[Federal Register Volume 83, Number 248 (Friday, December 28, 2018)]
[Notices]
[Pages 67334-67337]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2018-28361]
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DEPARTMENT OF HOUSING AND URBAN DEVELOPMENT
[Docket No. FR-7009-N-06]
Privacy Act of 1974; Matching Program
AGENCY: Office of the Assistant Secretary for Housing-Federal Housing
Commissioner and Office of the Assistant Secretary for Public and
Indian Housing, Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD).
ACTION: Notice of a re-established matching program.
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SUMMARY: Pursuant to the Computer Matching and Privacy Protection Act
of 1988, as amended, HUD is providing notice of its intent to execute a
new computer matching agreement with the U.S. Department of Health and
Human Services (HHS) for a recurring matching program with HUD's Office
of Public and Indian Housing (PIH) and Office of Housing, involving
comparisons of information provided by participants in any authorized
HUD rental housing assistance program with the independent sources of
income information available through the National Directory of New
Hires (NDNH) maintained by HHS. HUD will obtain HHS data and make the
results available to: (1) Program administrators such as public housing
agencies (PHAs) and private owners and management agents (O/As)
(collectively referred to as POAs) to enable them to verify the
accuracy of income reported by the tenants (participants) of HUD rental
assistance programs, and (2) contract administrators (CAs) overseeing
and monitoring O/A operations as well as independent public auditors
(IPAs) that audit both PHAs and O/As. The most recent renewal of the
current matching agreement expired on October 24, 2018.
DATES:
Applicability Date: The applicability date of this matching program
shall be January 11, 2019 or 30 days from the date that the Computer
Matching Agreement, signed by HUD and HHS Date Integrity Boards, are
sent to OMB and Congress, whichever is later, provided no comments that
would cause a contrary determination are received. The matching program
will continue for 18 months after the applicable date and may be
extended for an additional 12 months, if the respective agency Data
Integrity Boards (DIBs) determine that the conditions specified in 5
U.S.C. 552a(o)(2)(D) have been met.
Comment Due Date: January 28, 2019.
ADDRESSES: Interested persons are invited to submit comments regarding
this notice electronically through the Federal eRulemaking Portal at
www.regulations.gov. HUD strongly encourages commenters to submit
comments electronically. Electronic submission of comments allows the
commenter maximum time to prepare and submit a comment, ensures timely
receipt by HUD, and enables HUD to make them immediately available to
the public. Comments submitted electronically through the
www.regulations.gov website can be viewed by other commenters and
interested members of the public. Commenters should follow the
instructions provided on that site to submit comments electronically.
Comments may also be submitted 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. 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: John Bravacos, Senior Agency Official
for Privacy, Department of Housing and Urban Development, 451 Seventh
Street SW, Room 10139, Washington, DC 20410, telephone number (202)
402-3053 (this is not a toll-free number). Hearing- or speech-impaired
individuals may access this number via TTY by calling the toll-free
Federal Information Relay Service at (800) 877-8339.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: On March 11, 2009, Section 239 of HUD's 2009
Appropriations Act modified Section 904 of the Stewart B. McKinney Act
of 1988, as amended, to include the Disaster Housing Assistance Program
(DHAP) as a ``program'' of HUD for the purpose of income verifications
and
[[Page 67335]]
computer matching. As such, pursuant to the Computer Matching and
Privacy Protection Act (CMPPA) of 1988, as amended; OMB's guidance on
this statute entitled, ``Final Guidance Interpreting the Provisions of
Public Law 100-503''; OMB Circular No. A-108, ``Federal Agency
Responsibilities for Review, Reporting, and Publication under the
Privacy Act;'' and OMB Circular No. A-130, ``Managing Information as a
Strategic Resource''; HUD is providing the public with notice of a new
computer matching agreement with HHS (previous notice of a computer
matching program between HUD and HHS was previously published at 81 FR
13403 on March 14, 2016). The first HUD-HHS computer matching program
was conducted in September 2005, with HUD's Office of Public and Indian
Housing (PIH). The scope of the HUD-HHS computer matching program was
extended to include HUD's Office of Housing in December 2007, and to
HUD's Disaster Housing Assistance Program (DHAP) in January 2011.
