60-Day Notice of Proposed Information Collection: Comment Request; Implementation of the Housing for Older Persons Act of 1995 (HOPA), OMB Control No: 2529-0046
| Published date | 15 July 2021 |
| Citation | 86 FR 37340 |
| Record Number | 2021-14976 |
| Section | Notices |
| Court | Housing And Urban Development Department |
Federal Register, Volume 86 Issue 133 (Thursday, July 15, 2021)
[Federal Register Volume 86, Number 133 (Thursday, July 15, 2021)]
[Notices]
[Pages 37340-37342]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2021-14976]
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DEPARTMENT OF HOUSING AND URBAN DEVELOPMENT
[Docket No. FR-7037-N-03]
60-Day Notice of Proposed Information Collection: Comment
Request; Implementation of the Housing for Older Persons Act of 1995
(HOPA), OMB Control No: 2529-0046
AGENCY: Office of the Assistant Secretary for Fair Housing and Equal
Opportunity, HUD.
ACTION: Notice.
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SUMMARY: The proposed reinstatement, without change, of an expired,
previously approved information collection requirement established
under the Housing for Older Persons Act of 1995 (HOPA) will be
submitted to the Office of Management and Budget
[[Page 37341]]
(OMB) for review, as required by the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995.
HUD is soliciting public comments on the subject proposal.
DATES: Comment Due Date: September 13, 2021.
ADDRESSES: Interested persons are invited to submit comments regarding
this proposed information collection requirement. Comments should refer
to the proposal by name and/or OMB Control Number and should be sent to
Erik A. Heins, Director, Enforcement Support Division, Office of
Enforcement, U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, 451 7th
Street SW; Room 5214, Washington, DC 20410-2000; telephone (202) 402-
5887 (this is not a toll-free number); or email at
[email protected]. Hearing or speech-impaired individuals may access
this number via TTY by calling the toll-free Federal Relay Service at:
1-(800) 877-8339.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Erik A. Heins, Director, Enforcement
Support Division, Office of Enforcement, U.S. Department of Housing and
Urban Development, 451 7th Street SW, Room 5214, Washington, DC 20410-
2000; telephone (202) 402-5887 (this is not a toll-free number); or
email at [email protected]. Hearing or speech-impaired individuals
may access this number via TTY by calling the toll-free Federal Relay
Service at: 1-(800) 877-8339.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: HUD is submitting this proposed
reinstatement, without change, of an expired, previously approved
information collection requirement to the OMB for review, as required
under the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 [44 U.S.C. chapter 35, as
amended].
A. Overview of Information Collection
Title of Information Collection: Implementation of the Housing for
Older Persons Act of 1995 (HOPA).
OMB Control Number: 2529-0046.
Type of Request: Proposed reinstatement without change of an
expired, previously approved information collection requirement.
Description of the need for the information and proposed use: The
Fair Housing Act [42 U.S.C. 3601 et seq.], prohibits discrimination in
the sale, rental, occupancy, advertising, insuring, or financing of
residential dwellings based on familial status (individuals living in
households with one or more children under 18 years of age). However,
under Sec. 3607(b)(2) of the Act, Congress exempted three (3)
categories of ``housing for older persons'' from liability for familial
status discrimination: (1) Housing provided under any State or Federal
program which the Secretary of HUD determines is ``specifically
designed and operated to assist elderly persons (as defined in the
State or Federal program)''; (2) housing ``intended for, and solely
occupied by persons 62 years of age or older''; and (3) housing
``intended and operated for occupancy by at least one person 55 years
of age or older per unit [`55 or older' housing].'' In December 1995,
Congress passed the Housing for Older Persons Act of 1995 (HOPA) [Pub.
L. 104-76, 109 STAT. 787] as an amendment to the Fair Housing Act. The
HOPA modified the ``55 or older'' housing exemption provided under
Sec. 3607(b)(2)(C) of the Fair Housing Act by eliminating the
requirement that a housing provider must offer ``significant facilities
and services specifically designed to meet the physical or social needs
of older persons.'' In order to qualify for the HOPA exemption, a
housing community or facility must meet each of the following criteria:
(1) At least 80 percent of the occupied units in the community or
facility must be occupied by at least one person who is 55 years of age
of older; (2) the housing provider must publish and adhere to policies
and procedures that demonstrate the intent to operate housing for
persons 55 years of age or older; and (3) the housing provider must
demonstrate compliance with ``rules issued by the Secretary for
verification of occupancy, which shall . . . . provide for [age]
verification by reliable surveys and affidavits.''
The HOPA did not significantly increase the record-keeping burden
for the ``55 or older'' housing exemption. It describes in greater
detail the documentary evidence which HUD will consider when
determining, during a familial status discrimination complaint
investigation, whether or not a housing facility or community qualified
for the ``55 or older'' housing exemption as of the date on which the
alleged Fair Housing Act violation occurred.
