2023-06451. Agency Information Collection Activities; Proposed Collection; Comment Request; Extension

AGENCY:

Federal Trade Commission.

ACTION:

Notice.

SUMMARY:

In accordance with the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 (PRA), the Federal Trade Commission (FTC or Commission) is seeking public comment on its proposal to extend for an additional three years the Office of Management and Budget clearance for its shared enforcement authority with the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) for information collection requirements contained in the CFPB's Regulation O. The current clearance expires on March 31, 2023.

DATES:

Comments must be filed by April 28, 2023.

ADDRESSES:

Interested parties may file a comment online or on paper, by following the instructions in the Request for Comment part of the SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION section below. Written comments and recommendations for the proposed information collection should be sent within 30 days of publication of this notice to 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. The reginfo.gov web link is a United States Government website produced by the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) and the General Services Administration (GSA). Under PRA requirements, OMB's Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs (OIRA) reviews Federal information collections.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

Stephanie Rosenthal, Division of Financial Practices, Bureau of Consumer Protection, Federal Trade Commission, 600 Pennsylvania Ave. NW, Washington, DC 20580, [phone].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Title: Regulation O, 12 CFR part 1015.

OMB Control Number: 3084-0157.

Type of Review: Extension of currently approved collection.

Estimated Number of Respondents: 118.

Estimated Annual Burden Hours: 354 (FTC share).

Estimated Annual Labor Cost: $12,195 (FTC share).

Abstract: The FTC and CFPB share enforcement authority for the Mortgage Assistance Relief Services (Regulation O), 12 CFR part 1015.^[1] The rule includes disclosure requirements to assist purchasers of mortgage assistance relief services in making well-informed decisions and avoiding unfair or deceptive acts and practices. The information that must be retained under Regulation O's recordkeeping requirements is used by the CFPB and the FTC for enforcement purposes and to ensure compliance by MARS providers with Regulation O. The information is requested only on a case-by-case basis.

Request for Comment

On January 9, 2023, the FTC sought public comment on the information collection requirements associated with the Rule. 88 FR 1234. No germane comments were received. Pursuant to the OMB regulations, 5 CFR part 1320, that implement the PRA, 44 U.S.C. 3501 et seq., the FTC is providing this second opportunity for public comment while seeking OMB approval to renew the pre-existing clearance for the Rule.

Your comment—including your name and your state—will be placed on the public record of this proceeding. Because your comment will be made public, you are solely responsible for making sure that your comment does not include any sensitive personal information, such as anyone's Social Security number; date of birth; driver's license number or other state identification number, or foreign country equivalent; passport number; financial account number; or credit or debit card number. You are also solely responsible for making sure that your comment does not include any sensitive health information, such as medical records or other individually identifiable health information. In addition, your comment should not include any “trade secret or any commercial or financial information which . . . is privileged or confidential”—as provided by Section 6(f) of the FTC Act, 15 U.S.C. 46(f), and FTC Rule 4.10(a)(2), 16 CFR 4.10(a)(2)—including in particular competitively sensitive information such as costs, sales statistics, inventories, formulas, patterns, devices, manufacturing processes, or customer names.

Josephine Liu,

Assistant General Counsel for Legal Counsel.

Footnotes

1.  Title X of the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act (“Dodd-Frank Act”), Public Law 111-203, 124 Stat. 1376 (2010), transferred the Commission's rulemaking authority under the mortgage provisions in section 626 of the 2009 Omnibus Appropriations Act, as amended, to the CFPB. On December 16, 2011, the CFPB republished the Mortgage Assistance Relief Services (“MARS”) Rule as Regulation O (12 CFR pt. 1015). As a result, the Commission subsequently rescinded its MARS Rule (16 CFR pt. 322). Nonetheless, under the Dodd-Frank Act, the FTC retains its authority to bring law enforcement actions to enforce Regulation O.