81 FR 13403 - Privacy Act of 1974; Computer Matching Program Between the Department of Housing and Urban Development and the Department of Health and Human Services: Matching Tenant Data in Assisted Housing Programs

DEPARTMENT OF HOUSING AND URBAN DEVELOPMENT

Federal Register Volume 81, Issue 49 (March 14, 2016)

Pursuant to the Computer Matching and Privacy Protection Act of 1988, as amended, HUD is providing notice of its intent to execute a new computer matching agreement with HHS for a recurring matching program with HUD's Office of Public and Indian Housing (PIH) and Office of Housing, involving comparisons of information provided by participants in any authorized HUD rental housing assistance program with the independent sources of income information available through the National Directory of New Hires (NDNH) maintained by HHS. HUD will obtain HHS data and make the results available to: (1) Program administrators such as public housing agencies (PHAs) and private owners and management agents (O/As) (collectively referred to as POAs) to enable them to verify the accuracy of income reported by the tenants (participants) of HUD rental assistance programs and (2) contract administrators (CAs) overseeing and monitoring O/A operations as well as independent public auditors (IPAs) that audit both PHAs and O/As. The most recent renewal of the current matching agreement expires on March 15, 2016.

[Federal Register Volume 81, Number 49 (Monday, March 14, 2016)]
[Notices]
[Pages 13403-13406]
From the Federal Register Online  [www.thefederalregister.org]
[FR Doc No: 2016-05695]


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DEPARTMENT OF HOUSING AND URBAN DEVELOPMENT

[Docket No. FR-5921-N-01]


Privacy Act of 1974; Computer Matching Program Between the 
Department of Housing and Urban Development and the Department of 
Health and Human Services: Matching Tenant Data in Assisted Housing 
Programs

AGENCY: Office of Administration, Housing and Urban Development (HUD).

ACTION: Notice of a new computer matching agreement between HUD and 
Health and Human Services (HHS).

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SUMMARY: Pursuant to the Computer Matching and Privacy Protection Act 
of 1988, as amended, HUD is providing notice of its intent to execute a 
new computer matching agreement with HHS for a recurring matching 
program with HUD's Office of Public and Indian Housing (PIH) and Office 
of Housing, involving comparisons of information provided by 
participants in any authorized HUD rental housing assistance program 
with the independent sources of income information available through 
the National Directory of New Hires (NDNH) maintained by HHS. HUD will 
obtain HHS data and make the results available to: (1) Program 
administrators such as public housing agencies (PHAs) and private 
owners and management agents (O/As) (collectively referred to as POAs) 
to enable them to verify the accuracy of income reported by the tenants 
(participants) of HUD rental assistance programs and (2) contract 
administrators (CAs) overseeing and monitoring O/A operations as well 
as independent public auditors (IPAs) that audit both PHAs and O/As.
    The most recent renewal of the current matching agreement expires 
on March 15, 2016.

DATES: HUD will file a report of the subject matching program with the 
Committee on Oversight and Government Reform of the House of 
Representatives, the Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental 
Affairs of the Senate, and Office of Management and Budget's (OMB), 
Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs. The matching program will 
become effective as cited in Section VI of this notice.

ADDRESSES: Interested persons are invited to submit comments regarding 
this notice to the Rules Docket Clerk, Office of General Counsel, Room 
10276, Department of Housing and Urban Development, 451 Seventh Street 
SW., Washington, DC 20410-0500. Communications should refer to the 
above docket number and title. Facsimile (FAX) comments are not 
acceptable. A copy of each communication submitted will be available 
for public inspection and copying between 8:00 a.m. and 5:00 p.m. 
weekdays at the above address.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: For Privacy Act Inquiries: Office of 
Administration, Office of the Executive Secretariat, contact Frieda B. 
Edwards, Acting Chief Privacy Officer, Department of Housing and Urban 
Development, 451 Seventh Street SW., Room 10139, Washington, DC 20410, 
telephone number (202) 402-6828. For program information: Office of 
Public and Indian Housing, contact Larry Tipton, Project Manager for 
the Real Estate Assessment Center, Department of Housing and Urban 
Development, 451 Seventh Street SW., Room PCFL2, Washington, DC 20410, 
telephone number (202) 475-8746; and for the Office of Housing, contact 
Danielle Garcia, Director of the Housing Oversight Division, Department 
of Housing and Urban Development, 451 Seventh Street SW., Room 6134, 
Washington, DC 20410, telephone number (202) 402-2768. (These are not 
toll-free numbers.) A telecommunications device for hearing- and 
speech-impaired individuals (TTY) is available at (800) 877-8339 
(Federal Information Relay Service).

