18576 Federal Register / Vol. 60, No. 70 / Wednesday, April 12, 1995 / Notices

Issued at Washington, DC this 31st day of

March.

Wardell Townsend, Jr.,

Assistant Secretary for Administration.

[FR Doc. 95–9006 Filed 4–11–95; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 3410–10–M

Rural Housing and Community

Development Service

Submission of Information Collection

to OMB (Under Paperwork Reduction

Act and 5 CFR Part 1320)

AGENCY: Rural Housing and Community

Development Service, USDA.

ACTION: Notice.

SUMMARY: The information collection

requirements described below have

been submitted to Office of Management

and Budget (OMB) for expedited

clearance under 5 CFR 1320.18. The

RHCDS solicits comments on the subject

submission. This action is necessary in

order for RHCDS to inform Multiple

Family Housing program borrowers

with Section 8 project-based housing

subsidy who signed RHCDS interest

credit agreements prior to October 27,

1980, that RHCDS may have improperly

reduced benefits under the interest

credit agreement. Each affected

borrower will be advised of available

options, ranging from reversal of certain

previous RHCDS actions and retroactive

application of certain collections to the

borrower’s loan account. Each affected

borrower will be given the opportunity

to request correction of the application

of interest credit subsidy to their loan

account. The intended effect is to

restore the affected borrower accounts to

their correct accounting status.

ADDRESSES: Interested persons are

invited to submit comments regarding

this submission. Comments should refer

to the proposal by name and should be

sent to: Lisa Grove, USDA Desk Officer,

Office of Management and Budget, New

Executive Office Building, Washington,

DC 20503.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

William F. Daniel, Senior Loan Officer,

Multiple Family Housing Servicing and

Property Management Division, RHCDS,

Ag Box 0782, 14th and Independence

Avenue, SW., Washington, DC 20250,

Telephone (202) 720–1619.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: RHCDS

has submitted this proposal for

collection of information to OMB for

expedited clearance as required by the

Paperwork Reduction Act (44 U.S.C.

Chapter 35). The supporting statement

attached explains the need for informing

affected borrowers and requesting them

to advise RHCDS concerning their

choice of available options in servicing

their loan account.

Authority: Section 3507 of the Paperwork

Reduction Act, 44 U.S.C. 3507.

Supporting Statement

Notification of Choice of Options for

Borrowers with Section 515/8 and

Interest Credit Agreements Signed

before October 27, 1980.

Justification

1. The Rural Housing and Community

Development Service (RHCDS),

successor in part to the Farmers Home

Administration (FmHA), is authorized

under sections 515 and 521 of title V of

the Housing Act of 1949, to provide

loans and grants to eligible recipients

(borrowers) for the development of rural

rental housing to benefit very-low and

low-income rural residents. By

Memorandum of Understanding (MOU)

dated June 23, 1976, the Secretaries of

Agriculture and Housing and Urban

Development (HUD) agreed that HUD’s

Section 8 project-based subsidy program

could be combined with the FmHA

Section 515 program to reduce shelter

cost for the beneficiaries (tenants).

On October 27, 1980, FmHA initially

issued its regulations [7 CFR part 1930,

subpart C (0575–0033)] for the

‘‘Management and Supervision of

Multiple Family Housing Borrowers and

Grant Recipients.’’ Exhibit C of this

regulation stipulated conditions that

permit the Agency to require the

borrower to deposit any excess funds

from the subsidy stream into the project

reserve account should the HUD Section

8 rent rate exceed rent rates approved by

FmHA. In the event the reserve account

built to a level exceeding a required

amount, FmHA was then permitted to

reduce or cancel any interest credit that

FmHA provided in meeting its

agreement with HUD as stipulated in

the MOU. The intended effect was to

avoid double subsidy by the Federal

Government, namely Interest Credit by

FmHA and Section 8 by HUD, for the

same span of subsidy need.

