[Federal Register Volume 62, Number 49 (Thursday, March 13, 1997)]
[Notices]
[Pages 11909-11910]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 97-6234]
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DEPARTMENT OF HOUSING AND URBAN DEVELOPMENT
[Docket No. FR-3918-N-09]
Privacy Act; Proposed Amendment to a System of Records
AGENCY: Office of the Assistant Secretary for Administration, HUD.
ACTION: Notification of a proposed amendment to an existing system of
records.
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SUMMARY: The Department is giving notice that it intends to amend the
following Privacy Act system of records: HUD/H-11, Tenant Housing
Assistance and Contract Verification Data.
EFFECTIVE DATE: This amendment shall become effective without further
notice in 30 calendar days (April 14, 1997), unless comments are
received on or before that date which would result in a contrary
determination.
ADDRESSES: Interested persons are invited to submit comments regarding
this notice to the Rules Docket Clerk, Office of General Counsel, room
10276, Department of Housing and Urban Development, 451 Seventh Street,
SW., Washington, DC 20410. Communications should refer to the above
docket number and title. A copy of each communication submitted will be
available for public inspection and copying between 7:30 a.m. and 5:30
p.m. weekdays at the above address.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:
Jeanette Smith, Privacy Act Officer, Telephone Number (202) 708-2374.
(This is not a tool-free number.)
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: HUD-11 contains a record for each individual
receiving housing assistance from HUD under one of the following
programs: Section 8, Public/Indian Housing, Section 236 (including
Section 236 RAP), Rent Supplement, Section 221(d) 3 BMIR, Section 811,
and Section 202. Also included are records for owners, HAs and Contract
Administrators who receive payments for the assisted housing programs
mentioned above. The information contained in this system of records is
used by the Department to: Monitor compliance with statutory and
regulatory requirements; provide information for program evaluation;
perform statistics analyses; identify current recipients for the
purposes of detecting error, fraud and overpayment of assistance; and
to forecast budgetary needs. This amendment is being made to add two
new routine use disclosures (numbers 8 and 9) to allow for the release
of information to policy analysts or researchers for the performance of
research and statistical activities on housing and community
development issues. Routine use number 1 is revised to include a
reference to the Tenant Eligibility Verification Files which are used
when computer matching is involved. Also, a routine use disclosure is
revised to expand the disclosure entities to include individuals under
contract as well as cooperative agreement or grant (number 2).
Additionally, routine use number 2 has been revised to include language
providing for processing certifications/recertifications and for other
research and statistical purposes not otherwise prohibited by law or
regulation.
The revised routine uses paragraph is published in its entirety
below. Previously, the system and a prefatory statement containing the
general routine uses applicable to all HUD systems of records was
published in the Federal Register Privacy Act Issuances, 1995
Compilation.''
A report of the Department's intention to add two new routine use
disclosures and to revise 2 existing routine uses has been submitted to
the Office of Management and Budget (OMB), the Senate Committee on
Governmental Affairs, and the House Committee on Government Reform and
Oversight pursuant to paragraph 4 of Appendix I to OMB Circular No. A-
130, ``Federal Agency Responsibilities for Maintaining Records About
Individuals,'' February 8, 1996.
Authority: 5 U.S.C. 552a, 88 Stat. 1896; sec. 7(d) Department of
Housing and Urban Development Act (42 U.S.C. 3535(d)).
Issued at Washington, DC, March 4, 1997.
Steven M. Yohai,
Chief, Information Officer.
HUD/H-11
System Name:
Tenant Housing Assistance and Contract Verification Data.
* * * * *
ROUTINE USES OF RECORDS MAINTAINED IN THE SYSTEM, INCLUDING CATEGORIES
OR USERS AND THE PURPOSES OF SUCH USES:
See routine uses paragraph in prefatory statement. Other routine
uses include:
1. To Federal, State, and local agencies to verify the accuracy and
completeness of data, to verify eligibility or continued eligibility in
HUD's rental assistance programs, and to aid in identifying tenant
errors, fraud and abuse. When this involves computer matching, the
matching is conducted using HUD/PIH-1, the Tenant Eligibility
Verification Files;
2. Individuals under contract, cooperative agreement or grant, to
HUD or under contract, cooperative agreement or grant to another agency
with funds provided by HUD--for the performance of research and
statistical activities directly related to the management of HUD's
rental assistance programs, to support quality control for tenant
eligibility efforts requiring a random sampling of tenant files to
determine the extent of administrative errors in making rent
calculations, eligibility determinations, etc., for processing
certifications/recertifications, and for other research and statistical
purposes not otherwise prohibited by law or regulation;
3. Housing Authorities, (HAs)--to verify the accuracy and
completeness of tenant data used in determining eligibility and
continued eligibility and the amount of housing assistance received;
4. Private Owners of assisted housing--to verify the accuracy and
completeness of applicant and tenant data used in determining
eligibility and continued eligibility and the amount of assistance
received;
5. To HAs, owners/management agents and contract administrators--to
identify and resolve discrepancies in tenant data;
[[Page 11910]]
6. To the Internal Revenue Service--to report income using IRS Form
1099;
7. To Social Security Administration and Immigration and
Naturalization Service--to verify alien status and continued
eligibility in HUD's rental assistance programs;
8. To researchers affiliated with academic institutions, with not-
for-profit organizations, or with Federal, state or local governments,
or to policy researchers--in the form of user--defined microdata files,
without individual identifiers--name, address, date of birth, and
Social Security Number--for the performance of research and statistical
activities on housing and community development issues. Even though no
individual identifiers will be included in the data files, patterns in
the data may result in identification of some individual tenants.
Researchers receiving these files may not use them in whole or in part
in making any determination about an identifiable individual, nor may
they release the data to others in a form that can identify individual
tenants. Records will be released under this paragraph only with
approval of the Assistant Secretary for Policy Development and
Research;
9. To State/County welfare, social service, or employment agencies
for the purpose of matching assisted housing tenant records to
employment, education and other data which would be transmitted to the
HUD Office of Policy Development and Research for statistical analyses
of the resource requirements of welfare reform. The assisted housing
tenant records released under this paragraph may not be used by the
State/County agencies to make decisions concerning the rights,
benefits, or privileges of specific individuals.
[FR Doc. 97-6234 Filed 3-12-97; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4210-01-M