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: On March 11, 2009, Section 239 of HUD's 2009 
Appropriations Act modified Section 904 of the Stewart B. McKinney Act 
of 1988, as amended, to include the Disaster Housing Assistance Program 
(DHAP) as a ``program'' of HUD for the purpose of income verifications 
and computer matching. As such, pursuant to the Computer Matching and 
Privacy Protection Act (CMPPA) of 1988, as amended; OMB's guidance on 
this statute entitled, ``Final Guidance Interpreting the Provisions of 
Public Law 100-503''; and OMB Circular No. A-130, Appendix 1 to OMB's 
Revisions of Circular No. A-130, ``Transmittal Memorandum No. 4, 
Management of Federal Information Resources''; HUD is providing the 
public with notice of a new computer matching agreement with HHS 
(previous notice of a computer matching program between HUD and HHS was 
previously published at 78 FR 47336 on August 5, 2013). The first HUD-
HHS computer matching program was conducted in September 2005, with 
HUD's Office of Public and Indian Housing. The scope of the HUD-HHS 
computer matching program was extended to include HUD's Office of 
Housing in December 2007, and the participants of HUD's DHAP in January 
2011.
    The matching program will be carried out only to the extent 
necessary to: (1) Verify the employment and income of individuals 
participating in programs identified in Section II below, to correctly 
determine the amount of their rent and assistance, (2) identify, 
prevent, and recover improper payments made on behalf of tenants, and 
(3) after removal of personal identifiers, to conduct analyses of the 
employment and income reporting of individuals participating in any HUD 
authorized rental housing assistance program.
    HUD will make the results of the computer matching program 
available to public housing agencies (PHAs), private housing owners and 
management agents (O/As) administering HUD rental assistance programs 
to enable them to verify employment and income and correctly determine 
the rent and assistance levels for individuals participating in those 
programs, and contract administrators (CAs) overseeing and monitoring 
O/A operations. This information also may be disclosed to the HUD 
Office of Inspector General (HUD/OIG) and the Attorney General in 
detecting and investigating potential cases of fraud, waste, and abuse 
within HUD rental assistance programs.
    In addition to the above noted information disclosures, limited 
redisclosure of reports containing NDNH information may be redisclosed 
to the following persons and/or entities: (1) Independent auditors for 
the sole purpose of performing an audit of whether these HUD authorized 
entities verified tenants' employment and/or income and calculated the 
subsidy and rent correctly; and (2) entities and/or individuals 
associated with grievance procedures and judicial proceedings (i.e. 
lawyers, court personnel, agency personnel, grievance hearing officers, 
etc.) relating to independently verified unreported income identified 
through this matching program.
    HUD and its third party administrators (PHAs, O/As, and CAs) will 
use this matching authority to identify, reduce or eliminate improper 
payments in HUD's rental housing

[[Page 13404]]

assistance programs, while continuing to ensure that HUD rental housing 
assistance programs serve and are accessible by its intended program 
beneficiaries.

