30 Day FRN

90372
DATED:

Federal Register / Vol. 81, No. 240 / Wednesday, December 14, 2016 / Notices
December 9, 2016.

R. Gil Kerlikowske,
Commissioner.
[FR Doc. 2016–30057 Filed 12–13–16; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 9111–14–P

DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND
SECURITY
Agency Information Collection
Activities: DHS Civil Rights
Compliance Form
Office for Civil Rights and Civil
Liberties, DHS.
ACTION: 30-Day notice and request for
comments; new collection, 1601–NEW.
AGENCY:

The Department of Homeland
Security (DHS), Office for Civil Rights
and Civil Liberties, will submit the
following Information Collection
Request (ICR) to the Office of
Management and Budget (OMB) for
review and clearance in accordance
with the Paperwork Reduction Act of
1995. DHS previously published this
information collection request (ICR) in
the Federal Register on Thursday,
September 22, 2016 at 81 FR 65390 for
a 60-day public comment period. Five
comments were received by DHS. The
purpose of this notice is to allow an
additional 30 days for public comments.
DATES: Comments are encouraged and
will be accepted until January 13, 2017.
This process is conducted in accordance
with 5 CFR 1320.1.
ADDRESSES: Interested persons are
invited to submit written comments on
the proposed information collection to
the Office of Information and Regulatory
Affairs, Office of Management and
Budget. Comments should be addressed
to OMB Desk Officer, Department of
Homeland Security and sent via
electronic mail to oira_submission@
omb.eop.gov or faxed to (202) 395–5806.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Recipients
of Federal financial assistance from DHS
are required to meet certain legal
requirements relating to
nondiscrimination and
nondiscriminatory use of Federal funds.
Those requirements include ensuring
that entities receiving Federal financial
assistance from DHS do not deny
benefits or services, or otherwise
discriminate on the basis of race, color,
national origin, disability, age, or sex, in
accordance with the following
authorities: Title VI of the Civil Rights
Act of 1964 (Title VI) Public Law 88–
352, 42 U.S.C. 2000d–1 et seq., and the
Department’s implementing regulation,
6 CFR part 21 and 44 CFR part 7;
Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of

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1973 (Sec. 504), Public Law 93–112, as
amended by Public Law 93–516, 29
U.S.C. 794; Title IX of the Education
Amendments of 1972 (Title IX), 20
U.S.C. 1681 et seq., and the
Department’s implementing regulations,
6 CFR part 17, and 44 CFR part 19; Age
Discrimination Act of 1975, Public Law
94–135, 42 U.S.C. 6101 et seq., and the
Department implementing regulation at
44 CFR part 7. The aforementioned civil
rights authorities also prohibit
retaliatory acts against individuals for
participating or opposing discrimination
in a complaint, investigation, or other
proceeding related to prohibited
discrimination.
DHS has an obligation to enforce
nondiscrimination requirements to
ensure that its Federally-assisted
programs and activities are
administered in a nondiscriminatory
manner. In order to carry out its
enforcement responsibilities, DHS must
obtain a signed assurance of compliance
and collect and review information from
recipients to ascertain their compliance
with applicable requirements. DHS
implementing regulations and the
Department of Justice (DOJ) regulation
Coordination of Non-discrimination in
Federally Assisted Program, 28 CFR part
42, provide for the collection of data
and information from recipients (see 28
CFR 42.406).
DHS has developed the DHS Civil
Rights Compliance Form as the primary
tool to implement this information
collection. The purpose of the
information collection is to advise
recipients of their civil rights obligation;
obtain an assurance of compliance from
each recipient, and collect pertinent
civil rights information to ascertain if
the recipient has in place adequate
policies and procedures to achieve
compliance, and to determine what, if
any, further action may be needed
(technical assistance, training,
compliance review, etc.) to ensure the
recipient is in compliance and will
carry out its programs and activities in
a nondiscriminatory manner. DHS will
make available sample policies and
procedures to assist recipients in
completing Section 4 of the Form, and
providing technical assistance directly
to recipients as needed.
DHS will use the DHS Civil Rights
Compliance Form to collect civil rights
related information from all primary
recipients of Federal financial assistance
from the Department. Primary recipients
are non-federal entities that receive
Federal financial assistance in the form
of a grant, cooperative agreement, or
other type of financial assistance
directly from the Department and not
through another recipient or ‘‘pass-