The matching program will be carried out only to the extent
necessary to: (1) Verify the employment and income of participants in
certain rental assistance programs to correctly determine the amount of
their rent and assistance, (2) identify, prevent, and recover improper
payments made on behalf of tenants, and (3) after removal of personal
identifiers, to conduct analyses of the employment and income reporting
of individuals participating in any HUD authorized rental housing
assistance program.
HUD will make the results of the computer matching program
available to public housing agencies (PHAs), private housing owners and
management agents (O/As) administering HUD rental assistance programs
to enable them to verify employment and income and correctly determine
the rent and assistance levels for individuals participating in those
programs, and contract administrators (CAs) overseeing and monitoring
O/A operations. This information also may be disclosed to the HUD
Office of Inspector General (HUD/OIG) and the United States Attorney
General in detecting and investigating potential cases of fraud, waste,
and abuse within HUD rental assistance programs.
In addition to the above noted information disclosures, limited
redisclosure of reports containing NDNH information may be redisclosed
to the following persons and/or entities: (1) Independent auditors for
the sole purpose of performing an audit of whether these HUD authorized
entities verified tenants' employment and/or income and calculated the
subsidy and rent correctly; and (2) entities and/or individuals
associated with grievance procedures and judicial proceedings (i.e.
lawyers, court personnel, agency personnel, grievance hearing officers,
etc.) relating to independently verified unreported income identified
through this matching program.
HUD and its third-party administrators (PHAs, O/As, and CAs) will
use this matching authority to identify, reduce or eliminate improper
payments in HUD's rental housing assistance programs, while continuing
to ensure that HUD rental housing assistance programs serve and are
accessible by its intended program beneficiaries.
I. Participating Agencies
Department of Housing and Urban Development and the Department of
Health and Human Services.
II. Authority for Conducting the Matching Program
This matching program is being conducted pursuant to Section 217 of
the Consolidated Appropriation Act of 2004 (Pub. L. 108-199, Approved
January 23, 2004), which amended Section 453(j) of the Social Security
Act (42 U.S.C. 653(j)), Sections 3003 and 13403 of the Omnibus Budget
Reconciliation Act of 1993 (Pub. L. 103-66, approved August 10, 1993);
Section 542(b) of the 1998 Appropriations Act (Pub. L. 105-65); Section
904 of the Stewart B. McKinney Homeless Assistance Amendments Act of
1988, as amended by Section 239 of HUD's 2009 Appropriations, effective
March 11, 2009 (42 U.S.C. 3544); Section 165 of the Housing and
Community Development Act of 1987 (42 U.S.C. 3543); the National
Housing Act (12 U.S.C. 1701-1750g); the United States Housing Act of
1937 (42 U.S.C. 1437-1437z); Section 101 of the Housing and Community
Development Act of 1965 (12 U.S.C. 1701s); the Native American Housing
Assistance and Self-Determination Act of 1996 (25 U.S.C. 4101 et seq.);
and the Quality Housing and Work Responsibility Act of 1998 (42 U.S.C.
1437a(f)).
The Housing and Community Development Act of 1987 authorizes HUD to
require applicants and participants (as well as members of their
household 6 years of age and older) in HUD-administered programs
involving rental housing assistance to disclose to HUD their Social
Security Numbers (SSNs) as a condition of initial or continuing
eligibility for participation in the programs. Effective January 31,
2010, all applicants and participants under the age of 6, are required
to disclose their SSN to HUD, in accordance with regulatory revisions
made to 24 CFR 5.216, as published at 74 FR 68924, on December 29,
2009.
Section 217 of the Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2004 (Pub. L.
108-199, approved January 23, 2004) authorizes HUD to provide to HHS
information on persons participating in any programs authorized by:
(i) The United States Housing Act of 1937 (42 U.S.C. 1437 et seq.);
(ii) Section 202 of the Housing Act of 1959 (12 U.S.C. 1701q);
(iii) Section 221(d)(3), 221(d)(5) or 236 of the National Housing
Act (12 U.S.C. 17151(d) and 1715z-1); (iv) Section 811 of the Cranston-
Gonzalez National Affordable Housing Act (42 U.S.C. 8013); or (v)
Section 101 of the Housing and Urban Development Act of 1965 (12 U.S.C.