The HOPA information collection requirements are necessary to
establish a housing provider's eligibility to claim the ``55 or older''
housing exemption as an affirmative defense to a familial status
discrimination complaint filed with HUD under the Fair Housing Act. The
information will be collected in the normal course of business in
connection with the sale, rental, or occupancy of dwelling units
situated in qualified senior housing facilities or communities. The
HOPA's requirement that a housing provider must demonstrate the intent
to operate a ``55 or older'' housing community or facility by
publishing, and consistently enforcing, age verification rules,
policies and procedures for current and prospective occupants reflects
the usual and customary practice of the senior housing industry. Under
the HOPA, a ``55 or older'' housing provider should conduct an initial
occupancy survey of the housing community or facility to verify
compliance with the HOPA's ``80 percent occupancy'' requirement and
should maintain such compliance by periodically reviewing and updating
existing age verification records for each occupied dwelling unit at
least once every two years. The creation and maintenance of such
occupancy/age verification records should occur in the normal course of
individual sale or rental housing transactions and should require
minimal preparation time. Further, a senior housing provider's
operating rules, policies and procedures are not privileged or
confidential in nature, because such information must be disclosed to
current and prospective residents, and to residential real estate
professionals.
The HOPA exemption also requires that a summary of the occupancy
survey results must be made available for public inspection. This
summary need not contain confidential information about individual
residents; it may simply indicate the total number of dwelling units
that are actually occupied by persons 55 years of age or older. While
the supporting age verification records may contain confidential
information about individual occupants, such information would be
protected from disclosure unless the housing provider claims the ``55
or older'' housing exemption as an affirmative defense to a
jurisdictional familial status discrimination complaint filed with HUD
under the Fair Housing Act. HUD's Office of Fair Housing and Equal
Opportunity will only require a housing provider to disclose such
confidential information to HUD if and when HUD investigates a
jurisdictional familial status discrimination complaint filed against
the housing provider under the Fair Housing Act, and if and when the
housing provider claims the ``55 or older'' housing exemption as an
affirmative defense to the complaint.
Agency form number(s), if applicable: None.
Members of affected public: The HOPA requires that small businesses
and other small entities that operate housing intended for occupancy by
persons 55 years of age or older must routinely collect and update
reliable age verification information necessary to meet the eligibility
criteria for the HOPA exemption. The record keeping
[[Page 37342]]
requirements are the responsibility of the housing provider that seeks
to qualify for the HOPA exemption.
Estimation of the total numbers of hours needed to prepare the
information collection, including the number of respondents, frequency
of response, and hours of response: Housing providers claiming
eligibility for the HOPA's ``55 or older'' housing exemption must
demonstrate ongoing compliance with the HOPA exemption requirements.
The HOPA does not authorize HUD to require submission of this
information by individual housing providers as a means of certifying
that their housing communities or facilities qualify for the exemption.
Further, since the HOPA has no mandatory registration requirement, HUD
cannot ascertain the actual number of housing facilities and
communities that are currently collecting this information with the
intention of qualifying for the HOPA exemption. Accordingly, HUD has
estimated that approximately 1,000 housing facilities or communities
would seek to qualify for the HOPA exemption. HUD has estimated that
the occupancy/age verification data would require routine updating with
each new housing transaction within the facility or community, and that
the number of such transactions per year might vary significantly
depending on the size and nature of the facility or community. HUD also
estimated the average number of housing transactions per year at ten
(10) transactions per community. HUD concluded that the publication of
policies and procedures is likely to be a one-time event, and in most
cases will require no additional burden beyond what is done in the
normal course of business. The estimated total annual burden hours are
5,500 hours [See Table below].
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Number of Frequency of Responses per Burden hour Annual burden Hourly cost
Type of collection activity respondents response annum per response hours per response Annual cost
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One: Collect reliable age verification 1,000 1 1,000 1 1,000 $18.18 $18.18
records for at least one occupant per
dwelling unit to meet the HOPA's
minimum ``80% occupancy'' requirement..
Two: Publication of & adherence to 1,000 1 1,000 2 2,00 18.18 36,360
policies & procedures that demonstrate
intent to operate ``55 or older''
housing................................
Three: Periodic updates of age 1,000 1 1,000 2.50 2,500 18.18 45,450
verification records...................
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Total Burden Hours & Costs.......... .............. .............. 3,000 .............. 5,500 .............. 99,990
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B. Solicitation of Public Comments
This Notice is soliciting comments from members of the public and
affected agencies concerning the proposed information collection in
order to: (1) Evaluate whether the proposed information collection is
necessary for the proper performance of HUD's program functions; (2)
Evaluate the accuracy of HUD's assessment of the paperwork burden that
may result from the proposed information collection; (3) Enhance the
quality, utility, and clarity of the information which must be
collected; and (4) Minimize the burden of the information collection on
responders, including the use of appropriate automated collection
techniques or other forms of information technology (e.g., permitting
electronic submission of responses).
Authority: Section 3506 of the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995,
44 U.S.C. chapter 35, as amended.
Erik Heins,
Director, Enforcement Support Division.
[FR Doc. 2021-14976 Filed 7-14-21; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4210-67-P
