This section of the FEDERAL REGISTER

contains documents other than rules or

proposed rules that are applicable to the

public. Notices of hearings and investigations,

committee meetings, agency decisions and

rulings, delegations of authority, filing of

petitions and applications and agency

statements of organization and functions are

examples of documents appearing in this

section.

Notices Federal Register

19630 

Vol. 80, No. 70 

Monday, April 13, 2015 

1The existing five intermediaries in the pilot 

program are Federation of Appalachian Housing 

Enterprises, NeighborWorks Dakota Home 

Resources, Northeast South Dakota Community 

Action Program, Rural Community Assistance 

Corporation, and Texas Community Capital. 

2The current MOUs expire upon December 31, 

2015, or the effective date of the final rule for the 

certified loan application packaging process, 

whichever is earlier. The current pilot 

intermediaries are not guaranteed an intermediary 

role beyond their participation in the pilot program. 

DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE 

Rural Housing Service 

Notice of Intent To Accept Applications 

To Be an Intermediary Under the Loan 

Application Packaging Pilot Program 

Within the Section 502 Direct Single 

Family Housing Program 

AGENCY: Rural Housing Service, USDA. 

ACTION: Notice. 

SUMMARY: In Fiscal Year (FY) 2010, the 

Agency undertook a pilot program to 

evaluate how the loan application 

packaging process could be improved 

for the Section 502 Direct Single Family 

Housing program, which is authorized 

in Title V, Section 1480 (k) of the 

Housing Act. This pilot program 

introduced the use of intermediaries in 

the packaging process. Intermediaries 

reach out to other nonprofits to serve as 

loan application packagers, ensure those 

packagers are qualified and trained, 

perform quality assurance reviews to 

prevent the submission of incomplete or 

ineligible loan application packages to 

the Agency, and serve as a liaison 

between the Agency and the packager. 

Through this notice, the Agency will 

accept applications to be an 

intermediary under the pilot program. 

Approval will be subject to fully 

meeting the conditions outlined within 

this notice, sanctioning by the Single 

Family Housing Direct Loan Division 

following an application review (which 

will include input from the applicable 

Rural Development State Office), and 

signoff by the Rural Housing Service 

Administrator. 

DATES: Eligible parties interested in 

serving as a new intermediary under 

this pilot must submit the requested 

items to the Single Family Housing 

Direct Loan Division by May 13, 2015. 

ADDRESSES: Submissions may be sent 

electronically to 

SFHDIRECTPROGRAM@wdc.usda.gov 

or by mail to Brooke Baumann, Branch 

Chief, Single Family Housing Direct 

Loan Division, USDA Rural 

Development, 1400 Independence 

Avenue SW., Room 2211, Washington, 

DC 20250–0783. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Brooke Baumann, Branch Chief, Single 

Family Housing Direct Loan Division, 

USDA Rural Development, Stop 0783, 

1400 Independence Avenue SW., 

Washington, DC 20250–0783, 

Telephone: 202–690–4250. Email: 

brooke.baumann@wdc.usda.gov. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: As noted 

in the summary, intermediaries reach 

out to other nonprofits to serve as loan 

application packagers, ensure those 

packagers are qualified and trained, 

perform quality assurance reviews to 

prevent the submission of incomplete or 

ineligible loan application packages to 

the Agency, and serve as a liaison 

between the Agency and the packager. 

Each pilot intermediary signs a 

Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) 

with the Agency, which details the roles 

and responsibilities of all parties. 

• Under the pilot program, the 

intermediary and/or nonprofit packager 

may charge the borrower a loan 

application packaging fee not to exceed 

$1,500 to be paid at closing; the Agency 

does not dictate how or whether the 

intermediary and packager split the fee. 

Pursuant to Agency regulations at 7 CFR 

3550.52(d)(6), program funds may be 

used to pay the packaging fee, provided 

that this does not cause the loan to 

exceed the maximum allowable loan 

amount and the borrower has repayment 

ability for the fee. The maximum 

allowable loan amount is normally 

limited to 100 percent of market value 

(7 CFR 3550.63(b)) as determined by an 

appraisal. 

• Under the pilot program, if the 

maximum packaging fee cannot be 

included in the Section 502 Direct Loan, 

the intermediary and/or packager shall 

seek a seller concession to cover the fee; 

assist the applicant in seeking funds 

from outside sources to cover the fee; 

provided that those sources take the 

form of a soft, silent or forgivable 

subordinate affordable housing product; 

and/or reduce the fee to an amount that 

can be included in the Section 502 

Direct Loan or paid using a seller 

concession or outside sources of funds. 

