57932 Federal Register / Vol. 69, No. 187 / Tuesday, September 28, 2004 / Notices 

1Commission Rule 4.2(d), 16 CFR 4.2(d). The 

comment must be accompanied by an explicit 

request for confidential treatment, including the 

factual and legal basis for the request, and must 

identify the specific portions of the comment to be 

withheld from the public record. The request will 

be granted or denied by the Commission’s General 

Counsel, consistent with applicable law and the 

public interest. See Commission Rule 4.9(c), 16 CFR 

4.9(c).

the comprehensibility of various forms, 

disclosures, and notices required by 

FACTA. The FTC asked for expedited 

processing of the clearance request 

because of the short deadline for 

completing many of the rulemakings 

mandated by FACTA. The FTC intends 

to use the consumer surveys in order to 

inform these rulemakings. The 

methodologies that may be employed 

for the surveys include personal 

interviews and/or focus groups, 

telephone interviews, and mall 

intercepts. The Commission’s staff 

estimated that the total burden for all 

FACTA-related surveys would be 

approximately 4000 hours. 

On May 12, 2004, OMB approved the 

collection of information through 

October 31, 2004, assigned OMB control 

number 3084–0130, and permitted the 

FTC to provide opportunity for public 

comment while the clearance was in 

effect. On June 18, 2004, the FTC sought 

comment on the information collection 

requirements associated with the group 

of consumer surveys. See 69 FR 34166 

(June 18, 2004). The FTC also sought 

comment on its proposal to extend the 

clearance through October 28, 2007. No 

comments were received. Pursuant to 

the OMB regulations that implement the 

PRA (5 CFR Part 1320), the FTC is 

providing this second opportunity for 

public comment while seeking OMB 

approval to extend the existing 

paperwork clearance. In accordance 

with the terms of the clearance, the FTC 

will submit each survey instrument to 

OMB for review prior to conducting the 

survey. 

Description of the collection of 

information and proposed use: The FTC 

intends to use consumer survey research 

to develop and test the 

comprehensibility of disclosures 

regarding consumer rights and options 

that are mandated by various provisions 

in FACTA. The consumer surveys will 

involve individual interviews by 

telephone or focus groups and mall 

intercepts. For most of the surveys, the 

FTC is seeking consumers with open 

credit card accounts. Recent statistics 

indicate that 75% of adult consumers 

have credit cards. The FTC therefore 

estimates that, for example, a survey 

using 650 respondents will require 

roughly 870 consumers to be screened. 

The FTC will ensure that the selected 

contractors screen potential respondents 

on a set of demographic characteristics 

that will result in a representative 

sample. 

The FTC will contract with a research 

firm for each of the surveys that will 

utilize mall intercept and telephone 

surveys (including screening). For mall 

intercepts, the contractor will screen 

consumers in up to 15 shopping malls 

that represent diverse geographic areas 

of the United States. Respondents may 

be shown sample solicitations and 

asked a series of questions about the 

disclosures contained in the 

solicitations. The results will allow the 

FTC to examine the comprehensibility 

of the disclosures. In addition, some of 

the surveys will utilize personal 

interviews or focus groups to assist the 

FTC in developing the disclosures to be 

tested. 

Burden Statement 

Estimated annual hours burden: The 

surveys that the FTC proposes to 

conduct will use mall intercepts, 

telephone surveys (including screening), 

and, in some cases, personal interviews 

or focus groups. The telephone and mall 

intercepts will involve between 650 and 

1,300 respondents and will take 

between one minute (for screening 

purposes) and 30 minutes per 

respondent; the focus groups and 

personal interviews will involve 

approximately 150 respondents and will 

take up to one hour per respondent. The 

annual burden imposed by each survey 

would range from approximately 90 

hours to 900 hours for a cumulative 

total estimated burden of approximately 

3,500 hours. 

Estimated annual cost burden: The 

cost per respondent should be 

negligible. Participation is voluntary 

and will not require start-up, capital, or 

labor expenditures by respondents. The 

contractors retained by the FTC may pay 

respondents a token honorarium. The 

honorarium is provided as an incentive 

to encourage participation and to 

increase the survey response rate. The 

amount offered will be established at a 

level consistent with the contractor’s 

usual practice. For shorter interviews 

(15 to 30 minutes), the amount will not 

exceed $10. For longer interviews, any 

fees will not exceed $40. 

For each survey, staff estimates that 

obtaining the services of a contractor to 

screen potential respondents, 

administer the survey, and tabulate the 

results will cost approximately $40,000. 

Also, each survey will require 400 

attorney, economist and research 

analyst hours valued at approximately 

$25,000. Therefore, the expected cost to 

the Federal Government for each survey 

will be approximately $65,000.

William E. Kovacic, 

General Counsel.