During its administration of the

combined loan and subsidy programs,

FmHA established six interest credit

agreement forms as the program

regulations developed. In 1994, a

challenge to the Agency’s ability to

reduce or cancel interest credit was filed

in Federal court. RHCDS has reviewed

all interest credit agreement forms and

regulations, including those previously

used. RHCDS concluded that any

interest credit agreement signed before

October 27, 1980, does not support

reduction or cancellation of interest

credit, collection of overage, or

requiring any excess funds to be

deposited in the project reserve account

resulting from HUD Section 8 rent

adjustments, with one exception which

is described in the Administrative

Notice for the October 13, 1977, interest

credit agreement form.

RHCDS intends to issue an

Administrative Notice (AN) to all Acting

State Directors and District Directors for

Rural Economic and Community

Development (RECD), who have

oversight responsibility for RHCDS

programs. The AN will explain the

background of factors leading to the

conclusion that interest credit

agreements signed before October 27,

1980, lack basis for RHCDS or its

predecessor Agency, FmHA, to cancel or

reduce interest credit, collect overage

and require deposit of excess subsidy

funds in a project reserve account. The

AN will explain the correct

administration of interest credit

agreements for each of the six versions

of the agreement form ever used.

Each RECD servicing office (District

Office) will be directed to identify all

Section 515 multiple family housing

loan accounts that have Section 8

project-based subsidy. Attachment 1 of

the AN contains the wording of the

notice to be sent by certified mail to

each identified loan account borrower.

The borrower will have certain choices

to request retroactive processing of their

loan account or to maintain status quo.

Attachment 2 of the AN contains the

language of the response that each

affected borrower is asked to return to

the servicing office by close of business,

December 29, 1995, for corrective

processing. The public burden will

involve the borrower reading

Attachment 1, considering choices, and

responding to the RECD servicing office,

using Attachment 2.

2. The purpose of Attachment 2 of the

AN will be to allow affected borrowers

to inform the RECD servicing office one

time of their choice of available options

in the servicing of their loan account.

The servicing office will process, within

60 calendar days of receipt, any requests

for retroactive application of loan

payments and overage that was

collected by RHCDS. The loan payments

and overage will be reapplied as of the

date they were originally applied. Such

reapplication will have the effect of

paying borrower loan accounts ahead of

schedule. The servicing office will

honor any request to have RHCDS cease

the requirement of depositing excess

rent in the project reserve account.

Should the borrower choose to continue

with the current loan servicing

arrangement, no further action by

RHCDS will be required other than to

file the completed Attachment 2 reply
Federal Register / Vol. 60, No. 70 / Wednesday, April 12, 1995 / Notices 18577

in the borrower casefile. If the collection

of information were not to take place

using Attachment 2, considerable cost to

RHCDS and the borrower would result

because of the time it would require for

each servicing office to call each

affected borrower, explain the content of

the AN and solicit a verbal response.

Documentation of borrower choices

would be seriously weakened by not

using Attachment 2.

3. RHCDS is currently working with

industry representatives to establish a

fully automated interface in

communication between servicing office

and borrower. It is not yet available for

use with this information collection

effort.

4. Duplication is not a factor in this

one-time information collection effort.

RHCDS has no way of knowing what

each borrower will select from among

the available choice of options in

servicing their loan account. Such

information will be the result of a

conscious conclusion of variable

considerations known only to each

borrower.

5. The information collection will

affect small businesses and

organizations. The Attachment 1 notice

to borrower and the Attachment 2

response to the servicing office is

succinct, consisting of only four pages

containing self-explanatory information.

6. This will be a one-time collection

of information and will not be repeated.

7. This information collection effort is

consistent with the provisions of 5 CFR

1320.6.

