Federal Register / Vol. 65, No. 235 / Wednesday, December 6, 2000 / Notices 76273

needs, demand and supply, as well as

changes in housing conditions and

costs, to aid in the development of

housing policies and the design of

housing programs appropriate for

different target groups, such as first-time

home buyers and the elderly.

2. With these data, HUD can evaluate,

monitor, and design HUD programs to

improve efficiency and effectiveness.

Agency Form Numbers: Computerized

Versions of AHS–22 and AHS–23.

Members of affected public:

Households.

Estimation of the total number of

hours needed to prepare the information

collection including number of

respondents, frequency of response, and

hours of response:

Number of respondents: 55,000.

Estimate Responses per

Respondent: 1 every two years.

Time per respondent: 34 minutes.

Total hours to respond: 31,167.

Respondent’s Obligation: Voluntary.

Status of the proposed information

collection: Pending OMB approval.

Authority: Title 13 U.S.C. Section 9(a), and

Title 12, U.S.C., Section 1701z–1 et seq.

Dated: November 17, 2000.

Lawrence L. Thompson,

General Deputy Assistant Secretary for Policy

Development and Research.

[FR Doc. 00–30991 Filed 12–5–00; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 4210–62–M

DEPARTMENT OF HOUSING AND

URBAN DEVELOPMENT

[Docket No. FR–4579–FA–03]

Announcement of Funding Awards—

Fiscal Year 2000 Office of Troubled

Agency Recovery Cooperative

Agreements

AGENCY: Office of the Assistant

Secretary for Public and Indian

Housing, HUD.

ACTION: Announcement of funding

awards.

SUMMARY: In accordance with section

102(a)(4)(C) of the Department of

Housing and Urban Development

Reform Act of 1989, this announcement

notifies the public of funding decisions

made by the Department from funds

distributed to the Office of Troubled

Agency Recovery during Fiscal Year

2000. This announcement contains the

name and address of all awardees and

the amount of each award.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

Kathryn Edgar, Department of Housing

and Urban Development, 451 Seventh

Street, SW, Washington, DC 20410,

telephone (202) 708–1141. Hearing- or

speech-impaired individuals may call

HUD’s TDD number (202) 708–4594.

(These numbers are not toll-free.)

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The

Cooperative Agreement with each of the

following recipients was issued

pursuant to Section 6(j) of the United

States Housing Act of 1937. The awards

will be used to provide technical

assistance to support troubled agency

recovery efforts and funding assistance

as necessary to remedy the substantial

deterioration of living conditions in

public housing or other related

emergencies that endanger the health,

safety, and welfare of the residents.

The Catalog of Federal Domestic

Assistance number for this program is

14.859.

In accordance with section

102(a)(4)(C) of the Department of

Housing and Urban Development

Reform Act of 1989 (103 Stat. 1987, 42

U.S.C. 3545), the Department is

publishing the name, address, and

amount of each award as follows:

Awardee Amount

San Francisco Housing Authority, 440 Turk Street, San Francisco, CA 94102 ................................................................................. $367,139

Housing Authority of New Haven, 360 Orange St., New Haven, CT 06501 ...................................................................................... 540,000

Housing Authority of New London, 78 Walden Avenue, New London, CT 06320 ............................................................................. 111,000

Topeka Housing Authority, 2101 SE California Avenue, Topeka, KS 66607 ..................................................................................... 150,000

Housing Authority of New Orleans, 4100 Touro Street, New Orleans, LA 70122 ............................................................................. 150,000

Inkster Housing Commission, 4500 Inkster Road, Inkster, MI 48141 ................................................................................................ 3,500

Muskegon Housing Commission, 1823 Commerce Street, Muskegon, MI 49440 ............................................................................. 115,000

Housing Authority of Kansas City, 299 Paseo, Kansas City, MO 64106 ........................................................................................... 475,000

Saint Louis Housing Authority, 4100 Lindell Boulevard, Saint Louis, MO 63108 ............................................................................... 800,000

Wellston Housing Authority, 1584 Ogdon Avenue, Wellston, MO 63112 ........................................................................................... 50,000

Sainte Genevieve Housing Authority, 225 Saint Joseph Street, Sainte Genevieve, MO 63670 ....................................................... 55,000

