[Federal Register Volume 89, Number 7 (Wednesday, January 10, 2024)]
[Notices]
[Pages 1587-1589]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2024-00277]


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DEPARTMENT OF HOUSING AND URBAN DEVELOPMENT

[Docket No. FR-7092-N-07]


Privacy Act of 1974; System of Records

AGENCY: Office of the Chief Financial Officer, HUD.

ACTION: Notice of a new system of records.

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SUMMARY: Pursuant to the provisions of the Privacy Act of 1974, as 
amended, the Department of the Housing and Urban Development (HUD), 
Office of the Chief Financial Officer (OCFO) Accounting Operations 
Center, is issuing a public notice of its intent to create a new system 
of records titled, ``HUD Remittance and Debt Collection.'' The purpose 
of the HUD Remittance and Debt Collection (HRDC) is to provide OCFO 
with the ability to track debts and remittances.

DATES: Comments will be accepted on or before February 8, 2024. This 
proposed action will be effective on the date following the end of the 
comment period unless comments are received which result in a contrary 
determination.

ADDRESSES: You may submit comments, identified by docket number or by 
one of the following methods:
    Federal e-Rulemaking Portal: http://www.regulations.gov. Follow the 
instructions provided on that site to submit comments electronically.
    Fax: 202-619-8365.
    Email: [email protected].
    Mail: Attention: Privacy Office; LaDonne White, Chief Privacy 
Officer; The Executive Secretariat; 451 Seventh Street SW, Room 10139; 
Washington, DC 20410-0001.
    Instructions: All submissions received must include the agency name 
and docket number for this rulemaking. All comments received will be 
posted without change to http://www.regulations.gov, including any 
personal information provided.
    Docket: For access to the docket to read background documents or 
comments received go to http://www.regulations.gov.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: LaDonne White; 451 Seventh Street SW, 
Room 10139; Washington, DC 20410-0001; telephone number (202) 708-3054 
(this is not a toll-free number). HUD welcomes and is prepared to 
receive calls from individuals who are deaf or hard of hearing, as well 
as individuals with speech or communication disabilities. To learn more 
about how to make an accessible telephone call, please visit https://www.fcc.gov/consumers/guides/telecommunications-relay-service-trs.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: HUD, Office of the Chief Financial Officer 
(OCFO) maintains the ``HUD Remittance and Debt Collection (HRDC)'' 
system of records. HRDC allows data from multiple sources to be 
integrated into a single store. It tracks remittances and debts along 
with debtor information to facilitate debt servicing and posting 
transactions in the general ledger. Information is collected from 
multiple sources. OCFO Accounting Operations Center collects via 
encrypted email, paper/mail, official form (sent via mail/encrypted 
email), and/or federal (public) information system. The gathered 
researched data is then entered into the Remittance Management and Debt 
Tracking database.
    The Debt Tracking sources are Program Office Action Officials 
(Repayment Agreements), Office of the Inspector General, District 
Courts (Judgment in a Criminal Case), and the Public Access to Court 
Electronic Records (PACER) System.
    The Remittance Management sources are Treasury's Collection 
Information Repository (CIR) which includes Fedwire--Federal Reserve 
Bank of New York, Electronic Check Processing (ECP)--Lockboxes, and 
Pay.gov; and Treasury's Intra-governmental Payments and Collections 
(IPAC) System.

SYSTEM NAME AND NUMBER:
    HUD Remittance and Debt Collection (HRDC), HUD/CFO-05.

SECURITY CLASSIFICATION:
    Unclassified.

 SYSTEM LOCATION:
    Records are maintained at the HUD OCFO, Accounting Operations 
Center, 307 W 7th St., Suite 1000, Fort Worth, TX 76102-5100.

SYSTEM MANAGER(S):
    Mary L. Dominguez, Director, Office of the Chief Financial Officer, 
Accounting Operations Center, 307 W 7th St., Suite 1000, Fort Worth, TX 
76102-5100; Phone (817) 978-5669.

AUTHORITY FOR MAINTENANCE OF THE SYSTEM:
    The Debt Collection Act of 1982, Public Law 97-365, 96 Stat. 1749 
(1982), as amended by the Debt Collection Improvement Act of 1996, 31 
U.S.C. 3701-3720E (original version at Pub. L. 104-134, 110 Stat. 132 
(1996)), the Federal Debt Collection Procedures Act of 1990, 28 U.S.C. 
3001-3308 (original version at Pub. L. 101-647, 104 Stat. 4789 (1990)) 
and chapter 31 of title 44, United States Code, and HUD Debt Collection 
Handbook, 1900.25 Rev-5.