In no event will the borrower or the 

Agency be responsible for paying the 

packaging fee to the extent that the 

maximum fee cannot be paid at closing 

using one of these options. It is 

understood by all parties that a 

packaging fee may be charged only for 

closed loans. 

On December 16, 2014, President 

Barack Obama signed into law the 

Consolidated and Further Continuing 

Appropriations Act, 2015 (Act), Public 

Law 113–235, which provides fiscal 

year (FY) 2015 full-year appropriations 

through September 30, 2015, for all 

agencies except the Department of 

Homeland Security. Sec. 729 of the Act 

provides that the Agency will continue 

agreements with the current 

intermediaries in the pilot program 1

and enter into additional agreements 

that increase the number of pilot 

intermediaries to at least 10. 

Sec. 729 applies only to the pilot 

program in FY 2015; it does not concern 

any rulemaking process. This notice 

solicits applications for intermediaries 

in the pilot program only, and does not 

guarantee an intermediary’s role or 

status when their pilot program MOU 

expires 2 or when the final rule for the 

certified loan application packaging 

process proposed in the Federal 

Register on August 23, 2013 (78 FR 

52460) becomes effective, whichever is 

earlier. Through this notice, five new 

intermediaries are sought. 

To qualify and apply to be a new 

intermediary under the pilot, an 

interested party must submit 

documentation demonstrating that it 

meets all of the following conditions: 

• Be a nonprofit organization or other 

public agency. 

• Be tax exempt under the Internal 

Revenue Code and be engaged in 

affordable housing in accordance with 

their regulations, articles of 

incorporation, or bylaws. 

• Have at least five years of verifiable 

experience with the Agency’s direct 

single family housing loan programs. 

• Develop quality control procedures 

designed to prevent submission of 

incomplete or ineligible application 

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Federal Register / Vol. 80, No. 70 / Monday, April 13, 2015 / Notices 19631 

packages to the Agency. This condition 

will require a detailed outline of the 

interested party’s intended procedures. 

• Have the capacity to serve as an 

intermediary in one or more of the 

following states not currently served 

under the existing pilot program: 

Alaska, Arkansas, Connecticut, 

Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Idaho, 

Illinois, Iowa, Kansas, Louisiana, Maine, 

Maryland, Massachusetts, Minnesota, 

Mississippi, Missouri, Nebraska, New 

Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, 

North Carolina, Oklahoma, 

Pennsylvania, Puerto Rico, Rhode 

Island, South Carolina, Vermont, Virgin 

Islands, Washington, and Wisconsin. 

(Applications that propose covering any 

of the following states will be 

automatically removed from 

consideration since the existing 

intermediaries are tasked with serving 

all or part of these states: Alabama, 

Arizona, California, Colorado, Hawaii, 

Indiana, Kentucky, Michigan, Montana, 

Nevada, New Mexico, North Dakota, 

Ohio, Oregon, South Dakota, Tennessee, 

Texas, Utah, Virginia, West Virginia, 

and Wyoming.) This condition will 

require a detailed outline of the 

interested party’s action plan and 

experience. The outline should include, 

but is not limited to: What state or states 

the party wishes to cover, how they are 

well-equipped to handle the proposed 

coverage area, how they intend on 

creating affiliations with eligible 

nonprofit packagers, confirmation that 

they will not serve dual roles (i.e., the 

intermediary and the packager’s 

employer must have different tax 

identification numbers and cannot have 

the same board of directors) unless they 

intend on operating under the program’s 

general provisions for some packages 

which means the packaging fee cannot 

exceed $750, their ability to target verylow income persons in rural areas 

interested in homeownership, and their 

ability to target underserved areas. 

• Ensure that their quality assurance 

staff completes an Agency-approved 

loan application packaging course and 

successfully pass the corresponding test. 

• Not be the developer, builder, seller 

of, or have any other such financial 

interest in, the property for which the 

application package is submitted. 

• Acknowledge qualifying as an 

intermediary for the pilot does not 

imply any guaranteed qualification 

under the certified loan application 

packaging process final rule once 

effective. 

The above conditions generally mimic 

those outlined in the proposed rule to 

create a certified loan application 

packaging process. 