Omaha Housing Authority, 540 South 27th Street, Omaha, NE 68105 ............................................................................................. 275,000

Clinton Metropolitan Housing Authority, 478 Thorne Avenue, Wilmington, OH 45177 ...................................................................... 50,000

Potter County Housing Authority, East Seventh Street, Coudersport, PA 16915 .............................................................................. 7,500

Philadelphia Housing Authority, 2021 Chestnut Street, Philadelphia, PA 19103 ............................................................................... 1,800,000

Franklin Housing Authority, 601 Campbell Avenue, Franklin, VA 23851 ........................................................................................... 40,000

Dated: November 29, 2000.

Milan Ordinec,

Acting General Deputy, Assistant Secretary

for Public and Indian Housing.

[FR Doc. 00–30988 Filed 12–5–00; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 4210–33–P

DEPARTMENT OF HOUSING AND

URBAN DEVELOPMENT

[Docket No. FR–4623–N–01]

Deployment of the FHA TOTAL

Mortgage Scorecard

AGENCY: Office of the Assistant

Secretary for Housing—Federal Housing

Commissioner, HUD.

ACTION: Notice.

SUMMARY: This notice announces HUD’s

intention to deploy the FHA TOTAL

Scorecard for mortgage industry use.

TOTAL refers to ‘‘Technology Open To

All Lenders.’’ The FHA TOTAL

Scorecard, developed by HUD, assesses

the credit worthiness of FHA borrowers

by evaluating certain mortgage

application and borrower credit

information that has been statistically

proven to accurately predict the

likelihood of borrower default. The FHA

TOTAL Scorecard is not an automated

underwriting system; rather, it is a

mathematical equation intended to be

used within an automated underwriting

system. HUD wishes to deploy the FHA

TOTAL Scorecard with industry users

76274 Federal Register / Vol. 65, No. 235 / Wednesday, December 6, 2000 / Notices

who share the Department’s vision of

increasing homeownership

opportunities.

In order to participate in the

Scorecard initiative, interested parties

should have an automated underwriting

system (‘‘AUS’’) in place. As this

product offering relates solely to the

deployment of a scorecard, the AUS will

utilize its own checks for FHA

eligibility rules and its own

functionality for loan specific messages.

Based on the Scorecard configurations,

the industry user must be equipped

with a Sybase Database Server that

receives calls in XML or Sybase Open

Client. In addition, the user must have

a communication link to HUD (https). In

order to maximize the effectiveness of

the Scorecard, interested participants

should consult their internal IT

personnel to ensure sufficient capacity

to house the FHA TOTAL Scorecard.

Participants should be prepared to fully

support the server under their current IT

Operations center. Additionally, any

programming related to required inputs/

connectivity to the FHA TOTAL

Scorecard are the responsibility of the

industry users.

ADDRESSES: Interested persons are

invited to submit comments and

responses to the Rules Docket Clerk,

Office of the General Counsel, Room

10276, Department of Housing and

Urban Development, 451 Seventh Street

SW, Washington DC 20410–0500.

Communications should refer to the

above docket number and title.

Facsimile (FAX) responses are not

acceptable. A copy of each response will

be available for public inspection and

copying during regular business hours

(7:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. Eastern Time at

the above address).

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

Laura Donnelly, Office of the Deputy

Assistant Secretary for Single Family

Housing, Room 9278, Department of

Housing and Urban Development, 451

Seventh Street S.W., Washington, D.C.,

20410, telephone (202) 708–0614 (this is

not a toll-free number). Hearing or

speech-impaired individuals may access

these numbers via TTY by calling the

Federal Information Relay Service at 1–

800–877–8339 (this is a toll-free

number).

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Background, Purposes and Objectives

In July 1996, the FHA, an entity

within the Department of Housing and

Urban Development (‘‘HUD’’ or the

‘‘Department’’) issued Mortgagee Letter

96–34. That Mortgagee Letter set forth

HUD/FHA’s requirements and processes

for approving automated mortgage

underwriting systems (‘‘AUSs’’) to

underwrite HUD/FHA insured mortgage

loans. Mortgagee Letter 96–34 permitted

lenders to utilize various AUSs in

underwriting FHA loans, following

screening, evaluation and approval of

the AUS by FHA. Pursuant to Mortgagee

Letter 96–34, two individual privatelydeveloped mortgage scorecards were

approved by HUD for use in the

processing of HUD/FHA mortgage loans.