1701s);
The Refinement of Income and Rent Determination Requirements in
Public and Assisted Housing Programs: Implementation of the Enterprise
Income Verification (EIV) System--Amendments; Final rule published at
74 FR 68924 on December 29, 2009, requires program administrators to
use HUD's EIV system to verify tenant employment and income information
during mandatory re-examinations or recertifications of family
composition and income and reduce administrative and subsidy payment
errors in accordance with HUD administrative guidance (HUD regulation
at 24 CFR 5.233).
This matching program also assists HUD in complying with the
following Federal laws, requirements, and guidance related to
identifying and reducing improper payments:
1. Improper Payments Elimination and Recovery Act of 2010 (IPERA)
(Pub. L. 111-204) (July 22, 2010);
2. Presidential Memorandum on Enhancing Payment Accuracy Through a
``Do Not Pay List'' (June 18, 2010);
3. Office of Management and Budget M-18-20, Transmittal of Appendix
C to OMB Circular A-123, Requirements for Payment Integrity
Improvement'' (June 26, 2018);
4. Presidential Memorandum on Finding and Recapturing Improper
Payments (March 10, 2010);
5. Reducing Improper Payments and Eliminating Waste in Federal
Programs (Executive Order 13520, November 2009);
6. Improper Payments Information Act of 2002 (Pub. L. 107-300);
7. Office of Management and Budget M-03-13, Improper Payments
Information Act of 2002;
[[Page 67336]]
8. Improper Payments Elimination and Recovery Improvement Act
(IPERIA) of 2012, (Pub. L. 112-248) (January 10, 2013); and
9. Office of Management and Budget M-13-20, Protecting Privacy
while Reducing Improper Payments with the Do Not Pay Initiative (August
16, 2013).
This matching program is also authorized by subsections
453(j)(7)(A), (C)(i), and (D)(i) of the Social Security Act (as amended
and authorized by Section 217 of the Consolidated Appropriations Act of
2004 (Pub. L. 108-199)). Specifically, the aforementioned law
authorizes HHS to compare information provided by HUD with data
contained in the NDNH and report the results of the data match to HUD.
The Social Security Act gives HUD the authority to disclose this
information to CAs, O/As, and PHAs for the purpose of verifying the
employment and income of individuals receiving benefits in the above
programs. HUD shall not seek, use or disclose information relating to
an individual without the prior written consent of that individual, and
HUD has the authority to require consent as a condition of
participating in HUD rental housing assistance programs.
The NDNH contains new hire, quarterly wage, and unemployment
insurance information furnished by state and Federal agencies and is
maintained by HHS' Office of Child Support Enforcement (OCSE) in its
system of records ``OCSE National Directory of New Hires,'' No. 09-80-
0381, published in the Federal Register at 80 FR 17894 (specifically
pages 17906-17909) on April 2, 2015. This system of records notice
authorizes disclosure of NDNH information to HUD pursuant to Routine
Use (12) ``for the purpose of verifying the employment and income of
the individuals and, after removal of personal identifiers, for the
purpose of conducting analyses of the employment and income reporting
of such individuals.''
The HUD records used in the information comparison are retrieved
from the Tenant Rental Assistance Certification System (TRACS) covered
under HUD's Tenant Rental Assistance Certification System (HSNG/
MF.HTS.02), published on August 22, 2016 (81 FR 56684); and the
Inventory Management System (IMS), also known as the Public and Indian
Housing (PIH) Information Center (PIC) (HUD/PIH.01), published on April
13, 2012 (77 FR 22337). The results of the information comparison are
maintained within, the HUD system of records, Enterprise Income
Verification System (EIV), No. HUD/PIH-5, last published in the Federal
Register at 71 FR 45066 on August 8, 2006, and updated on September 1,
2009, at 74 FR 45235. ``Routine use'' (1) of the system of records
authorizes disclosure of HUD records to HHS.