8. The following organizations and

points of contact were consulted

January 27–February 3, 1995, to obtain

their views and insights on the

availability of data for this one-time

collection, clarity of instructions and

recordkeeping, disclosure and format of

Attachment 2 and the data elements to

be reported:

a. Johanna Shreve, Rural Housing

Council, National Association of

Home Builders, 1201 15th Street,

NW., Washington, D.C. 20005,

Telephone 202–822–0236 –––

b. Anna Moser, Council for Rural

Housing and Development, 1300 19th

Street, NW., Suite 410, Washington,

D.C. 20037, Telephone 202–296–5159

c. Herb Collins, Boston Capital, 313

Congress Street, Boston,

Massachusetts, 02210–1231,

Telephone 617–330–0072

d. Art Collings, Housing Assistance

Council, Inc., 1025 Vermont Avenue,

NW., Suite 606, Washington, D.C.

20005

No major problems were noted during

the consultations that cannot be

resolved.

9. Discussions were held in

professional confidence in generic

terms; no particular individual borrower

or loan account was discussed.

10.–There are no questions in this

information collection that are of a

sensitive nature, such as sexual

behavior, religious beliefs, and other

matters commonly considered private.

11. The cost to the Federal

Government and to the respondents will

occur only one time, thus the estimates

of cost shown in this justification are

the one-time cost rather than annualized

as it would be for an on-going public

burden.

The average RHCDS administrative

cost is $27.40 per employee hour. This

cost is a composite of salary and

employment benefits and RHCDS

overhead. The RHCDS cost per

respondent is estimated at $54.40 for 2

hours of work for each respondent; total

cost is estimated at $34,598.

In consultation with the contacts

described in Item 8, RHCDS estimates

each respondent will devote an average

of 2 hours at an average cost of $30.00

per hour to respond. The cost per

respondent for this one-time

information collection is estimated at

$60.00; total cost is estimated at

$38,160.

12.–RHCDS estimates there are 636

respondents who will respond to the

information collection effort. The

collection of information will occur

only one time. Attachment 1 of the AN

will be sent by certified mail to inform

each respondent about three choices of

options. Attachment 2 of the AN will be

used as the response document on

which the respondent will identify their

choice of each option.

The Federal burden estimate is 2

hours on average to prepare

Attachments 1 and 2 of the AN, send

them by certified mail, and receive and

process each response using Agency

automation systems. The public burden

estimate is 2 hours on average to receive

Attachments 1 and 2 of the AN, read,

comprehend, seek and receive

professional consultation, make a

decision and respond using Attachment

2.

13. This is the first and only time this

burden will be necessary. This is a

unique burden rather than a reoccurring

burden, thus there are no changes in

burden.

14.– Data collected will not be

published.

Attachment 1—Guide Letter

Certified Mail—Return Receipt Requested

Addressee

(Insert Section 515/8 Borrower Name and

Address)

Reference: (Project Name)

Dear (Borrower): You have been identified

by the Rural Housing and Community

Development Service (RHCDS) as a borrower

that may be entitled to a reversal of actions

previously taken in the administration of

your loan account. Your loan documents

include an interest credit agreement that was

signed before October 27, 1980. The interest

credit agreement was executed in

conjunction with a Housing Assistance

Payment Contract (Section 8 subsidy)

administered by the Department of Housing

and Urban Development (HUD).

In the course of administering your loan

account, RHCDS, formerly known as the

Farmers Home Administration (FmHA),

cancelled or reduced the amount of interest

credit provided by the Agency, and/or

required you to pay overage to offset interest

credit to prevent the Federal Government

from providing a double subsidy to the

project. Additionally, you may have been

required to deposit excess HUD Section 8

subsidy in the project reserve account.

The Agency has determined in

retrospective review that the Agency should

not have taken certain actions in the past that

resulted in cancellation or reduction of

interest credit, payment of overage, and

deposit of excess HUD subsidy into the

project reserve account.

An exception to what has been stated thus

far in this letter will apply if you executed

Form FmHA 444–7 (Rev. 10–13–77),

‘‘Interest Credit and Rental Assistance

Agreement,’’ before October 27, 1980, and the

third block of paragraph 2 of the agreement

was checked. In this instance, the Agency

had a legal basis to take the actions which

were taken.

