E9-3004. Refinement of Income and Rent Determination Requirements in Public and Assisted Housing Programs: Proposed Delay of Effective Date

AGENCY:

Office of the Secretary, HUD.

ACTION:

Notice of proposed delay of effective date.

SUMMARY:

In accordance with the memorandum of January 20, 2009, from the assistant to the President and Chief of Staff, entitled “Regulatory Review,” published in the Federal Register on January 26, 2009 (74 FR 4435), HUD is seeking public comment on a contemplated delay of 60 days in the effective date of the rule entitled “Refinement of Income and Rent Determination Requirements in Public and Assisted Housing Programs” published in the Federal Register on January 27, 2009 (74 FR 4832). This final rule revises HUD's public and assisted housing program regulations to implement the upfront income verification process for program participants and to require the use of HUD's Enterprise Income Verification (EIV) system by public housing agencies and owners and management agents. HUD is considering a temporary 60-day delay in the effective date to allow HUD officials the opportunity for further review and consideration of new regulations, consistent with the Chief of Staff memorandum of January 20, 2009.

In addition, HUD takes this opportunity to address questions received subsequent to publication of the January 27, 2009, final rule pertaining to the provisions requiring the use of Social Security Numbers for determining program eligibility. HUD wishes to clarify that these requirements are not intended to apply to individuals, in mixed families, who do not contend eligible immigration status under HUD's noncitizens regulations, nor does it interfere with existing requirements relative to proration of assistance or screening for such families, or authorize their eviction or denial of admission on the basis of the new requirements pertaining to obtaining social security numbers.

HUD solicits comments specifically on the contemplated delay in effective date, but also generally on the rule entitled “Refinement of Income and Rent Determination Requirements in Public and Assisted Housing Programs.”

DATES:

Comments must be received on or before March 13, 2009.

ADDRESSES:

Interested persons are invited to submit comments. There are two methods for submitting public comments. All submissions must refer to the above docket number and title.

1. Submission of Comments by Mail. Comments may be submitted by mail to the Regulations Division, Office of General Counsel, Department of Housing and Urban Development, 451 Seventh Street, SW., Room 10276, Washington, DC 20410-0500.

2. Electronic Submission of Comments. Interested persons may submit comments 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 Web site 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.

Note:

To receive consideration as public comments, comments must be submitted through one of the two methods specified above. Again, all submissions must refer to the docket number and title of the rule.

No Facsimile Comments. Facsimile (FAX) comments are not acceptable.

Public Inspection of Public Comments. All properly submitted comments and communications submitted to HUD will be available for public inspection and copying between 8 a.m. and 5 p.m. weekdays at the above address. Due to security measures at the HUD Headquarters building, an appointment to review the public comments must be scheduled in advance by calling the Regulations Division at 202-708-3055 (this is not a toll-free number). Individuals with speech or hearing impairments may access this number via TTY by calling the Federal Information Relay Service at 800-877-8339. Copies of all comments submitted are available for inspection and downloading at www.regulations.gov.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

For Office of Public and Indian Housing programs, contact Nicole Faison, Director of the Office of Public Housing Programs, Department of Housing and Urban Development, 451 Seventh Street, SW., Room 4226, Washington, DC 20410, telephone number 202-708-0744. For Office of Housing Programs, contact Gail Williamson, Director of the Housing Assistance Policy Division, Department of Housing and Urban Development, 451 Seventh Street, SW., Room 6138, Washington, DC 20410, telephone number 202-402-2473. (These are not toll-free numbers.) Persons with hearing or speech impairments may access these numbers through TTY by calling the toll-free Federal Information Relay Service at 800-877-8339.

Dated: February 6, 2009.

Paula O. Blunt,

General Deputy Assistant Secretary for Public and Indian Housing.