III. Purposes
HUD's primary objective of the computer matching program is to
verify the employment and income of participants in certain rental
assistance programs to determine the appropriate level of rental
assistance, and to detect, deter and correct fraud, waste, and abuse in
rental housing assistance programs. In meeting these objectives, HUD
also is carrying out a responsibility under 42 U.S.C. Sec. 1437f(K) to
ensure that income data provided to PHAs, and O/As, by household
members is complete and accurate. HUD's various rental housing
assistance programs require that participants meet certain income and
other criteria to be eligible for rental assistance. In addition,
tenants generally are required to report and recertify the amounts and
sources of their income at least annually. However, under the Quality
Housing and Work Responsibility Act (QHWRA) of 1998, PHAs operating
Public Housing programs may offer tenants the option to pay a flat
rent, or an income-based rent. Those tenants who select a flat rent
will be required to recertify income at least every three years. In
addition, the changes to the Admissions and Occupancy final rule (March
29, 2000 (65 FR 16692)) specified that household composition must be
recertified annually for tenants who select a flat rent or income-based
rent.
IV. Categories of Individuals
This notice of computer matching program applies to individuals
receiving services from the following rental assistance programs:
A. Disaster Housing Assistance Program (DHAP)
B. Public Housing
C. Section 8 Housing Choice Vouchers (HCV)
D. Project-Based Vouchers
E. Section 8 Moderate Rehabilitation
F. Project-Based Section 8
1. New Construction
2. State Agency Financed
3. Substantial Rehabilitation
4. Sections 202/8
5. Rural Housing Services Section 515/8
6. Loan Management Set-Aside (LMSA)
7. Property Disposition Set-Aside (PDSA)
G. Section 101 Rent Supplement
H. Section 202/162 Project Assistance Contract (PAC)
I. Section 202 Project Rental Assistance Contract (PRAC)
J. Section 811 Project Rental Assistance Contract (PRAC)
K. Section 236 Rental Assistance Program
L. Section 221(d)(3) Below Market Interest Rate (BMIR)
Note: This notice does not apply to the Low-Income Housing Tax
Credit (LIHTC) or the Rural Housing Services Section 515 without
Section 8 programs.
V. Categories of Records
The following are the categories of record in this matching
agreement:
A. HUD Input File
First name
Last name
Date of birth
Social Security number
B. New Hire File
New hire processed date
Employee name
Employee address
Employee date of hire
Employee state of hire
Federal Employer Identification Number
State Employer Identification Number
Department of Defense status code
Employer name
Employer address
Transmitter agency code
Transmitter state code
Transmitter state or agency name
C. Quarterly Wage File
Quarterly wage processed date
Employee name
Federal Employer Identification Number
State Employer Identification Number
Department of Defense code
Employer name
Employer address
Employee wage amount
Quarterly wage reporting period
Transmitter agency code
Transmitter state code
Transmitter state or agency name
D. Unemployment Insurance File
Unemployment insurance processed date
Claimant name
Claimant address
Claimant benefit amount
Unemployment insurance reporting period
Transmitter state code
Transmitter state or agency name
VI. System(s) of Records
OCSE NDNH contains new hire, quarterly wage, and unemployment
insurance information furnished by
[[Page 67337]]
state and federal agencies and is maintained by OCSE in its system of
records ``OCSE National Directory of New Hires,'' No. 09-80-0381,
published in the Federal Register at 80 FR 17906 on April 2, 2015, and
updated on February 14, 2018, at 83 FR 6591. The disclosure of NDNH
information by OCSE to HUD constitutes a ``routine use,'' as defined by
the Privacy Act. 5 U.S.C. 552a(b)(3). Routine use (12) of the system of
records authorizes the disclosure of NDNH information to HUD. 80 FR
17906, 17907 (April 2, 2015).
The HUD records used in the information comparison are retrieved
from, and the results of the information comparison are maintained
within, the HUD system of records ``Enterprise Income Verification''
(EIV), No. HUD/PIH-5, last published in the Federal Register at 71 FR
45066 on August 8, 2006, and updated on September 1, 2009, at 74 FR
45235. ``Routine use'' (1) of the system of records authorizes
disclosure of HUD records to OCSE.
Dated: December 21, 2018.
John Bravacos,
Senior Agency Official for Privacy.
[FR Doc. 2018-28361 Filed 12-27-18; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4210-67-P