If selected as a new intermediary, a 

MOU between the intermediary and the 

Agency must be signed. The MOU will 

detail the roles and responsibilities of 

all parties; and will be in effect through 

September 30, 2015, or up until the 

effective date of the final rule on the 

certified loan application packaging 

process, whichever should occur first. 

This notice should not be construed as 

containing all those roles and 

responsibilities. 

Non-Discrimination Statement 

USDA prohibits discrimination in all 

its programs and activities on the basis 

of race, color, national origin, age, 

disability, and where applicable, sex, 

marital status, familial status, parental 

status, religion, sexual orientation, 

political beliefs, genetic information, 

reprisal, or because all or part of an 

individual’s income is derived from any 

public assistance program. (Not all 

prohibited bases apply to all programs. 

Persons with disabilities who require 

alternative means for communication of 

program information (Braille, large 

print, audiotape, etc.) should contact 

USDA’s TARGET Center at (202) 720– 

2600 (voice and TDD). 

If you wish to file a Civil Rights 

program complaint of discrimination, 

complete the USDA Program 

Discrimination Complaint Form, found 

online at: http://www.ascr.usda.gov/

complaint_filing_cust.html or at any 

USDA Office, or call (866) 632–9992 to 

request the form. Send your completed 

complaint form or letter by mail to: U.S. 

Department of Agriculture, Director, 

Office of Adjudication, 1400 

Independence Avenue SW., 

Washington, DC 20250; by fax at (202) 

690–7442; or, by email at: 

program.intake@usda.gov. Individuals 

who are deaf, hard of hearing or have 

speech disabilities and who wish to file 

a program complaint should please 

contact USDA through the Federal Relay 

Service at (800) 877–8339 or (800) 845– 

6136 (in Spanish). USDA is an equal 

opportunity provider and employer. The 

full ‘‘Non-Discrimination Statement’’ is 

found at: http://www.usda.gov.wps/

portal/usda/usdahome?navtype=Non_

Discrimination. 

Dated: April 1, 2015. 

Tony Hernandez, 

Administrator, Rural Housing Service. 

[FR Doc. 2015–08351 Filed 4–10–15; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 3410–XV–P 

DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE 

Bureau of Economic Analysis 

Proposed Information Collection; 

Comment Request; Services Surveys: 

BE–45, Quarterly Survey of Insurance 

Transactions by U.S. Insurance 

Companies With Foreign Persons 

AGENCY: Bureau of Economic Analysis, 

Department of Commerce. 

ACTION: Notice. 

SUMMARY: The Department of 

Commerce, as part of its continuing 

effort to reduce paperwork and 

respondent burden, invites the general 

public and other Federal agencies to 

comment on proposed and/or 

continuing information collections, as 

required by the Paperwork Reduction 

Act of 1995, Public Law 104–13 (44 

U.S.C. 3506(c)(2)(A)). 

DATES: Written comments must be 

submitted on or before June 12, 2015. 

ADDRESSES: Direct all written comments 

to Jennifer Jessup, Departmental 

Paperwork Clearance Officer, 

Department of Commerce, Room 6616, 

14th and Constitution Avenue NW., 

Washington, DC 20230, or via email at 

jjesup@doc.gov. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Request for additional information or 

copies of the information collection 

instrument and instructions should be 

directed to Christopher Stein, Chief, 

Services Surveys Branch BE–50 (SSB), 

Bureau of Economic Analysis, U.S. 

Department of Commerce, Washington, 

DC 20230; phone: (202) 606–9850; fax: 

(202) 606–5318; or via email at 

christopher.stein@bea.gov. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

I. Abstract 

The Quarterly Survey of Insurance 

Transactions by U.S. Insurance 

Companies with Foreign Persons (BE– 

45) is a survey that collects data on U.S. 

trade in insurance services. The 

information collected on this survey 

will be used to formulate U.S. 

international economic policy and 

analyze the impact of that policy, and 

the policies of foreign countries, on 

international trade in services. The data 

are used in estimating the insurance 

component of the U.S. international 

transactions accounts (ITAs) and 

national income and product accounts 

(NIPAs). 

The Bureau of Economic Analysis 

(BEA) is proposing no additions, 

modifications, or deletions to the 

current BE–45 survey. The effort to keep 

current reporting requirements 

unchanged is intended to minimize 

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