27176 Federal Register / Vol. 87, No. 88 / Friday, May 6, 2022 / Notices 

DEPARTMENT OF HOUSING AND 

URBAN DEVELOPMENT 

[Docket No. FR–7050–N–14] 

30-Day Notice of Proposed Information 

Collection: Comment Request; 

Implementation of the Housing for 

Older Persons Act of 1995 (HOPA), 

OMB Control No: 2529–0046 

AGENCY: Office of Policy Development 

and Research, Chief Data Officer, HUD. 

ACTION: Notice. 

SUMMARY: HUD is seeking approval from 

the Office of Management and Budget 

(OMB) for the information collection 

described below. In accordance with the 

Paperwork Reduction Act, HUD is 

requesting comment from all interested 

parties on the proposed collection of 

information. The purpose of this notice 

is to allow for an additional 30 days of 

public comment. 

DATES: Comments Due Date: June 6, 

2022. 

ADDRESSES: Interested persons are 

invited to submit comments regarding 

this proposal. Written comments and 

recommendations for the proposed 

information collection should be sent 

within 30 days of publication of this 

notice to OIRA_submission@

omb.eop.gov or www.reginfo.gov/public/ 

do/PRAMain. Find this particular 

information collection by selecting 

‘‘Currently under 30-day Review—Open 

for Public Comments’’ or by using the 

search function. Persons with hearing or 

speech impairments may access this 

number through TTY by calling the tollfree Federal Relay Service at (800) 877– 

8339. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Colette Pollard, Reports Management 

Officer, QDAM, Department of Housing 

and Urban Development, 451 7th Street 

SW, Washington, DC 20410; email 

Colette Pollard at Colette.Pollard@

hud.gov or telephone 202–402–3400. 

This is not a toll-free number. Copies of 

available documents submitted to OMB 

may be obtained from Ms. Pollard. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: This 

notice informs the public that HUD is 

seeking approval from OMB for the 

information collection described in 

Section A. 

The Federal Register notice that 

solicited public comment on the 

information collection for a period of 60 

days was published on July 15, 2021 at 

86 FR 37340. 

A. Overview of Information Collection 

Title of Information Collection: 

Implementation of the Housing for 

Older Persons Act of 1995 (HOPA). 

OMB Control Number: 2529–0046. 

Type of Request: Proposed 

reinstatement without change of an 

expired, previously approved 

information collection requirement. 

Description of the need for the 

information and proposed use: The Fair 

Housing Act [42 U.S.C.3601 et seq.], 

prohibits discrimination in the sale, 

rental, occupancy, advertising, insuring, 

or financing of residential dwellings 

based on familial status (individuals 

living in households with one or more 

children under 18 years of age). 

However, under § 3607(b)(2) of the Act, 

Congress exempted three (3) categories 

of ‘‘housing for older persons’’ from 

liability for familial status 

discrimination: (1) Housing provided 

under any State or Federal program 

which the Secretary of HUD determines 

is ‘‘specifically designed and operated 

to assist elderly persons (as defined in 

the State or Federal program)’’; (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 unit 

[‘55 or older’ housing].’’ In December 

1995, Congress passed the Housing for 

Older Persons Act of 1995 (HOPA) 

[Public Law 104–76, 109 STAT. 787] as 

an amendment to the Fair Housing Act. 

The HOPA modified the ‘‘55 or older’’ 

housing exemption provided under 

§ 3607(b)(2)(C) of the Fair Housing Act 

by eliminating the requirement that a 

housing provider must offer ‘‘significant 

facilities and services specifically 

designed to meet the physical or social 

needs of older persons.’’ In order to 

qualify for the HOPA exemption, a 

housing community or facility must 

meet each of the following criteria: (1) 

At least 80 percent of the occupied units 

in the community or facility must be 

occupied by at least one person who is 

55 years of age of older; (2) the housing 

provider must publish and adhere to 

policies and procedures that 

demonstrate the intent to operate 

housing for persons 55 years of age or 

older; and (3) the housing provider must 

demonstrate compliance with ‘‘rules 

issued by the Secretary for verification 

of occupancy, which shall . . . provide 

for [age] verification by reliable surveys 

and affidavits.’’ 