[FR Doc. 04–21686 Filed 9–27–04; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 6750–01–P

FEDERAL TRADE COMMISSION

Agency Information Collection 

Activities; Proposed Collection; 

Comment Request; Extension

AGENCY: Federal Trade Commission 

(‘‘FTC’’).

ACTION: Notice.

SUMMARY: The information collection 

requirements described below will be 

submitted to the Office of Management 

and Budget (‘‘OMB’’) for review, as 

required by the Paperwork Reduction 

Act (‘‘PRA’’). The FTC is seeking public 

comments on its proposal to extend 

through December 31, 2005 the current 

PRA clearance for information 

collection requirements for its Mortgage 

Disclosure Study. That clearance 

expires on November 30, 2004.

DATES: Comments must be submitted on 

or before November 29, 2004.

ADDRESSES: Interested parties are 

invited to submit written comments. 

Comments should refer to ‘‘Mortgage 

Disclosure Study—FTC File No. 

P025505,’’ to facilitate the organization 

of comments. A comment filed in paper 

form should include this reference both 

in the text and on the envelope and 

should be mailed or delivered to the 

following address: Federal Trade 

Commission/Office of the Secretary, 

Room H–159 (Annex X), 600 

Pennsylvania Avenue, NW., 

Washington, DC 20580. The FTC is 

requesting that any comment filed in 

paper form be sent by courier or 

overnight service, if possible, because 

U.S. postal mail in the Washington area 

and at the Commission is subject to 

delay due to heightened security 

precautions. Alternatively, comments 

may be filed in electronic form (in 

ASCII format, WordPerfect, or Microsoft 

Word) as part of or as an attachment to 

e-mail messages directed to the 

following e-mail box: 

MortgageDS@ftc.gov. If the comment 

contains any material for which 

confidential treatment is requested, it 

must be filed in paper form, and the first 

page of the document must be clearly 

labeled ‘‘Confidential.’’1

The FTC Act and other laws the 

Commission administers permit the 

collection of public comments to 

consider and use in this proceeding as 

Federal Register / Vol. 69, No. 187 / Tuesday, September 28, 2004 / Notices 57933

2The focus groups will be used to examine how 

well consumers understand mortgage terms, how 

consumers shop for mortgages, if consumers 

recognize features of a mortgage offer that may 

significantly increase the cost of the loan, and 

whether consumers use and understand required 

disclosures.

appropriate. All timely and responsive 

public comments will be considered by 

the Commission, and will be available 

to the public on the FTC Web site, to the 

extent practicable, at http://www.ftc.gov. 

As a matter of discretion, the FTC makes 

every effort to remove home contact 

information for individuals from the 

public comments it receives before 

placing those comments on the FTC 

Web site. More information, including 

routine uses permitted by the Privacy 

Act, may be found in the FTC’s privacy 

policy, at http://www.ftc.gov/ftc/

privacy.htm.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

Requests for additional information 

should be addressed to James M. Lacko, 

Economist, Bureau of Economics, 

Federal Trade Commission, 600 

Pennsylvania Avenue, NW., 

Washington, DC 20580. Telephone: 

(202) 326–3387; e-mail jlacko@ftc.gov.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Under the 

PRA (44 U.S.C. 3501–3520), Federal 

agencies must obtain approval from 

OMB for each collection of information 

they conduct or sponsor. ‘‘Collection of 

information’’ means agency requests or 

requirements that members of the public 

submit reports, keep records, or provide 

information to a third party. 44 U.S.C. 

3502(3), 5 CFR 1320.3(c). As required by 

section 3506(c)(2)(A) of the PRA, the 

FTC is providing this opportunity for 

public comment before requesting that 

OMB extend the existing paperwork 

clearance for the Mortgage Disclosure 

Study (OMB Control Number 3084–

0126). 

The FTC invites comments on: (1) 

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) the accuracy of the agency’s estimate 

of the burden of the proposed collection 

of information, including the validity of 

the methodology and assumptions used; 

(3) ways to enhance the quality, utility, 

and clarity of the information to be 

collected; and (4) ways to minimize the 

burden of the collection of information 

on those who are to respond, including 

through the use of appropriate 

automated, electronic, mechanical, or 

other technological collection 

techniques or other forms of information 

technology, e.g., permitting electronic 

submission of responses. 

Recent deceptive lending cases at the 

FTC and elsewhere suggest that 

consumers who do not understand the 

terms of their mortgages can be subject 

to deception, that deception can occur 

even when consumers receive the 

disclosures required by the Truth-inLending Act, 15 U.S.C. 1601 et seq.

(TILA), and that deception about 

mortgage terms can result in substantial 

consumer injury. 

Despite a long history of mortgage 

disclosure requirements and many new 

legislative and regulatory proposals 

regarding disclosures, little empirical 

evidence exists to document the effect 

of current disclosures on consumer 

understanding of mortgage terms, 

consumer mortgage shopping behavior, 

or consumer mortgage choice.

