Justification for Change

CONSUMER FINANCIAL PROTECTION BUREAU
NO-MATERIAL NON-SUBSTANTIVE CHANGE REQUEST
OWNING A HOME EVALUATION STUDY
(OMB CONTROL NUMBER: 3170-0058)

On December 24, 2015, the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) approved the subject study. The
Owning a Home Research Study is currently in the field. Overall the study is performing quite well in
terms of response rate and retention. However, one aspect of the study – the collection of mortgage
documents – is underperforming. The proportion of participants to agree to submit their documents is
significantly lower than we had hoped.
Because participants’ mortgage documents provide key information about consumer outcomes that we
had hoped to measure with this study, the research team would like to add one question to the
instrument in order to learn as much as possible about the barriers to participation. The study will soon
be transitioning into the follow-up period, which offers an opportunity to add this question to the
instrument with little technical work. We therefore propose to add one question specifically to the
follow-up survey, which asks participants who decline to provide their Closing Disclosure why they
declined. This information will help us design better studies in the future.
Below is the new question which appears on page 83 of the attached revised instrument:
QI.ii.28. You have indicated that you do not want to provide your Closing Disclosure, and we respect
your choice. So that we can better understand your choice, could you please tell us why you do not
want to send in your Closing Disclosure? (mark all that apply)
___ I am worried about privacy
___ Sending in my Closing Disclosure sounds like too much work
___ It is not worth my time
___ I am not sure what a Closing Disclosure is
___ Other (please specify): [open-text box]
While the above question was not included in the final survey instrument when approved by OMB, the
question was approved by OMB as part of the survey test (OMB# 3170-0024, Question QG.2). Now, for
the reasons noted above, the Bureau is requesting to include this question in the production version of
the follow-up survey. No other changes are being proposed.
The Bureau does not believe that the addition of this question impacts the estimated per response
burden or overall estimated burden for this study. Therefore, no burden adjustment is being requested.