PURPOSE(S) OF THE SYSTEM:
    The HRDC database allows HUD OCFO to track remittances and debts. 
OCFO Accounting Operations Centers collects and maintains debtors' 
information to locate and correspond with them to collect/resolve their 
debts. The information is used to perform legal, financial, and 
administrative services associated with the collection of debts due to 
the United States, ultimately posting to debtor accounts (general 
ledger) and for financial reporting.

CATEGORIES OF INDIVIDUALS COVERED BY THE SYSTEM:
    Individuals or grantees that have been adjudicated to owe a debt or 
criminal restitution to the United States.

CATEGORIES OF RECORDS IN THE SYSTEM:
    Debtor's full name, social security number (SSN), Home address and 
telephone number.

RECORD SOURCE CATEGORIES:
    The Debt Tracking sources are Program Office Action Officials 
(Repayment Agreements), Office of the Inspector General (Form 15-G), 
District Courts (Judgment in a Criminal Case), and the Public Access to 
Court Electronic Records (PACER) System.
    The Remittance Management sources are Treasury's Collection 
Information Repository (CIR) which includes Fedwire--Federal Reserve 
Bank of New York, Electronic Check Processing (ECP)--Lockboxes, and 
Pay.gov; and Treasury's Intra-governmental Payments and Collections 
(IPAC) System.

ROUTINE USES OF RECORDS MAINTAINED IN THE SYSTEM, INCLUDING CATEGORIES 
OF USERS AND PURPOSES OF SUCH USES:
    (1) To the Department of Treasury, Bureau of Fiscal Service, who 
provides debt and cash collection services for HUD as follows:
    (a) Administrative Offset (Debt Collection): offsets Federal tax 
refund payments and non-tax payments certified for disbursement to the 
debtor to recover a delinquent debt.
    (b) Cross-servicing (Debt Collection): pursues recovery of 
delinquent debts on behalf of Federal agencies using debt collection 
tools authorized by statute,

[[Page 1588]]

such as private collection agencies, administrative wage garnishment, 
or public dissemination of an individual's delinquent indebtedness; or 
any other legitimate debt collection purpose.
    (2) To the Department of Treasury, Internal Revenue Services (IRS) 
for the purposes of reporting canceled debt on form IRS 1099-C.
    (3) To appropriate agencies, entities, and persons when (1) HUD 
suspects or has confirmed that there has been a breach of the system of 
records, (2) HUD has determined that as a result of the suspected or 
confirmed breach there is a risk of harm to individuals, HUD's 
(including its information systems, programs, and operations), the 
Federal Government, or national security; and (3) the disclosure made 
to such agencies, entities, and persons is reasonably necessary to 
assist in connection with HUD's efforts to respond to the suspected or 
confirmed breach or to prevent, minimize, or remedy such harm.
    (4) To another Federal agency or Federal entity, when HUD 
determines that information from this system of records is reasonably 
necessary to assist the recipient agency or entity in (1) responding to 
a suspected or confirmed breach or (2) preventing, minimizing, or 
remedying the risk of harm to individuals, the recipient agency or 
entity (including its information systems, programs, and operations), 
the Federal Government, or national security, resulting from a 
suspected or confirmed breach.
    (5) To appropriate Federal, State, local, tribal, or other 
governmental agencies or multilateral governmental organizations 
responsible for investigating or prosecuting the violations of, or for 
enforcing or implementing, a statute, rule, regulation, order, or 
license, where HUD determines that the information would assist in the 
enforce civil or criminal laws, when such records, either alone or in 
conjunction with other information, indicate a violation or potential 
violation of law.
    (6) To a court, magistrate, administrative tribunal, or arbitrator 
in the course of presenting evidence, including disclosures to opposing 
counsel or witnesses in the course of civil discovery, litigation, 
mediation, or settlement negotiations; or in connection with criminal 
law proceedings; when HUD determines that use of such records is 
relevant and necessary to the litigation and when any of the following 
is a party to the litigation or have an interest in such litigation: 
(1) HUD, or any component thereof; or (2) any HUD employee in his or 
her official capacity; or (3) any HUD employee in his or her individual 
capacity where HUD has agreed to represent the employee; or (4) the 
United States, or any agency thereof, where HUD determines that 
litigation is likely to affect HUD or any of its components.
    (7) To any component of the Department of Justice or other Federal 
agency conducting litigation or in proceedings before any court, 
adjudicative, or administrative body, when HUD determines that the use 
of such records is relevant and necessary to the litigation and when 
any of the following is a party to the litigation or have an interest 
in such litigation: (1) HUD, or any component thereof; or (2) any HUD 
employee in his or her official capacity; or (3) any HUD employee in 
his or her individual capacity where the Department of Justice or 
agency conducting the litigation has agreed to represent the employee; 
or (4) the United States, or any agency thereof, where HUD determines 
that litigation is likely to affect HUD or any of its components.
    (8) To contractors, grantees, experts, consultants and their 
agents, or others performing or working under a contract, service, 
grant, cooperative agreement, or other agreement with HUD, when 
necessary to accomplish an agency function related to a system of 
records. Disclosure requirements are limited to only those data 
elements considered relevant to accomplishing an agency function.
    (9) To a congressional office from the record of an individual, in 
response to an inquiry from the congressional office made at the 
request of that individual.
    Pursuant to 31 U.S.C. 3711(e) that information contained in this 
system of records may also be disclosed to a consumer reporting agency 
when trying to collect a claim owed on behalf of the government.