The HOPA did not significantly 

increase the record-keeping burden for 

the ‘‘55 or older’’ housing exemption. It 

describes in greater detail the 

documentary evidence which HUD will 

consider when determining, during a 

familial status discrimination complaint 

investigation, whether or not a housing 

facility or community qualified for the 

‘‘55 or older’’ housing exemption as of 

the date on which the alleged Fair 

Housing Act violation occurred. 

The HOPA information collection 

requirements are necessary to establish 

a housing provider’s eligibility to claim 

the ‘‘55 or older’’ housing exemption as 

an affirmative defense to a familial 

status discrimination complaint filed 

with HUD under the Fair Housing Act. 

The information will be collected in the 

normal course of business in connection 

with the sale, rental, or occupancy of 

dwelling units situated in qualified 

senior housing facilities or 

communities. The HOPA’s requirement 

that a housing provider must 

demonstrate the intent to operate a ‘‘55 

or older’’ housing community or facility 

by publishing, and consistently 

enforcing, age verification rules, policies 

and procedures for current and 

prospective occupants reflects the usual 

and customary practice of the senior 

housing industry. Under the HOPA, a 

‘‘55 or older’’ housing provider should 

conduct an initial occupancy survey of 

the housing community or facility to 

verify compliance with the HOPA’s ‘‘80 

percent occupancy’’ requirement and 

should maintain such compliance by 

periodically reviewing and updating 

existing age verification records for each 

occupied dwelling unit at least once 

every two years. The creation and 

maintenance of such occupancy/age 

verification records should occur in the 

normal course of individual sale or 

rental housing transactions and should 

require minimal preparation time. 

Further, a senior housing provider’s 

operating rules, policies and procedures 

are not privileged or confidential in 

nature, because such information must 

be disclosed to current and prospective 

residents, and to residential real estate 

professionals. 

The HOPA exemption also requires 

that a summary of the occupancy survey 

results must be made available for 

public inspection. This summary need 

not contain confidential information 

about individual residents; it may 

simply indicate the total number of 

dwelling units that are actually 

occupied by persons 55 years of age or 

older. While the supporting age 

verification records may contain 

confidential information about 

individual occupants, such information 

would be protected from disclosure 

unless the housing provider claims the 

‘‘55 or older’’ housing exemption as an 

affirmative defense to a jurisdictional 

familial status discrimination complaint 

filed with HUD under the Fair Housing 

Act. HUD’s Office of Fair Housing and 

Equal Opportunity will only require a 

housing provider to disclose such 

confidential information to HUD if and 


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Federal Register / Vol. 87, No. 88 / Friday, May 6, 2022 / Notices 27177 

when HUD investigates a jurisdictional 

familial status discrimination complaint 

filed against the housing provider under 

the Fair Housing Act, and if and when 

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: The 

HOPA requires that small businesses 

and other small entities that operate 

housing intended for occupancy by 

persons 55 years of age or older must 

routinely collect and update reliable age 

verification information necessary to 

meet the eligibility criteria for the 

HOPA exemption. The record keeping 

requirements are the responsibility of 

the housing provider that seeks to 

qualify for the HOPA exemption. 

Estimation of the total numbers of 

hours needed to prepare the information 

collection, including the number of 

respondents, frequency of response, and 

hours of response: 

Housing providers claiming eligibility 

for the HOPA’s ‘‘55 or older’’ housing 

exemption must demonstrate ongoing 

compliance with the HOPA exemption 

requirements. The HOPA does not 

authorize HUD to require submission of 

this information by individual housing 

providers as a means of certifying that 

their housing communities or facilities 

qualify for the exemption. Further, since 

the HOPA has no mandatory registration 

requirement, HUD cannot ascertain the 

actual number of housing facilities and 

communities that are currently 

collecting this information with the 

intention of qualifying for the HOPA 

exemption. Accordingly, HUD has 

estimated that approximately 1,000 

housing facilities or communities would 

seek to qualify for the HOPA exemption. 