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through’’ entity. This information
collection does not apply to subrecipients, Federal contractors (unless
the contract includes the provision of
financial assistance), nor the ultimate
beneficiaries of services, financial aid,
or other benefits from the Department.
Recipients will be required to provide
the information once every two years,
not every time a grant is awarded.
Entities whose award does not run a full
two years are required to provide the
information again if they receive a
subsequent award more than two (2)
years after the prior award. In
responding to Section 4: Required
Information, which contains the bulk of
the information collection, if the
recipient’s responses have not changed
in the two year period since their initial
submission, the recipient does not need
to resubmit the information. Instead, the
recipient will indicate ‘‘no change’’ for
each applicable item. DHS will require
recipients to submit their completed
forms and supporting information
electronically, via email, to the
Department, in an effort to minimize
administrative burden on the recipient
and the Department. DHS anticipates
that records or files that will be used to
respond to the information collection
are already maintained in electronic
format by the recipient, so providing the
information electronically will further
minimize administrative burden. DHS
will allow recipients to scan and submit
documents that are not already
maintained electronically. If the
recipient is unable to submit their
information electronically, alternative
arrangements will be made to submit
responses in hard copy.
There are no confidentiality
assurances associated with this
collection. The system of record notices
associated with this information
collection are: DHS/ALL–029—Civil
Rights and Civil Liberties Records, (July
8, 2010, 75 FR 39266) and DHS/ALL–
016—Department of Homeland Security
Correspondence Records, (November 10,
2008, 73 FR 66657).
This is a new information collection.
The Office of Management and Budget
is particularly interested in comments
which:
1. Evaluate whether the proposed
collection of information is necessary
for the proper performance of the
functions of the agency, including
whether the information will have
practical utility;
2. Evaluate the accuracy of the
agency’s estimate of the burden of the
proposed collection of information,
including the validity of the
methodology and assumptions used;

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Federal Register / Vol. 81, No. 240 / Wednesday, December 14, 2016 / Notices
3. Enhance the quality, utility, and
clarity of the information to be
collected; and
4. Minimize the burden of the
collection of information on those who
are to respond, including through the
use of appropriate automated,
electronic, mechanical, or other
technological collection techniques or
other forms of information technology,
e.g., permitting electronic submissions
of responses.
Analysis
Agency: Office for Civil Rights and
Civil Liberties, DHS.
Title: Agency Information Collection
Activities: DHS Civil Rights Compliance
Form.
OMB Number: 1601–NEW.
Frequency: Bi-annually.
Affected Public: Private and Public
Sector.
Number of Respondents: 2220.
Estimated Time Per Respondent: 4
hours.
Total Burden Hours: 8,880 hours.
Dated: December 8, 2016.
Carlene C. Ileto,
Executive Director, Enterprise Business
Management Office.
[FR Doc. 2016–30002 Filed 12–13–16; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 9110–9B–P

DEPARTMENT OF HOUSING AND
URBAN DEVELOPMENT
[Docket No. FR–5658–N–02]

Federal Housing Administration (FHA):
Direct Endorsement Program
Timeframe for Conducting PreEndorsement Review
Office of the Assistant
Secretary for Housing—Federal Housing
Commissioner, HUD.
ACTION: Notice.
AGENCY:

Through this document FHA
advises that it is shifting the timeframe
for FHA’s review of loans prior to
endorsement from pre-closing to postclosing. A lender applying for
unconditional Direct Endorsement
authority will therefore submit required
loan files, required in accordance with
HUD regulations, only after closing.
After determining that the mortgage is
acceptable and meets all FHA
requirements, FHA will notify the
lender that the loan has been endorsed.
DATES: Effective Date: January 13, 2017.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Joy
Hadley, Director, Office of Lender
Activities and Program Compliance,
Office of Housing, U.S. Department of
Housing and Urban Development, 490

