03-25321. Notice of Proposed Information Collection: Comment Request;Single Family Premium Collection Subsystem-Upfront (SFPCS-U)

AGENCY:

Office of the Assistant Secretary for Housing-Federal Housing Commissioner, HUD.

ACTION:

Notice.

SUMMARY:

The proposed information collection requirement described below will be submitted to the Office of Managment and Budget (OMB) for review, as required by the Paperwork Reduction Act. The Department is soliciting public comments on the subject proposal.

DATES:

Comments Due Date: December 8, 2003.

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: Wayne Eddins, Reports Management Officer, Department of Housing and Urban Development, 451 7th Street, SW., L'Enfant Plaza Building, Room 8003, Washington, DC 20410 or Wayne—[e-mail].

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

Doretha S. Dabney, Branch Chief, Single Family Insurance Operations Branch, Department of Housing and Urban Development, 451 7th Street SW., Washington, DC 20410, telephone [phone] X3471 (this is not a toll free number).

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

The Department is submitting the proposal information collection to OMB for review, as required by the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 (44 U.S.C. Chapter 35, as amended).

This Notice is soliciting comments from members of the public and affected agencies concerning the proposed collection of information to: (1) Evaluate whether the proposed collection is necessary for the proper performance of the functions of the agency, including whether the information will have practical utility; (2) Evaluate the accuracy of the agency's estimate of the burden of the proposed collection of information; (3) Enhance the quality, utility, and clarity of the information to be collected; and (4) Minimize the burden of the collection of information on those who are to respond; including the use of appropriate automated collection techniques or other forms of information technology, e.g., permitting electronic submission of responses.

This Notice also list the following information:

Title of Proposal: Single Family Premium Collection Subsystem-Upfront (SFPCS-U).

OMB Control Number, if applicable: 2502-0423.

Description of the need for the information and proposed use: The Single Family Premium Collection Subsystem-Upfront (SFPCS-U) allows the lenders to remit the Upfront Mortgage Insurance Premiums using funds obtained from the mortgagor during the closing of the mortgage transaction at settlement. The SFPCS-U strengthens HUD's ability to manage and process upfront single-family mortgage insurance premium collections and corrections to submitted data. It also improves data integrity for the Single Family Mortgage Insurance Program. Therefore, the FHA approved lenders use Automated Clearing House (ACH) and/or Electronic Data Interchange (EDI) applications for all transmissions with SFPCS-U. The authority for this collection of information is specified in 24 CFR 203.280 and 24 CFR 203.281. The collection of information is also used in calculating refunds due to former FHA mortgagors when they apply for homeowner refunds of the unearned portion of the mortgage insurance premium, 24 CFR 203.283, as appropriate. Without this information the premium collection/monitoring process would be severely impeded, and program data would be unreliable. In general, the lenders use the ACH and/or EDI applications to remit the upfront premium through SFPCS-U to obtain mortgage insurance for the homeowner.

Agency form numbers, if applicable: None.

Estimation of the total numbers of hours needed to prepare the information collection including number of respondents, frequency of response, and hours of response: The public reporting burden for this collection of information is estimated to average 5 minutes per response; the number of respondents is 9,939 generating approximately 1,349,281 annual responses; the frequency of response is on occasion; the estimated total number of burden hours needed to prepare the information collection is 71,790. The Lenders are able to key the information online or have their computer transmit the information. Since remittances are made through the ACH and/or EDI applications the upfront remittance is submitted electronically and their is no paperwork to complete and mail in.

Status of the proposed information collection: Extension of a currently approved collection.

Authority: The Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, 44 U.S.C., Chapter 35, as amended.

Dated: September 9, 2003.

Sean G. Cassidy,

General Deputy Assistant Secretary for Housing—Deputy Federal Housing Commissioner.