[Federal Register Volume 63, Number 39 (Friday, February 27, 1998)]
[Notices]
[Page 10031]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 98-4868]
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DEPARTMENT OF HOUSING AND URBAN DEVELOPMENT
[Docket No. FR-4322-N-01]
Statement of Policy on Disclosure of Mortgage Loan Sales
Information
AGENCY: Office of the Secretary, HUD.
ACTION: Notice of FOIA Mortgage Loan Sales Policy.
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SUMMARY: This notice sets forth the policy of the Department of Housing
and Urban Development regarding information that will be provided when
responding to Freedom of Information Act requests for information on
the Department's Mortgage Loan Sales Program. This notice sets forth
that policy and its rationale.
EFFECTIVE DATE: February 27, 1998.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Irwin P. Raij, Assistant Managing
Attorney, FOIA Division, Room 10250, Department of Housing and Urban
Development, 451 Seventh Street SW, Washington DC 20410; telephone
(202) 708-3866 (this is not a toll-free number). Speech or hearing
impaired individuals may access this number via TTY by calling the
toll-free Federal Information Relay Service at 1-800-877-8339.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The purposes of the Department of Housing
and Urban Development's mortgage loan sales program are to (1) reduce
losses to the Federal Housing Administration (FHA) fund and provide the
greatest return to U.S. taxpayers; (2) reduce the inventory of
Department-held mortgages; (3) improve mortgage loan servicing and
rental services for residents of projects by returning the mortgage
loans secured by these mortgages to the private sector; and (4) improve
the servicing of the Department's insured mortgages to minimize losses
to the FHA fund. (See, also, the mortgage sales notices published by
HUD in the Federal Register on July 14, 1995 (60 FR 36336); July 24,
1996 (61 FR 38467); November 15, 1996 (61 FR 58585); and July 7, 1997
(62 FR 86298, July 7, 1997.))
This notice sets forth the Department's policy pertaining to the
release of records regarding those bids that the Department or its
contractors have received to date under its mortgage loan sale program.
When requested to provide records pursuant to the Freedom of
Information Act (FOIA), the Department will produce relevant records in
its files including, where available: (1) All potential bidders
receiving bid materials; (2) all successful bidders and their
successful bids and the mortgage loans attributable to such bids; (3)
all unsuccessful bidders and their unsuccessful bids and the mortgage
loans attributable to such bids; (4) the aggregate proceeds the
Department received from the sale; and (5) the aggregate number of
bidders.
Members of the public submitting FOIA requests pursuant to this
notice should be advised that many of the original relevant records
pertaining to HUD's Mortgage Loan Sales Program were compiled by
contractors, and were not in the custody of, or subject to the control
of HUD. Therefore, HUD's files may not contain complete records
pertaining to mortgage loan sales.
A significant period of time has elapsed between the Department's
last mortgage sale and the present. Thus, release of these records does
not have material adverse consequences upon the economic interests of
the participants of those mortgage sales. Moreover, this policy strikes
a balance among the Department's policy of disclosing as much
information as possible to the public within the spirit of the FOIA and
harm to the U.S. taxpayer by restricting the Department's ability to
meet its policy objectives, as stated above, and the mandates of
section 203(k) of the Housing and Community Development Amendments of
1978, as amended. See 12 U.S.C. 1701z-11.
Dated: February 20, 1998.
Nicolas Retsinas,
Assistant Secretary for Housing Federal Housing Commissioner.
[FR Doc. 98-4868 Filed 2-26-98; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4210-27-P