HUD has estimated that the occupancy/ 

age verification data would require 

routine updating with each new housing 

transaction within the facility or 

community, and that the number of 

such transactions per year might vary 

significantly depending on the size and 

nature of the facility or community. 

HUD also estimated the average number 

of housing transactions per year at ten 

(10) transactions 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 hours are 5,500 hours [See Table 

below]. 

Type of collection activity Number of 

respondents 

Frequency 

of response 

Responses 

per annum 

Burden hour 

per 

response 

Annual 

burden 

hours 

Hourly cost 

per 

response 

Annual cost 

One: Collect reliable age verification records for at least one 

occupant per dwelling unit to meet the HOPA’s minimum 

‘‘80% occupancy’’ requirement .............................................. 1,000 1 1,000 1 1,000 $18.18 $18.18 

Two: Publication of & adherence to policies & procedures that 

demonstrate intent to operate ‘‘55 or older’’ housing ........... 1,000 1 1,000 2 2,00 18.18 36,360 

Three: Periodic updates of age verification records ................. 1,000 1 1,000 2.50 2,500 18.18 45,450 

B. Solicitation of Public Comments 

This Notice is soliciting comments 

from members of the public and affected 

agencies concerning the proposed 

information collection in order to: 

(1) Evaluate whether the proposed 

information collection is necessary for 

the proper performance of HUD’s 

program functions; 

(2) Evaluate the accuracy of HUD’s 

assessment of the paperwork burden 

that may result from the proposed 

information collection; 

(3) Enhance the quality, utility, and 

clarity of the information which must be 

collected; and 

(4) Minimize the burden of the 

information collection on responders, 

including the use of appropriate 

automated collection techniques or 

other forms of information technology 

(e.g., permitting electronic submission 

of responses). 

(5) ways to minimize the burden of 

the collection of information on those 

who are to respond, including the use 

of automated collection techniques or 

other forms of information technolog 

HUD encourages interested parties to 

submit comment in response to these 

questions. 

Authority: Section 3506 of the 

Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, 44 

U.S.C. chapter 35, as amended. 

Colette Pollard, 

Department Reports Management Officer, 

Office of Policy Development and Research, 

Chief Data Officer. 

[FR Doc. 2022–09791 Filed 5–5–22; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 4210–67–P 

DEPARTMENT OF HOUSING AND 

URBAN DEVELOPMENT 

[Docket No. FR–7056–N–12] 

60-Day Notice of Proposed Information 

Collection: Equity in Housing 

Counseling Survey, OMB Control No.: 

2502–0623 

AGENCY: Office of the Assistant 

Secretary for Housing—Federal Housing 

Commissioner, HUD. 

ACTION: Notice. 

SUMMARY: HUD is seeking approval from 

the Office of Management and Budget 

(OMB) for the information collection 

described below. In accordance with the 

Paperwork Reduction Act, HUD is 

requesting comment from all interested 

parties on the proposed collection of 

information. The purpose of this notice 

is to allow for 60 days of public 

comment. 

DATES: Comments Due Date: July 5, 

2022. 

ADDRESSES: Interested persons are 

invited to submit comments regarding 

this proposal. Comments should refer to 

the proposal by name and/or OMB 

Control Number and should be sent to: 

Colette Pollard, Reports Management 

Officer, Department of Housing and 

Urban Development, 451 7th Street SW, 

Washington, DC 20410–5000; telephone 

202–402–3400 (this is not a toll-free 

number) or email at Colette.Pollard@

hud.gov for a copy of the proposed 

forms or other available information. 

Persons with hearing or speech 

impairments may access this number 

through TTY by calling the Federal 

Relay Service at 800–877–8339 (this is 

a toll-free number). 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Colette Pollard, Reports Management 

Officer, Department of Housing and 

Urban Development, 451 7th Street SW, 

Washington, DC 20410; email Colette 

Pollard at Colette.Pollard@hud.gov or 

telephone 202–402–3400(this is not a 

toll-free number). Persons with hearing 

or speech impairments may access this 

number through TTY by calling the 

Federal Relay Service at 800–877–8339 

(this is a toll-free number). Copies of 

available documents submitted to OMB 

may be obtained from Ms. Pollard. 


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