At this time, RHCDS is offering you the

following options from which to choose:

1. Have RHCDS retroactively restore any

level of interest credit that was cancelled or

reduced, and retroactively remove any

previous overage charges;

2. Have RHCDS apply amounts equivalent

to each collection of the difference between

the original note payment under interest

credit, and the payment resulting from the

elimination of interest credit, and/or each

collected overage payment as regular

payments to the loan as of the date each

payment was originally applied. As a result,

the loan balance will show ahead of

schedule. The requirement to make regularly

scheduled monthly payments will continue;

3. Have RHCDS cease requiring you to

deposit excess funds from HUD rent

adjustments in the project reserve account; or

4. Continue with your current loan

servicing and payment arrangement with the

understanding that RHCDS cannot require

you to maintain the current arrangement.

The preceding options are offered to you

until December 29, 1995. RHCDS is allowing

time for you to evaluate the effects of

choosing any of the available options on the

finances of your project and/or your Federal

and State taxes. This offer will not extend

beyond December 29, 1995. It will not be

repeated nor will a change of choice be

permitted at a later date.

We ask that you complete the attached

Choice of Options and return it to this
18578 Federal Register / Vol. 60, No. 70 / Wednesday, April 12, 1995 / Notices

Servicing Office by close of

business,December 29, 1995. Our office will

process and submit your Choice of Options

within 60 days of receiving the request. If

you do not respond by this date, RHCDS will

continue with your current loan servicing

and payment arrangement.

Please note that RHCDS will not be

sending you a reminder to consider and

submit your Choice of Options. If you have

any questions, please contact us at (to be

filled in by the local RHCDS Servicing

Office).

Sincerely,

lllllllllllllllllllll

RHCDS Servicing Official

Attachment 2—Guide Letter

Notification of Choice of Options for

Borrowers With Section 515/8 and Interest

Credit Agreements Signed Before October 27,

1980

Dear RHCDS Servicing Office:

In response to your certified letter dated

lllll, 1995, we have selected the

following options for the further servicing of

our loan account. We understand this is a

one-time offer by the Rural Housing and

Community Development Service (RHCDS)

and our choice of one of each of the

following categories is final and must be

received by RHCDS by close of business

December 29, 1995. We further understand

that adjustments to the loan account will not

be in the form of cash refunds from RHCDS.

Interest Credit

[ ] We choose to have RHCDS

retroactively reinstate interest credit to its

original level and retroactively have amounts

equivalent to each collection of the difference

between the original note payment under

interest credit and the payment resulting

from the elimination of interest credit be

applied as regular payments to the loan as of

the date each payment was originally

applied. We understand our loan account

will show as paid ahead of schedule after the

adjustment and we are to continue paying

regularly scheduled monthly loan payments.

[ ] We choose to continue with

cancellation or reduction of interest credit as

a voluntary choice made now or in a

previous year.

Overage

[ ] We choose to have RHCDS

retroactively remove previous overage

charges and have amounts equivalent to each

collection of overage be applied as regular

payments to the loan as of the date each

payment was originally applied. We

understand our loan account will show as

paid ahead of schedule after the adjustment

and we are to continue paying regularly

scheduled monthly loan payments.

[ ] We choose to continue paying overage

as a voluntary choice made now or in a

previous year.

Deposit of Excess Rent in the Project Reserve

Account

[ ] We choose to have RHCDS remove the

requirement of depositing excess rent in the

project reserve account, additionally:

[ ] We are a limited profit or nonprofit

borrower and we choose to apply any excess

rent and the amount in the reserve account

that is excess to the required reserve account

level adjusted for project life-cycle needs on

the loan account, or

[ ] We are a full profit borrower and we

choose to claim as profit any excess rent and

the amount in the reserve account that is

excess to the required reserve account level

adjusted for project life-cycle needs, subject

to approval by the RHCDS Servicing Office;

(or)

[ ] We choose to continue depositing the

excess rent in the project reserve account as

a voluntary choice made now or in a

previous year.