POLICIES AND PRACTICES FOR STORAGE OF RECORDS:
    Paper and Electronic.

POLICIES AND PRACTICES FOR RETRIEVAL OF RECORDS:
    Debtor's Full Name, SSN, Home Address, Telephone number, and 
Assigned Account Number.

POLICIES AND PRACTICIES FOR RETENTION AND DISPOSAL OF RECORDS:
    Record retention is in conformance with National Archives and 
Records Administration (NARA) General Records Schedule (GRS) 1.1: 
Financial Management and Reporting Records; DAA-GRS-2013-0003. 
Financial transaction records related to procuring goods and services, 
paying bills, collecting debts and accounting records. Destroy 6 years 
after final payment or cancellation, but longer if required for 
business use.

ADMINISTRATIVE, TECHNICAL, AND PHYSICAL SAFEGUARDS:
    Only authorized users in the OCFO, Accounting Operations Center 
will have access to system data. Entities outside of the Accounting 
Operations Center do not have direct access to the database. All OCFO 
employees are required to complete information systems security 
training annually and are reminded periodically about policies and 
procedures in this area.
    Other safeguards are implemented. Paper records are stored in 
locked file cabinets.
    Administrative Safeguards: Paper records are stored in locked file 
cabinets.
    Technical Safeguards: Comprehensive electronic records are 
maintained and stored on a shared drive in an electronic encryption 
database system. These records can only be accessed based off the 
user's rights and privileges to the system. Electronic records are 
stored on the Shared Drive environment, which runs on the Department's 
network (HUD). This environment complies with the security and privacy 
controls and procedures as described in the Federal Information 
Security Management Act (FISMA), National Institute of Standards and 
Technology (NIST) Special Publications, and Federal Information 
Processing Standards (FIPS). A valid HSPD-12 ID Credential, access to 
HUD's LAN, a valid User ID and Password and a Personalized 
Identification Number (PIN) is required to access the records. These 
records are restricted to only those persons with a role in the Anti-
Harassment Program, having a need to access them in the performance of 
their official duties.
    For Electronic Records (cloud based): Comprehensive electronic 
records are secured and maintained on a cloud-based software server and 
operating system that resides in Federal Risk and Authorization 
Management Program (FedRAMP) and Federal Information Security 
Management Act (FISMA) Moderate dedicated hosting environment. All data 
located in the cloud-based server is firewalled and encrypted at rest 
and in transit. The security mechanisms for handing data at rest and in 
transit are in accordance with HUD encryption standards.

[[Page 1589]]

RECORD ACCESS PROCEDURES:
    Individuals requesting records of themselves should address written 
inquiries to the Department of Housing Urban and Development, 451 7th 
Street SW, Washington, DC 20410-0001. For verification, individuals 
should provide their full name, current address, and telephone number. 
In addition, the requester must provide either a notarized statement or 
an unsworn declaration made under 24 CFR 16.4.

CONTESTING RECORD PROCEDURES:
    The HUD rule for contesting the content of any record pertaining to 
the individual by the individual concerned is published in 24 CFR 16.8 
or may be obtained from the system manager.

NOTIFICATION PROCEDURES:
    Individuals requesting notification of records of themselves should 
address written inquiries to the Department of Housing Urban 
Development, 451 7th Street SW, Washington, DC 20410-0001. For 
verification purposes, individuals should provide their full name, 
office or organization where assigned, if applicable, and current 
address and telephone number. In addition, the requester must provide 
either a notarized statement or an unsworn declaration made under 24 
CFR 16.4.

EXEMPTIONS PROMULGATED FOR THE SYSTEM:
    N/A.

HISTORY:
    N/A.

LaDonne White,
Chief Privacy Officer, Office of Administration.
[FR Doc. 2024-00277 Filed 1-9-24; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4210-67-P