997-N-17]


30-Day Notice of Proposed Information Collection: Implementation 
of the Housing for Older Persons Act of 1995 (HOPA)

AGENCY: Office of the Chief Information Officer, HUD.

ACTION: Notice.

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SUMMARY: HUD submitted the proposed information collection requirement 
described below to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) for 
review, in accordance with the Paperwork Reduction Act. The purpose of 
this notice is to allow for an additional 30 days of public comment.

DATES: Comments Due Date: August 7, 2017.

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: 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: Inez C. Downs, Reports Management 
Officer, QMAC, Department of Housing and Urban Development, 451 7th 
Street SW., Washington, DC 20410; email Inez C. Downs at 
[email protected] or telephone 202-402-8046. This is not a toll-free 
number. Persons with hearing or speech impairments may access this 
number through TTY by calling the toll-

[[Page 31623]]

free Federal Relay Service at (800) 877-8339.
    Copies of available documents submitted to OMB may be obtained from 
Ms. Downs.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: This notice informs the public that HUD is 
seeking approval from OMB for the information collection described in 
Section A.
    The Federal Register notice that solicited public comment on the 
information collection for a period of 60 days was published on 
December 13, 2016 at 81 FR 89964.

A. Overview of Information Collection

    Title of Information Collection: Implementation of the Housing for 
Older Persons Act of 1995 (HOPA).
    OMB Approval Number: 2529-0046.
    Type of Request: Extension without change of a currently approved 
collection.
    Form Number: None.
    Description of the need for the information and proposed use: The 
Fair Housing Act [42 U.S.C.3601 et seq.], prohibits discrimination in 
the sale, rental, occupancy, advertising, insuring, or financing of 
residential dwellings based on familial status (individuals living in 
households with one or more children under 18 years of age). However, 
under Sec.  3607(b)(2) of the Act, Congress exempted three (3) 
categories of ``housing for older persons'' from liability for familial 
status discrimination: (1) Housing provided under any State or Federal 
program which the Secretary of HUD determines is ``specifically 
designed and operated to assist elderly persons (as defined in the 
State or Federal program)''; (2) housing ``intended for, and solely 
occupied by persons 62 years of age or older''; and (3) housing 
''intended and operated for occupancy by at least one person 55 years 
of age or older per unit [`55 or older' housing].'' In December 1995, 
Congress passed the Housing for Older Persons Act of 1995 (HOPA) 
[Public Law 104-76, 109 STAT. 787] as an amendment to the Fair Housing 
Act. The HOPA modified the ``55 or older'' housing exemption provided 
under Sec.  3607(b)(2)(C) of the Fair Housing Act by eliminating the 
requirement that a housing provider must offer ``significant facilities 
and services specifically designed to meet the physical or social needs 
of older persons.'' In order to qualify for the HOPA exemption, a 
housing community or facility must meet each of the following criteria: 
(1) At least 80 percent of the occupied units in the community or 
facility must be occupied by at least one person who is 55 years of age 
of older; (2) the housing provider must publish and adhere to policies 
and procedures that demonstrate the intent to operate housing for 
persons 55 years of age or older; and (3) the housing provider must 
demonstrate compliance with ``rules issued by the Secretary for 
verification of occupancy, which shall . . . provide for [age] 
verification by reliable surveys and affidavits.''
    The HOPA did not significantly increase the record-keeping burden 
for the ``55 or older'' housing exemption. It describes in greater 
detail the documentary evidence which HUD will consider when 
determining, in the course of a familial status discrimination 
complaint investigation, whether or not a housing facility or community 
qualified for the ``55 or older'' housing exemption as of the date of 
the alleged Fair Housing Act violation.
    The HOPA information collection requirements are necessary to 
demonstrate a housing provider's eligibility to claim the ``55 or 
older'' housing exemption as an affirmative defense to a familial 
status discrimination complaint filed with HUD under the Fair Housing 
Act. The information will be collected in the normal course of business 
in connection with the sale, rental, or occupancy of dwelling units 
situated in qualified senior housing facilities or communities. The 
HOPA's requirement that a housing provider must demonstrate the intent 
to operate a ``55 or older'' housing community or facility by 
publishing, and consistently enforcing, age verification rules, 
policies and procedures for current and prospective occupants reflects 
the usual and customary practice of the senior housing industry. Under 
the HOPA, a ``55 or older'' housing provider should conduct an initial 
occupancy survey of the housing community or facility to verify 
compliance with the HOPA's ``80 percent occupancy'' requirement, and 
should maintain such compliance by periodically reviewing and updating 
existing age verification records for each occupied dwelling unit at 
least once every two years. The creation and maintenance of such 
occupancy/age verification records should occur in the normal course of 
individual sale or rental housing transactions, and should require 
minimal preparation time. Further, a senior housing provider's 
operating rules, policies and procedures are not privileged or 
confidential in nature, because such information must be disclosed to 
current and prospective residents, and to residential real estate 
professionals.
    The HOPA exemption also requires that a summary of the occupancy 
survey results must be made available for public inspection. This 
summary need not contain confidential information about individual 
residents; it may simply indicate the total number of dwelling units 
occupied by persons 55 years of age or older. While the supporting age 
verification records may contain confidential information about 
individual occupants, such information would be protected from 
disclosure unless the housing provider claims the ``55 or older'' 
housing exemption as an affirmative defense to a jurisdictional 
familial status discrimination complaint filed with HUD under the Fair 
Housing Act. HUD's Office of Fair Housing and Equal Opportunity will 
only require a housing provider to disclose such confidential 
information to HUD if and when HUD investigates a jurisdictional 
familial status discrimination complaint filed against the housing 
provider under the Fair Housing Act, and if and when the housing 
provider claims the ``55 or older'' housing exemption as an affirmative 
defense to the complaint.
    Members of affected public: The HOPA requires that small businesses 
and other small entities that operate housing intended for occupancy by 
persons 55 years of age or older must routinely collect and update 
reliable age verification information necessary to meet the eligibility 
criteria for the HOPA exemption. The record keeping requirements are 
the responsibility of the housing provider that seeks to qualify for 
the HOPA exemption.
    Estimation of the total numbers of hours needed to prepare the 
information collection, including the number of respondents, frequency 
of response, and hours of response: The HOPA information collection 
requirements are the responsibility of the individual housing facility 
or community that claims eligibility for the HOPA's ``55 or older'' 
housing exemption. The HOPA does not authorize HUD to require 
submission of this information by individual housing providers as a 
means of certifying that their housing communities or facilities 
qualify for the exemption. Further, since the HOPA has no mandatory 
registration requirement, HUD cannot ascertain the actual number of 
housing facilities and communities that are currently collecting this 
information with the intention of qualifying for the HOPA exemption. 
Accordingly, HUD has estimated that approximately 1,000 housing 
facilities or communities would seek to qualify for the HOPA exemption. 
HUD estimated the occupancy/age verification data would require routine

