30 day FR

27176

Federal Register / Vol. 87, No. 88 / Friday, May 6, 2022 / Notices

DEPARTMENT OF HOUSING AND
URBAN DEVELOPMENT
[Docket No. FR–7050–N–14]

30-Day Notice of Proposed Information
Collection: Comment Request;
Implementation of the Housing for
Older Persons Act of 1995 (HOPA),
OMB Control No: 2529–0046
Office of Policy Development
and Research, Chief Data Officer, HUD.
ACTION: Notice.
AGENCY:

HUD is seeking approval from
the Office of Management and Budget
(OMB) for the information collection
described below. In accordance with the
Paperwork Reduction Act, HUD is
requesting comment from all interested
parties on the proposed collection of
information. The purpose of this notice
is to allow for an additional 30 days of
public comment.
DATES: Comments Due Date: June 6,
2022.
ADDRESSES: Interested persons are
invited to submit comments regarding
this proposal. Written comments and
recommendations for the proposed
information collection should be sent
within 30 days of publication of this
notice to OIRA_submission@
omb.eop.gov or www.reginfo.gov/public/
do/PRAMain. Find this particular
information collection by selecting
‘‘Currently under 30-day Review—Open
for Public Comments’’ or by using the
search function. Persons with hearing or
speech impairments may access this
number through TTY by calling the tollfree Federal Relay Service at (800) 877–
8339.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:
Colette Pollard, Reports Management
Officer, QDAM, Department of Housing
and Urban Development, 451 7th Street
SW, Washington, DC 20410; email
Colette Pollard at Colette.Pollard@
hud.gov or telephone 202–402–3400.
This is not a toll-free number. Copies of
available documents submitted to OMB
may be obtained from Ms. Pollard.
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 July 15, 2021 at
86 FR 37340.

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SUMMARY:

A. Overview of Information Collection
Title of Information Collection:
Implementation of the Housing for
Older Persons Act of 1995 (HOPA).

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OMB Control Number: 2529–0046.
Type of Request: Proposed
reinstatement without change of an
expired, previously approved
information collection requirement.
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 § 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
§ 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, during a
familial status discrimination complaint
investigation, whether or not a housing
facility or community qualified for the
‘‘55 or older’’ housing exemption as of

PO 00000

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Fmt 4703

Sfmt 4703

the date on which the alleged Fair
Housing Act violation occurred.
The HOPA information collection
requirements are necessary to establish
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 that are actually
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

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Federal Register / Vol. 87, No. 88 / Friday, May 6, 2022 / Notices
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.
Agency form number(s), if applicable:
None.
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:
Housing providers claiming eligibility
for the HOPA’s ‘‘55 or older’’ housing
exemption must demonstrate ongoing
compliance with the HOPA exemption
requirements. 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

Type of collection activity

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B. Solicitation of Public Comments
This Notice is soliciting comments
from members of the public and affected
agencies concerning the proposed
information collection in order to:
(1) Evaluate whether the proposed
information collection is necessary for
the proper performance of HUD’s
program functions;
(2) Evaluate the accuracy of HUD’s
assessment of the paperwork burden
that may result from the proposed
information collection;
(3) Enhance the quality, utility, and
clarity of the information which must be
collected; and
(4) Minimize the burden of the
information collection on responders,
including the use of appropriate
automated collection techniques or
other forms of information technology
(e.g., permitting electronic submission
of responses).
(5) ways to minimize the burden of
the collection of information on those
who are to respond, including the use
of automated collection techniques or
other forms of information technolog
HUD encourages interested parties to
submit comment in response to these
questions.

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Jkt 256001

Burden hour
per
response

Number of
respondents

Frequency
of response

1,000

1

1,000

1

1,000
1,000

1
1

1,000
1,000

2
2.50

One: Collect reliable age verification records for at least one
occupant per dwelling unit to meet the HOPA’s minimum
‘‘80% occupancy’’ requirement ..............................................
Two: Publication of & adherence to policies & procedures that
demonstrate intent to operate ‘‘55 or older’’ housing ...........
Three: Periodic updates of age verification records .................

Responses
per annum

Authority: Section 3506 of the
Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, 44
U.S.C. chapter 35, as amended.
Colette Pollard,
Department Reports Management Officer,
Office of Policy Development and Research,
Chief Data Officer.
[FR Doc. 2022–09791 Filed 5–5–22; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4210–67–P

DEPARTMENT OF HOUSING AND
URBAN DEVELOPMENT
[Docket No. FR–7056–N–12]

60-Day Notice of Proposed Information
Collection: Equity in Housing
Counseling Survey, OMB Control No.:
2502–0623
Office of the Assistant
Secretary for Housing—Federal Housing
Commissioner, HUD.
ACTION: Notice.
AGENCY:

HUD is seeking approval from
the Office of Management and Budget
(OMB) for the information collection
described below. In accordance with the
Paperwork Reduction Act, HUD is
requesting comment from all interested
parties on the proposed collection of
information. The purpose of this notice
is to allow for 60 days of public
comment.

SUMMARY:

PO 00000

estimated that approximately 1,000
housing facilities or communities would
seek to qualify for the HOPA exemption.
HUD has estimated that the occupancy/
age verification data would require
routine 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 [See Table
below].

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DATES:

Annual
burden
hours

Hourly cost
per
response

Annual cost

1,000

$18.18

$18.18

2,00
2,500

18.18
18.18

36,360
45,450

Comments Due Date: July 5,

2022.
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:
Colette Pollard, Reports Management
Officer, Department of Housing and
Urban Development, 451 7th Street SW,
Washington, DC 20410–5000; telephone
202–402–3400 (this is not a toll-free
number) or email at Colette.Pollard@
hud.gov for a copy of the proposed
forms or other available information.
Persons with hearing or speech
impairments may access this number
through TTY by calling the Federal
Relay Service at 800–877–8339 (this is
a toll-free number).

ADDRESSES:

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

Colette Pollard, Reports Management
Officer, Department of Housing and
Urban Development, 451 7th Street SW,
Washington, DC 20410; email Colette
Pollard at Colette.Pollard@hud.gov or
telephone 202–402–3400(this is not a
toll-free number). Persons with hearing
or speech impairments may access this
number through TTY by calling the
Federal Relay Service at 800–877–8339
(this is a toll-free number). Copies of
available documents submitted to OMB
may be obtained from Ms. Pollard.

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