I. Authority

    This matching program is being conducted pursuant to Section 217 of 
the Consolidated Appropriation Act of 2004 (Pub. L. 108-199, Approved 
January 23, 2004), which amended Section 453(j) of the Social Security 
Act (42 U.S.C. 653(j)), Sections 3003 and 13403 of the Omnibus Budget 
Reconciliation Act of 1993 (Pub. L. 103-66, approved August 10, 1993); 
Section 542(b) of the 1998 Appropriations Act (Pub. L. 105-65); Section 
904 of the Stewart B. McKinney Homeless Assistance Amendments Act of 
1988, as amended by Section 239 of HUD's 2009 Appropriations, effective 
March 11, 2009 (42 U.S.C. 3544); Section 165 of the Housing and 
Community Development Act of 1987 (42 U.S.C. 3543); the National 
Housing Act (12 U.S.C. 1701-1750g); the United States Housing Act of 
1937 (42 U.S.C. 1437-1437z); Section 101 of the Housing and Community 
Development Act of 1965 (12 U.S.C. 1701s); the Native American Housing 
Assistance and Self-Determination Act of 1996 (25 U.S.C. 4101 et seq.); 
and the Quality Housing and Work Responsibility Act of 1998 (42 U.S.C. 
1437a(f)).
    The Housing and Community Development Act of 1987 authorizes HUD to 
require applicants and participants (as well as members of their 
household 6 years of age and older) in HUD-administered programs 
involving rental housing assistance to disclose to HUD their Social 
Security Numbers (SSNs) as a condition of initial or continuing 
eligibility for participation in the programs. Effective January 31, 
2010, all applicants and participants under the age of 6, are required 
to disclose their SSN to HUD, in accordance with regulatory revisions 
made to 24 CFR 5.216, as published at 74 FR 68924, on December 29, 
2009.
    Section 217 of the Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2004 (Pub. L. 
108-199, approved January 23, 2004) authorizes HUD to provide to HHS 
information on persons participating in any programs authorized by:

    (i) The United States Housing Act of 1937 (42 U.S.C. 1437 et 
seq.);
    (ii) Section 202 of the Housing Act of 1959 (12 U.S.C. 1701q);
    (iii) Section 221(d)(3), 221(d)(5) or 236 of the National 
Housing Act (12 U.S.C. 17151(d) and 1715z-1);
    (iv) Section 811 of the Cranston-Gonzalez National Affordable 
Housing Act (42 U.S.C. 8013); or
    (v) Section 101 of the Housing and Urban Development Act of 1965 
(12 U.S.C. 1701s);

    The Refinement of Income and Rent Determination Requirements in 
Public and Assisted Housing Programs: Implementation of the Enterprise 
Income Verification (EIV) System--Amendments; Final rule published at 
74 FR 68924 on December 29, 2009, requires program administrators to 
use HUD's EIV system to verify tenant employment and income information 
during mandatory re-examinations or recertification's of family 
composition and income and reduce administrative and subsidy payment 
errors in accordance with HUD administrative guidance (HUD regulation 
at 24 CFR 5.233).
    This matching program also assists HUD in complying with the 
following Federal laws, requirements, and guidance related to 
identifying and reducing improper payments:

    1. Improper Payments Elimination and Recovery Act of 2010 
(IPERA) (Pub. L. 111-204);
    2. Presidential Memorandum on Enhancing Payment Accuracy Through 
a ``Do Not Pay List'' (June 18, 2010)
    3. Office of Management and Budget M-10-13, Issuance of Part III 
to OMB Circular A-123, appendix C;
    4. Presidential Memorandum on Finding and Recapturing Improper 
Payments (March 10, 2010);
    5. Reducing Improper Payments and Eliminating Waste in Federal 
Programs (Executive Order 13520, November 2009);
    6. Improper Payments Information Act of 2002 (Pub. L. 107-300); 
and
    7. Office of Management and Budget M-03-13, Improper Payments 
Information Act of 2002 Implementation Guide

