Initial Letter

RHFS-L1

(Draft)

A Message from the Director, U.S. Census Bureau:

Along with the Department of Housing and Urban Development, we are requesting your cooperation with the 2021 Rental Housing Finance Survey. This survey provides an overall portrait of rental housing in the United States and is the primary source of rental housing data for the Department of Housing and Urban Development, federal, state, and local governments and the public.  This survey helps inform the development of rental housing policies, especially those pertaining to financing rental housing for targeted groups such as low-income families and individuals, and the elderly.

You have been selected to participate in this survey for the property listed below:

Address:

Please report online using the information below, and keep this letter for future reference:

Authentication Code:

Due Date:

1. Sign in OR register at https://portal.census.gov

2. Add your authentication code.

3. Report by clicking on “REPORT NOW.” You can return to your account over multiple sessions to complete the survey.

YOUR RESPONSE WILL BE KEPT STRICTLY CONFIDENTIAL. We estimate this survey will take an average of 1 hour to complete. Additional information about the authority, confidentiality, and burden of this data collection can be found on the back of this letter.

For assistance with completing this survey, please sign into your Census Bureau account or call our customer help line at 1-800-424-6974, Monday through Friday, 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. Eastern time.

Thank you in advance for your time and participation, and for helping the U.S. Census Bureau measure America’s people and economy.

Sincerely,

Steven D. Dillingham

Director

OMB Number

This collection has been approved by the Office of Management and Budget (OMB). The eight-digit OMB approval number is 2528-0276 and appears in the top right corner of each reporting screen. Without this approval, we could not conduct this survey.

Authority and Confidentiality

Title 13, United States Code (U.S.C.), Section 8, and Title 12, U.S.C., Sections 1701z-1, 1701z-2(g), and 1701z-10a, authorize the U.S. Census Bureau to conduct this collection and to request your voluntary assistance. The Census Bureau is required by Section 9 of Title 13 to keep your information confidential and can use your responses only to produce statistics. The Census Bureau is not permitted to publicly release your responses in a way that could identify your business, organization, or institution. Per the Federal Cybersecurity Enhancement Act of 2015, your data are protected from cybersecurity risks through screening of the systems that transmit your data.

Burden Estimate Statement

We estimate the Rental Housing Finance Survey will take an average of 1 hour to complete, including the time to review instructions, search existing data sources, gather and maintain the data needed, and complete and review the survey.