Both of these systems employ mortgage

scorecards developed by the system

vendors using FHA borrower data. This

notice is to inform the public that FHA

intends to rescind approval of these

proprietary scorecards and replace with

the FHA TOTAL Scorecard. TOTAL

refers to ‘‘Technology Open To All

Lenders.’’

A Mortgagee Letter will be issued to

supersede Mortgagee Letter 96–34, and

outline the basic requirements for an

AUS to be used in underwriting FHA

loans; this future Mortgagee Letter may

be further amended or supplemented by

future mortgagee letters, handbooks,

policy statements, or lender notices

concerning AUSs. Prior approvals for

use of privately-developed mortgage

scorecards will be formally rescinded by

written notice to the entities previously

receiving such approvals. HUD

anticipates providing three months prior

notice of rescission and thereafter HUD

will require use of the FHA TOTAL

Scorecard in any AUS. Users of the FHA

TOTAL Scorecard will receive

documentation relief and credit policy

waivers provided by FHA. FHA has also

developed a Use Agreement which sets

forth the requirements and

responsibilities for implementation and

use of the FHA TOTAL Scorecard by

qualified lenders, government

sponsored enterprises and their

contractors, sponsors, loan

correspondents and authorized agents

that purchase, sell, underwrite or

document HUD/FHA mortgage loans for

lenders under HUD/FHA’s Direct

Endorsement procedures for various

HUD/FHA mortgage insurance programs

(hereinafter ‘‘Lenders’’). Please note that

while FHA wishes to permit access to

the FHA TOTAL Scorecard as widely as

possible, only lenders with Direct

Endorsement status may ‘‘underwrite’’

FHA insured loans, with or without use

of AU systems, on FHA’s behalf.

HUD/FHA’s objectives for entering

into the Use Agreement are to:

(a) Provide for the use and

implementation of the FHA TOTAL

Scorecard in AUSs used during the

process of underwriting FHA loans;

(b) Identify and approve creditworthy

borrowers that may have been excluded

from homeownership under traditional

HUD/FHA underwriting guidelines;

(c) Continue to ensure that no

borrower will be denied an FHAinsured mortgage loan solely on the

basis of a ‘‘refer’’ risk classification by

an AUS.

(d) Expand access to mortgage credit

for low-and moderate-income borrowers

and other under served populations and

locations and to discourage unlawful

discrimination against borrowers

protected by the Fair Housing Act and

the Equal Credit Opportunity Act;

(e) Facilitate access to and reduce the

cost and time associated with

originating HUD/FHA-insured

mortgages;

(f) Enhance HUD/FHA’s ability to

assess and manage risk and preserve the

actuarial soundness of HUD/FHA’s

mutual mortgage insurance fund;

(g) Facilitate and encourage a

standardized, industry-wide capability

for communication and exchange of

information among members of the

mortgage lending community.

This Notice

HUD is in the process of deploying

the FHA TOTAL Scorecard and will

rescind the approval of scorecards

under Mortgage Letter 96–34, ML 98–14

and ML 99–26. Upon completion of

FHA’s deployment efforts, FHA will

require use of the FHA TOTAL

Scorecard in any AUS and Users will

receive documentation relief and credit

policy waivers approved by FHA.

HUD’s goals are to increase the

availability of the FHA TOTAL

Scorecard and increase lenders’

efficiencies through loan level data

transfer on a real-time basis thereby

reducing lenders reporting requirements

and improving workflow processes

through reduced data entry. Other goals

include improving underwriting

efficiencies by lenders, decreasing

losses to FHA’s insurance fund, and

integrating the use of automated

underwriting systems into FHA’s

existing processes and workflow

including mortgage insurance

endorsement processing.

To that end, HUD continues to work

with Users to deploy the FHA TOTAL

Scorecard.

Dated: November 29, 2000.

William C. Apgar,

Assistant Secretary for Housing—Federal

Housing Commissioner.

[FR Doc. 00–30987 Filed 12–5–00; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 4210–27–P