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updating with each new housing transaction within the facility or 
community, and that the number of such transactions per year might vary 
significantly depending on the size and nature of the facility or 
community. HUD also estimated the average number of housing 
transactions per year at ten (10) transactions per community.
    HUD concluded that the publication of policies and procedures is 
likely to be a one-time event, and in most cases will require no 
additional burden beyond what is done in the normal course of business. 
The estimated total annual burden hours are 5,500 hours.
    Estimation of the total numbers of hours needed to prepare the 
information collection including number of respondents, frequency of 
response, and hours of response:
    Please see table below.

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                                                                           Total annual
      Type of collection  activity           Number of     Frequency of      responses      Burden hour    Total annual     Hourly cost     Annual cost
                                            respondents      response          hours       per response    burden hours    per response
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One: Publication of and adherence to               1,000               1           1,000               2           2,000          $21.30      $42,600.00
 policies and procedures that
 demonstrate the intent to operate as 55-
 or-older housing.......................
Two: Collect age verification data for             1,000               1           1,000               1           1,000           21.30       21,300.00
 at least one occupant per unit to meet
 the HOPA's minimum ``80'' requirement..
Three: Periodic updates of occupancy               1,000               1           1,000            2.50           2,500           21.30       53,250.00
 records................................
                                         ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
    Total Burden Hours and Costs........  ..............  ..............           3,000  ..............           5,500  ..............      117,150.00
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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 using 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: July 3, 2017.
Inez C. Downs,
Department Reports Management Officer, Office of the Chief Information 
Officer.
[FR Doc. 2017-14299 Filed 7-6-17; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 4210-67-P