[Federal Register Volume 88, Number 240 (Friday, December 15, 2023)]
[Notices]
[Pages 87052-87053]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2023-27517]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE TREASURY

Office of the Comptroller of the Currency


Agency Information Collection Activities: Revision of an Approved 
Information Collection; Comment Request; Fair Housing Home Loan Data 
System Regulation

AGENCY: Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC), Treasury.

ACTION: Notice and request for comment.

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SUMMARY: The OCC, as part of its continuing effort to reduce paperwork 
and respondent burden, invites comment on a continuing information 
collection, as required by the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 (PRA). 
In accordance with the requirements of the PRA, the OCC may not conduct 
or sponsor, and the respondent is not required to respond to, an 
information collection unless it displays a currently valid Office of 
Management and Budget (OMB) control number. The OCC is soliciting 
comment concerning a revision to its information collection titled, 
``Fair Housing Home Loan Data System Regulation.''

DATES: Comments must be received by February 13, 2024.

ADDRESSES: Commenters are encouraged to submit comments by email, if 
possible. You may submit comments by any of the following methods:
    <bullet> Email: <a href="/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection#6a1a180b03040c052a050909441e180f0b19440d051c"><span class="__cf_email__" data-cfemail="afdfddcec6c1c9c0efc0cccc81dbddcacedc81c8c0d9">[email protected]</span></a>.
    <bullet> Mail: Chief Counsel's Office, Attention: Comment 
Processing, Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, Attention: 1557-
0159, 400 7th Street SW, Suite 3E-218, Washington, DC 20219.
    <bullet> Hand Delivery/Courier: 400 7th Street SW, Suite 3E-218, 
Washington, DC 20219.
    <bullet> Fax: (571) 293-4835.
    Instructions: You must include ``OCC'' as the agency name and 
``1557-0159'' in your comment. In general, the OCC will publish 
comments on www.reginfo.gov without change, including any business or 
personal information provided, such as name and address information, 
email addresses, or phone numbers. Comments received, including 
attachments and other supporting materials, are part of the public 
record and subject to public disclosure. Do not include any information 
in your comment or supporting materials that you consider confidential 
or inappropriate for public disclosure.
    Following the close of this notice's 60-day comment period, the OCC 
will publish a second notice with a 30-day comment period. You may 
review comments and other related materials that pertain to this 
information collection beginning on the date of publication of the 
second notice for this collection by the method set forth in the next 
bullet.
    <bullet> Viewing Comments Electronically: Go to www.reginfo.gov. 
Hover over the ``Information Collection Review'' drop-down menu. Click 
on ``Information Collection Review.'' From the ``Currently under 
Review'' drop-down menu, select ``Department of Treasury'' and then 
click ``submit.'' This information collection can be located by 
searching OMB control number ``1557-0159'' or ``Fair Housing Home Loan 
Data System Regulation.'' Upon finding the appropriate information 
collection, click on the related ``ICR Reference Number.'' On the next 
screen, select ``View Supporting Statement and Other Documents'' and 
then click on the link to any comment listed at the bottom of the 
screen.
    <bullet> For assistance in navigating www.reginfo.gov, please 
contact the Regulatory Information Service Center at (202) 482-7340.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Shaquita Merritt, Clearance Officer, 
(202) 649-5490, Chief Counsel's Office, Office of the Comptroller of 
the Currency, 400 7th Street SW, Washington, DC 20219. If you are deaf, 
hard of hearing, or have a speech disability, please dial 7-1-1 to 
access telecommunications relay services.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Under the PRA (44 U.S.C. 3501 et seq.), 
Federal agencies must obtain approval from the OMB for each collection 
of information that they conduct or sponsor. ``Collection of 
information'' is defined in 44 U.S.C. 3502(3) and 5 CFR 1320.3(c) to 
include agency requests or requirements that members of the public 
submit reports, keep records, or provide information to a third party. 
Section 3506(c)(2)(A) of title 44 generally requires Federal agencies 
to provide a 60-day notice in the Federal Register concerning each 
proposed collection of information, including each proposed extension 
of an existing collection of information, before submitting the 
collection to OMB for approval. To comply with this requirement, the 
OCC is publishing notice of the revision to the collection of 
information set forth in this document. The OCC asks OMB to approve 
this revised collection.
    Title: Fair Housing Home Loan Data System Regulation.
    OMB Control No.: 1557-0159.
    Type of Review: Regular.
    Description: Part 27 requires certain national banks to record 
certain information, and all national banks to retain certain 
information.\1\ Specifically,