The FTC intends to conduct consumer 

research to examine: (1) How consumers 

search for and choose mortgages; (2) 

how consumers use and understand 

information about mortgages, including 

required disclosures; and (3) whether 

improved disclosures might improve 

consumer understanding, consumer 

mortgage shopping, and consumers’

ability to avoid deception. The research 

also may assist the targeting of the FTC’s 

enforcement actions by identifying areas 

most prone to consumer 

misunderstanding and lender deception 

and may help refine disclosure remedies 

imposed on deceptive lenders. 

1. Description of the Collection of 

Information and Proposed Use 

The FTC proposes to conduct this 

study in two phases: (1) A qualitative 

research phase; and (2) a quantitative 

research phase. The qualitative research 

phase will include focus groups and indepth interviews. The quantitative 

research will include copy tests of 

current and alternative disclosures. 

Results from the first phase will be used 

to refine the design of the second phase. 

The qualitative-phase focus groups 

will be completed under the current 

PRA clearance and are not part of this 

extension request.2 The qualitativephase in-depth interviews may be 

completed under the current clearance, 

but scheduling considerations make this 

uncertain. The quantitative-phase copy 

tests will not be started before the 

expiration of the current clearance. 

Accordingly, this extension request 

covers information collection for the indepth interviews and copy tests.

The in-depth interviews will be 

conducted with 36 consumers who have 

recently completed a mortgage 

transaction. Respondents will be asked 

to bring their loan documents to the 

interview. Half of the interviews will be 

with consumers who obtained their 

mortgage from a prime lender and half 

will be consumers who obtained their 

mortgage from a subprime lender. The 

purpose of the interviews is to gain indepth knowledge of the extent to which 

consumers use, search for, and 

understand mortgage information—

including information about their own 

recent loans. 

The quantitative research phase will 

consist of copy test interviews of 800 

consumers who entered into a mortgage 

transaction within the previous two 

years. If possible, approximately half of 

the respondents will be consumers who 

obtained their mortgage from a prime 

lender and half will be consumers who 

obtained their mortgage from a 

subprime lender. The purpose of the 

copy tests will be to examine whether 

alternative disclosures can improve 

consumer understanding of mortgage 

terms and help to reduce potential 

deception about mortgage offers. The 

findings from the focus groups and indepth interviews will be used to refine 

the alternative disclosures used in the 

copy tests. 

All information will be collected on a 

voluntary basis and consumers will 

receive usual and customary 

compensation for their participation. 

For the qualitative research the FTC has 

contracted with a consumer research 

firm to locate eligible borrowers, recruit 

respondents, moderate the focus groups, 

conduct the interviews, and write a 

report of the findings. For the 

quantitative research the FTC has 

contracted with a consumer research 

firm to locate eligible borrowers, recruit 

respondents, conduct the copy tests, 

and write a brief methodological report. 

The results will assist the FTC in 

determining how required disclosures 

and other information affects 

consumers’ ability to understand the 

cost and features of mortgages. This 

understanding will further the FTC’s 

mission of protecting consumers and 

competition in this important market. 

2. Estimated Hours Burden 

Qualitative Research 

Approximately 36 one-hour long, indepth interviews will be conducted. If 

all respondents are single decision 

makers, this would amount to a 36 hour 

burden. However, some of the 

interviews may include couples. 

Assuming that half of the interviews 

include couples (the upper bound 

offered by the contractor), the hours 

burden for the in-depth interviews 

would increase to 54 hours ((18 × 2 

hours) + (18 × 1 hour)). 

57934 Federal Register / Vol. 69, No. 187 / Tuesday, September 28, 2004 / Notices 

Quantitative Research 

Approximately 800 consumers who 

engaged in a mortgage transaction 

during the previous two years will 

participate in the quantitative phase of 

the research. Each copy test interview 

will take roughly 20–30 minutes. The 

estimated hours burden for the 

quantitative research ranges from 267 

hours (800 respondents × 1⁄3 hour per 

respondent) to 400 hours (800 

respondents × 1⁄2 hour per respondent). 

Total 

The total estimated hours burden for 

both phases of the study ranges from 

303 hours (36 hours + 267 hours) to 454 

hours (54 hours + 400 hours). The hours 

burden due to the qualitative focus 

groups (40 hours) have not been 

included in this estimate because the 

focus groups will be completed under 

the current clearance.

William E. Kovacic, 

General Counsel.

