Implementation of the Housing for Older Persons Act of 1995

DEPARTMENT OF HOUSING AND URBAN DEVELOPMENT

[Docket No. FR-4541-N-02]

Notice of Proposed Information Collection: Comment Request

Implementation of the Housing for Older Persons Act of 1995

AGENCY: Office of the Assistant Secretary for Fair Housing and Equal

Opportunity, HUD.

ACTION: Notice.

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SUMMARY: the proposed information collection requirement established

under the final rule implementing the Housing for Older Persons Act of

1995 (HOPA) will be submitted to the Office of Management and Budget

(OMB) for review, as required by the Paperwork Reduction Act. The

Department is soliciting public comments on the information collection

requirement.

DATES: Comments Due Date: December 27, 1999.

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: Turner Russell, Department of Housing and Urban Development, 451

7th Street, SW, Room 5210, Washington, DC 20410.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Juan E. Milanes, Acting Director,

Office of Enforcement, Office of Fair Housing and Equal Opportunity,

Room 5206, 451 Seventh Street, SW, Washington, DC 20410, telephone:

(202) 707-0836 (this is not a toll-free number). Hearing or speech-

impaired individuals may access this number via TTY by calling the

toll-free Federal Information Relay Service at 1-800-877-8399.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The Department is submitting the proposed

information collection requirement to the OMB for review, as required

by the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 (44 U.S.C. Chapter 35, as

amended).

This Notice is soliciting comments from members of the public and

affecting agencies concerning the proposed collection of information

to: (1) Evaluate whether the proposed collection of information is

necessary for the proper performance of the functions of the agency,

including whether the information will have practical utility; (2)

Evaluate the accuracy of the agency's estimate of the burden of the

proposed collection of information; (3) Enhance the quality, utility,

and clarity of the information to be collected; and (4) Minimize the

[[Page 58082]]

burden of the collection of information on those who are to respond;

including through the use of appropriate automated collection

techniques or other forms of information technology, e.g., permitting

electronic submission of responses.

Title of Regulation: 24 CFR Part 100, Implementation of the Housing

for Older Persons Act of 1995; final rule.

OMB Control Number, if applicable: 2529-0046.

Description of the need for the information and proposed use: In

The Fair Housing Amendments Act of 1988 (the Act) [42 U.S.C. Sec. 3601

et seq.], Congress prohibited discrimination in the sale or rental of

housing based on familial status (families with children under 18 years

of age). However, at Sec. 3607(b)(2) of the Act, Congress exempted 3

categories of ``housing for older persons'' from liability for familial

status discrimination: (1) housing provided under any State or program

which the Secretary of HUD determines is specifically designed and

operated to assist elderly persons; (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 until (``55 or older'' housing). In December 1995,

Congress passed the ``Housing for Older Persons Act of 1995 (HOPA)

[Public Law 104-76]. The HOPA modified the ``55 or older'' housing''

exemption provided under the Act by eliminating the requirement for

``significant facilities and services specifically designed to meet the

physical or social needs of older persons.'' The HOPA still requires

that at least 80 percent of the occupied units must be occupied by at

least one person who is 55 years of age or older; and that housing

providers must publish and adhere to policies and procedures that

demonstrate the intent to provide housing for persons 55 years of age

or older. In addition, the HOPA mandates compliance with ``rules issued

by the Secretary for verification of occupancy, which shall * * *

provide for [age] verification by reliable surveys and affidavits.''

The final rule does not significantly increase the record keeping

burden. It describes in greater detail the documentation that HUD will

consider when determining whether or not a community or facility

qualifies for the ``55 or older'' housing exemption. Further,

Sec. 100.305(e)(5) of the final rule provides a non-extendible one-year

transition period [May 3, 1999-May 3, 2000] for existing communities or

facilities that wish to qualify for the ``55 or older'' housing

exemption. An existing community or facility that fails to complete the

transition by the expiration of that period must stop reserving vacant

units for ``55 or older'' residents; market available housing to the

general public regardless of familial status; and rescind all policies,

practices, and procedures that discriminate against residents with

minor children. By definition, such communities would no longer need to

collect or maintain occupancy/age verification information for purposes

of the ``55 or older'' housing exemption.

The information collection requirements contained in Secs. 100.306

and 100.307 of the final rule are necessary to satisfy the criteria for

the ``55 or older'' housing exemption under the HOPA. The information

required under the Act, the HOPA, and the HOPA final rule will be

collected in the normal course of business in connection with the sale,

rental or occupancy of dwelling units within a ``55 or older'' hosing

community or facility. The statutory and regulatory requirement to

publish and adhere to age verification policies and procedures for

current and prospective occupants is the usual and customary practice

of the ``senior housing'' industry without regard to the requirements

of the Act or the HOPA. The procedures for verifying ages of current

residents may require an initial survey and periodic review and update

of existing records. The creation of such records should occur in the

normal course of sale of rental transactions and should require minimal

time.

Three types of information would be collected under the final rule.

The publication of a community's housing policies and procedures is not

confidential by nature of the fact that such policies and procedures

must be disclosed to current and prospective residents, and to

residential real estate professionals. The occupancy survey results

must be available for public inspection. The survey summary need not

contain confidential information because it may simply indicate the

total number of dwelling units occupied by persons 55 years of age or

older. The supporting age verification records may contain some private

information which would need not be disclosed unless the community or

facility claims the ``55 or older'' housing exemption as a defense to a

jurisdictional familial status discrimination complaint filed with HUD.

HUD's Office of Fair Housing and Equal Opportunity will request

disclosure of this information by a housing provider when HUD

investigates a jurisdictional familial status discrimination complaint,

and 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: Both the HOPA and the HOPA final rule

require that small businesses and other small entities that operate

housing intended for occupancy by persons 55 years of age or order to

routinely collect and update age verification information necessary to

meet the eligibility criteria for the ``55 or older'' housing

exemption. The record keeping requirements are the responsibility of

the housing provider that wishes to qualify for the exemption.

Estimation of the total numbers of hours needed to prepare the

information collection including number of respondents, frequency of

response, and hours of response: The information collection

requirements of the HOPA final rule are the responsibility of the

community or facility that claims eligibility for the ``55 or older''

housing exemption provided under the HOPA. Since the HOPA does not

require HUD certification or registration for ``55 or older''

communities or facilities, it is difficult to estimate the number of

communities or facilities that intend to collect this information in

order to qualify for the exemption. When the proposed rule was

published for public comment in January 1997, HUD estimated that

approximately 1,000 communities or facilities would seek the exemption.

HUD also estimated that the occupancy/age verification data would

require routine updating with each new housing transaction within the

community or facility, and that the number of such transactions per

year might vary significantly depending on the size and nature of the

community. HUD estimated the average number of housing transactions per

year at ``10 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 for the

three collections is 5,500 hours.''

Status of the proposed information collection: Revision of a

currently approved collection.

Authority: The Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, 44 U.S.C.

Chapter 35, as amended.

Dated: October 21, 1999.

Juan E. Milanes,

Acting Director, Office of Enforcement.

[FR Doc. 99-28250 Filed 10-27-99; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 4210-28-M