[[Page 87053]]

national banks must record certain home loan data if they: (1) are 
otherwise required to maintain and report data pursuant to Regulation 
C,\2\ which implements the Home Mortgage Disclosure Act (HMDA),\3\ in 
which case they are HMDA reporters, or (2) receive more than 50 home 
loan applications annually. Specifically, national banks that are HMDA 
reporters meet the part 27 requirement by recording HMDA data along 
with the reasons for denying any loan application on the HMDA Loan 
Application/Register (LAR).\4\ A national bank that is not a HMDA 
reporter but that receives more than 50 home loan applications annually 
must comply with part 27 by either: (1) recording and reporting HMDA 
data and denial reasons on the LAR as if they were a HMDA reporter,\5\ 
or (2) recording and maintaining part 27-specified activity data 
relating to aggregate numbers of certain types of loans by geography 
and action taken.\6\ Part 27 also requires that all national banks, 
including those not subject to the recording requirements, maintain 
certain application and loan information in loan files. Part 27 further 
provides that the OCC may require national banks to maintain and submit 
additional information if there is reason to believe that the bank 
engaged in discrimination.
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    \1\ The OCC issued part 27 as part of a settlement agreement in 
a case in which the plaintiffs alleged that Federal agencies, 
including the OCC, were obligated to exercise supervisory and 
regulatory powers to prevent discrimination in home mortgage lending 
under Title VIII of the Civil Rights Act of 1968 (Fair Housing Act). 
See National Urban League, et al. v. Office of the Comptroller of 
the Currency, et al., 78 FRD. 543, 544 (D.D.C. May 3, 1978). See 
also 44 FR 63084, November 2, 1979.
    \2\ 12 CFR part 1003.
    \3\ 12 U.S.C. 2801 et seq.
    \4\ 12 CFR 27.3(a)(1)(i).
    \5\ 12 CFR 27.3(a)(5).
    \6\ 12 CFR 27.3(a)(2).
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    The requirements in part 27 are as follows:
    Section 27.3(a)(1) requires provision of the data that national 
banks are required to collect on home loans pursuant to Regulation 
C.\7\
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    \7\ The quarterly recordkeeping requirements under 12 CFR 
27.3(a) do not add any burden because they are duplicative of the 
recordkeeping requirements under 12 CFR 1003.4(f). See OMB control 
number 1557-0345.
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    Sections 27.3(a)(2) and (3) require national banks that receive 
more than 50 applications but are not HMDA reporters to collect certain 
information quarterly.
    Section 27.3(a) also lists exceptions to the HMDA-LAR recordkeeping 
requirements.
    Section 27.3(b) lists the information national banks must attempt 
to obtain from an applicant as part of a home loan application and sets 
forth the information that banks must disclose to an applicant.
    Section 27.3(c) sets forth additional information national banks 
must maintain in each of their home loan files.
    Section 27.4 states that the OCC may require a national bank to 
maintain a Fair Housing Inquiry/Application Log found in Appendix III 
to part 27 including if: (1) there is reason to believe that the bank 
is prescreening, or otherwise engaging in discriminatory practices on a 
prohibited basis, (2) complaints filed with the Comptroller or letters 
in the Community Reinvestment Act file are found to be substantive in 
nature, indicating that the bank's home lending practices are, or may 
be, discriminatory, or (3) analysis of the data compiled by the bank 
under HMDA and Regulation C indicates a pattern of significant 
variation in the number of home loans between census tracts with 
similar incomes and home ownership levels differentiated only by race 
or national origin.
    Section 27.5 requires a national bank to maintain the information 
required by Sec.  27.3 for 25 months after the bank notifies the 
applicant of action taken on an application or after withdrawal of an 
application.
    Section 27.7 requires a national bank to submit to the OCC, upon 
request prior to a scheduled examination, the information required by 
Sec. Sec.  27.3(a) and 27.4. Non-HMDA reporters with more than 50 
applications are required to submit this data using the Monthly Home 
Loan Activity Format form in Appendix I to part 27 and the Home Loan 
Data Submission Form in Appendix IV to part 27, except that there is an 
additional exclusion for national banks with fewer than 75 
applications. Specifically, Sec.  27.7(c)(3) states that a bank with 
fewer than 75 home loan applications in the preceding year is not 
required to submit such forms unless the home loan activity is 
concentrated in the few months preceding the request for data, 
indicating the likelihood of increased activity over the subsequent 
year, or there is cause to believe that a bank is not in compliance 
with the fair housing laws based on prior examinations and/or 
complaints, among other factors.
    Section 27.7(d) provides that if there is cause to believe that a 
national bank is in noncompliance with fair housing laws, the 
Comptroller may require submission of additional Home Loan Data 
Submission Forms. The Comptroller may also require submission of the 
information maintained under Sec.  27.3(a) and Home Loan Data 
Submission Forms at more frequent intervals than specified.

Burden Estimates

    Estimated Number of Respondents: 702.
    Estimated Total Annual Burden: 12,632 hours.
    Estimated Frequency of Response: On occasion.
    Affected Public: Businesses or other for-profit.
    Comments submitted in response to this notice will be summarized 
and included in the request for OMB approval. All comments will become 
a matter of public record. Comments are invited on:
    (a) Whether the collection of information is necessary for the 
proper performance of the functions of the OCC, including whether the 
information has practical utility;
    (b) The accuracy of the OCC's estimate of the burden of the 
collection of information;
    (c) Ways to enhance the quality, utility, and clarity of the 
information to be collected;
    (d) Ways to minimize the burden of the collection on respondents, 
including through the use of automated collection techniques or other 
forms of information technology; and
    (e) Estimates of capital or start-up costs and costs of operation, 
maintenance, and purchase of services to provide information.

Theodore J. Dowd,
Deputy Chief Counsel, Office of the Comptroller of the Currency.
[FR Doc. 2023-27517 Filed 12-14-23; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4810-33-P


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