[FR Doc. 04–21687 Filed 9–27–04; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 6750–01–P

FEDERAL TRADE COMMISSION

Granting of Request for Early 

Termination of the Waiting Period 

Under the Premerger Notification 

Rules 

Section 7A of the Clayton Act, 15 

U.S.C. 18a, as added by Title II of the 

Hart-Scott-Rodino Antitrust 

Improvements Act of 1976, requires 

persons contemplating certain mergers 

or acquisitions to give the Federal Trade 

Commission and the Assistant Attorney 

General advance notice and to wait 

designated periods before 

consummation of such plans. Section 

7A(b)(2) of the act permits the agencies, 

in individual cases, to terminate this 

waiting period prior to its expiration 

and requires that notice of this action be 

published in the Federal Register. 

The following transactions were 

granted early termination of the waiting 

period provided by law and the 

premerger notification rules. The grants 

were made by the Federal Trade 

Commission and the Assistant Attorney 

General for the Antitrust Division of the 

Department of Justice. Neither agency 

intends to take any action with respect 

to these proposed acquisitions during 

the applicable waiting period.

Trans No. Acquiring Acquired Entities 

Transactions Granted Early Termination—08/16/2004

20041201 ......................... Carlyle Partners III, L.P. .................... Piedmont/Hawthorne Holdings, L.L.C Piedmont/Hawthorne Holdings, 

L.L.C. 

20041218 ......................... Tiger Key Acquisition, L.P. ................ KAC Mezzanine Holdings Company KAC Mezzanine Holdings Company. 

20041219 ......................... Tiger Key Acquisition, L.P. ................ KSS Holdings, Inc. ............................ KSS Holdings, Inc. 

20041228 ......................... TA IX L.P. .......................................... GlobeOp Financial Services S.A. ...... GlobeOp Financial Services S.A. 

20041229 ......................... Flextronics International Ltd .............. Nortel Networks Corporation ............. Nortel Networks Limited, Nortel Networks S.A., Nortel Networks Tele. 

do Brasil Comercio e Servicos 

Ltda., Nortel Networks Tele. do 

Brasil Industria e Comeercio Ltda., 

Nortel Networks UK Limited. 

20041233 ......................... The Warnaco Group, Inc. .................. Doyle & Boissiere Fund I, LLC. ........ Ocean Pacific Apparel Corp. 

20041236 ......................... Mervyn’s Holding, LLC. ..................... Target Corporation ............................ Mervyn’s, Mervyn’s Brand. 

20041238 ......................... Public Service Enterprise Group Incorporated.TECO Energy, Inc. ............................ TPS Holdings II, Inc. 

20041240 ......................... J.M. Huber Corporation ..................... Lehman FG, LLC. .............................. CP Kelco ApS. 

20041243 ......................... Nautic Partners V, L.P. ..................... Francis G.Hickey, Jr. ......................... Manhattan Digital Corporation. 

20041256 ......................... West Virginia United Health System, 

Inc..

Gateway Regional Health System, 

Inc..

Gateway Regional Health System, 

Inc. 

Transactions Granted Early Termination—08/17/2004

20041245 ......................... Wachovia Corporation ....................... Venturi Partners, Inc. ........................ Venturi Partners, Inc. 

20041254 ......................... ASP III Alternative Investments, L.P. Reservoir Capital Master Fund, L.P. RQ, LLC. 

20041267 ......................... Babcock & Brown Holdings Inc. ........ Babcock & Brown Associates LLC. .. Babcock & Brown Associates LLC. 

20041268 ......................... Babcock & Brown Associates LLC. .. Babcock & Brown Holdings Inc. ........ Babcock & Brown Holdings Inc. 

20041272 ......................... The PNC Financial Services Group, 

Inc..

Aviation Finance Group, LLC. ........... Aviation Finance Group, LLC. 

Transactions Granted Early Termination—08/18/2004

20041230 ......................... Carl C. Icahn ..................................... Mylan Laboratories, Inc. .................... Mylan Laboratories, Inc. 

20041231 ......................... James F. Dieberg .............................. Capital Resource Lenders II, L.P. ..... Loan Source Funding Corporation, 

Small Business Loan Source, Inc. 

20041242 ......................... 2003 Riverside Capital Appreciation 

Fund, L.P..

Code, Hennessy & Simmons III, L.P. United Central Industrial Supply 

Company, L.L.C. 

20041244 ......................... Quad-C Partners VI, L.P. .................. Dubin Clark Fund II, L.P. .................. Universal Trailer Holdings Corp. 

20041246 ......................... Western & Southern Mutual Holding 

Company.

Lafayette Life MIHC, Inc. .................. Lafayette Life MIHC, Inc. 

20041248 ......................... Clayton, Dubilier & Rice Fund VI 

Limited Partnership.

Veolia Environnement S.A. ............... APIC Filter GmbH, APIC SAS, 

Culligan Corporation, Culligan 

Espana, S.A., Culligan France 

SAS, Culligan International (UK) 

Limited, Culligan Italiana, S.p.A., 

Culligan N.V., Culligan of Canada, 

Ltd., Culligan Vostok, Culligan 

Wassertechnik, GmbH, US Filter 

Argentina S.A.