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L’Enfant Plaza East SW., Room P3214,
Washington, DC 20024–8000; telephone
number 202–708–1515 (this is not a tollfree number). Persons with hearing or
speech impairments may access this
number through TTY by calling the tollfree Federal Relay Service at 800–877–
8339.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
I. Background
FHA grants lenders unconditional
Direct Endorsement authority to close
loans without prior FHA approval in
accordance with the terms and
conditions of HUD’s regulations in 24
CFR 203.3. Under the Direct
Endorsement program, the lender
underwrites and closes the mortgage
loan without prior FHA review or
approval. Before being granted
unconditional Direct Endorsement
authority, the lender must submit a
specified number of loan files for review
and approval by FHA as described in 24
CFR 203.3(b)(4). The regulations
provide for the review of each loan file
to be conducted by FHA, and the lender
to be notified of the acceptability of the
mortgage, prior to FHA endorsement of
the mortgage for insurance. The Direct
Endorsement program has been
designed to give the lender sufficient
certainty of FHA endorsement
requirements to justify the assumption
of the responsibilities involved in
originating and closing mortgage loans
without prior FHA review.
Currently, FHA generally conducts
this review of the loan files required
under 24 CFR 203.3(b)(4) prior to
closing and, if acceptable, issues a
commitment to the lender at that time.
After closing, the mortgage is then
submitted to FHA for endorsement for
insurance. While this is the general
procedure utilized by lenders seeking
unconditional Direct Endorsement
approval, FHA currently allows lenders
to close the loans before submission for
review. A lender is eligible for
unconditional Direct Endorsement
authority once FHA has reviewed and
found acceptable the requisite number
of loan files, at either pre-closing or preendorsement review, provided that the
lender has met the other requirements
for Direct Endorsement approval under
24 CFR 203.3.
II. Solicitation of Comment on
Timeframe Pre-Endorsement Review
A. March 2013 Notice Soliciting
Comment
On March 21, 2013, at 78 FR 17303,
HUD published in the Federal Register
a notice that solicited comment from
FHA-approved lenders and other

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90373

interested parties on FHA’s
announcement that it was considering
shifting the timeframe for FHA’s review
of loans prior to endorsement from preclosing to post-closing. The notice
specifically sought feedback on whether
the proposed change in review time
would benefit the lender by reducing
the amount of time between loan
origination and closing, and would
result in operational savings of time and
costs associated with approval
timeframes, which FHA recognizes can
be lengthy at times. The notice also
sought feedback on whether the
proposed change in review time would
benefit the borrower; that is, would the
borrower be able to take advantage of
shorter interest rate lock-in periods,
which could help to ensure that the
borrower receives the best interest rate
available at the lowest possible cost to
the borrower.
As provided in the March 21, 2013,
notice, HUD submitted that the
proposed change in review time should
not alter the current quality of review of
the loan file or the quality of the Direct
Endorsement lender approval process.
The notice advised that FHA guidance
issued in accordance with 24 CFR
203.3(b)(2), already requires the lender
to certify that their underwriter(s) have
the qualifications, expertise, and
experience to underwrite mortgage
loans in accordance with FHA
requirements. The notice provided that
given the certification required of
lenders, the shift in the timeframe for
review may in fact result in enhanced
lender accountability; that is, the lender
will place more emphasis on ensuring
that their underwriting staff is
sufficiently trained prior to requesting
Direct Endorsement authority. The
notice further provided that properly
trained underwriters will help to
increase the number of loans that are
found to be acceptable, resulting in an
even higher percentage of loan files that
meet FHA policies and guidelines.
The March 21, 2013, notice also
advised that HUD had analyzed data for
mortgage loans that were submitted for
review during the period beginning
October 1, 2009 through June 30, 2012,
and the data demonstrated that 86.7
percent of all loans reviewed during this
time period, and 90.5 percent of all
loans reviewed year to date in FY 2012,
were found to meet FHA policies and
guidelines and were subsequently
endorsed. The notice further advised
that the lenders entering the Direct
Endorsement review process during the
October 1, 2009 through June 30, 2012
timeframe, 48.6 percent did not receive
an unacceptable rating on any loan
submitted for review, while 28 percent

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