Sincerely,

lllllllllllllllllllll

(Borrower name and signature of borrower

official)

Public reporting for this collection of

information is estimated to average 2 hours

per response, including the time for

reviewing instructions, searching existing

data sources, gathering and maintaining the

data needed, and completing and reviewing

the collection of information. Send

comments regarding this burden estimate or

any other aspect of this collection of

information, including suggestions for

reducing this burden, to Department of

Agriculture, Clearance Officer, OIRM, AG

Box 7630, Washington, DC 20250; and to the

Office of Management and Budget,

Paperwork Reduction Project, (OMB No.

0575–0033), Washington, DC 20503. Please

do not return this form to either of these

addresses. Forward to RECD only.

Dated: March 28, 1995.

Maureen Kennedy,

Acting Administrator, Rural Housing and

Community Development Service.

[FR Doc. 95–8946 Filed 4–11–95; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 3410–07–U

COMMISSION ON CIVIL RIGHTS

Agenda and Notice of Public Meeting

of the Florida Advisory Committee

Notice is hereby given, pursuant to

the provisions of the rules and

regulations of the U.S. Commission on

Civil Rights, that a meeting of the

Florida Advisory Committee to the

Commission will convene at 1:00 p.m.

and adjourn at 5:00 p.m. on Tuesday,

May 9, 1995, at the Hotel

Intercontinental, 100 Chopin Plaza,

Trinity Room, 2nd Floor, Miami, Florida

33131. The purpose of the meeting is to

provide orientation for the newly

appointed Committee, to update

members on the Commission, to discuss

a draft report on Racial and Ethnic

Tensions in Florida, and to discuss civil

rights developments in the State and

Nation.

Persons desiring additional

information, or planning a presentation

to the Committee, should contact

Committee Chairperson Rabbi Solomon

Agin, 813–433–0018, or Bobby D.

Doctor, Director of the Southern

Regional Office, 404–730–2476 (TDD

404–730–2481). Hearing-impaired

persons who will attend the meeting

and require the services of a sign

language interpreter should contact the

Regional Office at least five (5) working

days before the scheduled date of the

meeting.

The meeting will be conducted

pursuant to the provisions of the rules

and regulations of the Commission.

Dated at Washington, DC, April 5, 1995.

Carol-Lee Hurley,

Chief, Regional Programs Coordination Unit.

[FR Doc. 95–9001 Filed 4–11–95; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 6335–01–P

Agenda and Notice of Public Meeting

of the Washington Advisory

Committee

Notice is hereby given, pursuant to

the provisions of the rules and

regulations of the U.S. Commission on

Civil Rights, that a meeting of the

Washington Advisory Committee to the

Commission will convene at 7 p.m. and

adjourn 8 p.m. on Thursday, June 8,

1995, at the 6th Avenue Inn, 2000 6th

Avenue, Seattle, Washington 98211. The

purpose of the meeting is to brief

Committee members on procedures and

presentors at the forum on June 9, 1995.

On Friday, June 9, 1995, the Committee

will convene at 9 a.m. and adjourn at 4

p.m. at the Convention Center, 800

Convention Center Place, Seattle,

Washington 98181. The purpose of the

meeting is to obtain information on

disproportionality in the administration

of justice for youth.

Persons desiring additional

information, or planning a presentation

to the Committee, should contact

Committee Chairperson William

Wassmuth, 206–233–9136, or Philip

Montez, Director of the Western

Regional Office, 213–894–3437 (TDD

213–894–0508). Hearing-impaired

persons who will attend the meeting

and require the services of a sign

language interpreter should contact the

Regional Office at least five (5) working

days before the scheduled date of the

meeting.

The meeting will be conducted

pursuant to the provisions of the rules

and regulations of the Commission.

Dated at Washington, DC, April 5, 1995.

Carol-Lee Hurley,

Chief, Regional Programs Coordination Unit.

[FR Doc. 95–9000 Filed 4–11–95; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 6335–01–P