The Federal Housing Finance Agency
(FHFA) is required to conduct a monthly mortgage market survey
under section 1324 of the Housing and Economic Recovery Act of 2008
(HERA). As part of that mandate, FHFA must collect information on
the characteristics of individual subprime and nontraditional
mortgages, as well as on the characteristics of borrowers on such
mortgages, including information on the creditworthiness of those
borrowers and information sufficient to determine whether those
borrowers would have qualified for prime lending. The National
Survey of Mortgage Originations (NSMO) questionnaire is designed to
elicit this information directly from borrowers, who are likely to
be the most reliable and accessible-and, in some cases, the
only-source for this information. In addition, the questionnaire is
designed to elicit more complete information on mortgage terms,
mortgaged properties, and borrowers' household demographics than
can be obtained from the existing sources. FHFA's intention is that
the information obtained from the NSMB, in combination with that
obtained from the existing sources, will make the National Mortgage
Database a high quality, and timely resource for information on
developments in the residential mortgage finance market. The NSMB
will be especially critical in ensuring that the National Mortgage
Database contains uniquely comprehensive information on the range
of nontraditional and subprime mortgage products being offered, the
methods by which these mortgages are being marketed and the
characteristics, and particularly creditworthiness, of borrowers
for these types of loans. These data will enable FHFA to fulfill
its regulator mandate set out in HERA and support general
rulemaking.
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.