The Rental Housing Finance Survey
(RHFS) provides a measure of financial, mortgage, and property
characteristics of rental housing properties in the United States.
RHFS focuses on mortgage financing of rental housing properties,
with emphasis on new originations for purchase-money mortgages and
refinancing, and the characteristics of these new originations. The
RHFS will collect data on property values of residential
structures, characteristics of residential structures, rental
status and rental value of units within the residential structures,
commercial use of space within residential structures, property
management status, ownership status, a detailed assessment of
mortgage financing, and benefits received from Federal, state,
local, and non-governmental programs. Many of the questions are the
same or similar to those found on the 1995 Property Owners and
Managers Survey, the rental housing portion of the 2001 Residential
Finance Survey, the 2012 Rental Housing Finance Survey, and the
2015 Rental Housing Finance Survey. This survey does not duplicate
work done in other existent HUD surveys or studies that deal with
rental units financing. Policy analysts, program managers, budget
analysts, and Congressional staff can use the survey’s results to
advise executive and legislative branches about the mortgage
finance characteristics of the rental housing stock in the United
States and the suitability of public policy initiatives. Academic
researchers and private organizations will also be able to utilize
the data to facilitate their research and projects. The Department
of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) needs the RHFS data for the
following two reasons: 1. This is the only source of information on
the rental housing finance characteristics of rental properties. 2.
HUD needs this information to gain a better understanding of the
mortgage finance characteristics of the rental housing stock in the
United States to evaluate, monitor, and design HUD
programs.
US Code:
12 USC Title 12 Name of Law: Sections 1701z-1, 1701z-2(g), and
1701z-10a
US Code:
13 USC Title 13 Name of Law: Section 8b
The overall burden has
increased slightly from the 2015 RHFS. The primary reason the
overall burden increased slightly from 2015 RHFS is because the
2018 RHFS sample size is larger than the 2015 RHFS. Although the
overall burden increased, it is important to note that HUD and
Census are making two changes to the 2018 RHFS to help reduce
burden. First, the use of the AHS frame is expected to reduce the
number of ineligible properties. Second, the Census Bureau will
conduct a property address matching operation with administrative
records and conducting Internet research to obtain contact
information for the owner or manager of the rental property prior
to data collection. The Census Bureau does not anticipate having to
contact any tenants. Finally, the 2018 RHFS questionnaire does not
contain significant changes from the 2015 version, so there is no
expected net increase in burden resulting from new questions.
On behalf of this Federal agency, I certify that
the collection of information encompassed by this request complies
with 5 CFR 1320.9 and the related provisions of 5 CFR
1320.8(b)(3).
The following is a summary of the topics, regarding
the proposed collection of information, that the certification
covers:
(i) Why the information is being collected;
(ii) Use of information;
(iii) Burden estimate;
(iv) Nature of response (voluntary, required for a
benefit, or mandatory);
(v) Nature and extent of confidentiality; and
(vi) Need to display currently valid OMB control
number;
If you are unable to certify compliance with any of
these provisions, identify the item by leaving the box unchecked
and explain the reason in the Supporting Statement.