    This matching program is also authorized by subsections 
453(j)(7)(A), (C)(i), and (D)(i) of the Social Security Act (as amended 
and authorized by Section 217 of the Consolidated Appropriations Act of 
2004 (Pub. L. 108-199)). Specifically, the aforementioned law 
authorizes HHS to compare information provided by HUD with data 
contained in the NDNH and report the results of the data match to HUD. 
The Social Security Act gives HUD the authority to disclose this 
information to CAs, O/As, and PHAs for the purpose of verifying the 
employment and income of individuals receiving benefits in the above 
programs. HUD shall not seek, use or disclose information relating to 
an individual without the prior written consent of that individual, and 
HUD has the authority to require consent as a condition of 
participating in HUD rental housing assistance programs.
    The NDNH contains new hire, quarterly wage, and unemployment 
insurance information furnished by state and Federal agencies and is 
maintained by HHS' Office of Child Support Enforcement (OCSE) in its 
system of records ``OCSE National Directory of New Hires,'' No. 09-80-
0381, published in the Federal Register at 80 FR 17894 (specifically 
pages 17906-17909) on April 2, 2015. The aforementioned published 
system of records notice authorizes disclosure of NDNH information to 
HUD pursuant to Routine Use (12) ``for the purpose of verifying the 
employment and income of the individuals and, after removal of personal 
identifiers, for the purpose of conducting analyses of the employment 
and income reporting of such individuals.''
    The HUD records used in the information comparison are retrieved 
from the Tenant Rental Assistance Certification System (TRACS) covered 
under HUD's Tenant Housing Assistance and Contract Verification Data 
System (HUD/H-11), published on March 13, 1997 (62 FR 11909); and the 
Inventory Management System (IMS), also known as the Public and Indian 
Housing (PIH) Information Center (PIC) (HUD/PIH.01), published on April 
13, 2012 (77 FR 22337). The results of the information comparison are 
maintained within, the HUD system of records, Enterprise Income 
Verification System (EIV), No. HUD/PIH-5, last published in the Federal 
Register at 71 FR 45066 on August 8, 2006, and updated on September 1, 
2009, at 74 FR 45235. ``Routine use'' (1) of the system of records 
authorizes disclosure of HUD records to HHS.

II. Covered Programs

    This notice of computer matching program applies to the following 
rental assistance programs:

A. Disaster Housing Assistance Program (DHAP)
B. Public Housing
C. Section 8 Housing Choice Vouchers (HCV)
D. Project-Based Vouchers
E. Section 8 Moderate Rehabilitation
F. Project-Based Section 8
    1. New Construction
    2. State Agency Financed
    3. Substantial Rehabilitation
    4. Sections 202/8
    5. Rural Housing Services Section 515/8
    6. Loan Management Set-Aside (LMSA)
    7. Property Disposition Set-Aside (PDSA)
G. Section 101 Rent Supplement
H. Section 202/162 Project Assistance Contract (PAC)
I. Section 202 Project Rental Assistance Contract (PRAC)

[[Page 13405]]

J. Section 811 Project Rental Assistance Contract (PRAC)
K. Section 236 Rental Assistance Program
L. Section 221(d)(3) Below Market Interest Rate (BMIR)

    Note: This notice does not apply to the Low-Income Housing Tax 
Credit (LIHTC) or the Rural Housing Services Section 515 without 
Section 8 programs.

III. Objectives To Be Met by the Matching Program

    HUD's primary objective of the computer matching program is to 
verify the employment and income of individuals participating in the 
housing programs identified in Section II above, to determine the 
appropriate level of rental assistance, and to detect, deter and 
correct fraud, waste, and abuse in rental housing assistance programs. 
In meeting these objectives, HUD also is carrying out a responsibility 
under 42 U.S.C. Sec. 1437f(K) to ensure that income data provided to 
PHAs, and O/As, by household members is complete and accurate. HUD's 
various rental housing assistance programs require that participants 
meet certain income and other criteria to be eligible for rental 
assistance. In addition, tenants generally are required to report and 
recertify the amounts and sources of their income at least annually. 
However, under the QHWRA of 1998, PHAs operating Public Housing 
programs may offer tenants the option to pay a flat rent, or an income-
based rent. Those tenants who select a flat rent will be required to 
recertify income at least every three years. In addition, the changes 
to the Admissions and Occupancy final rule (March 29, 2000 (65 FR 
16692)) specified that household composition must be recertified 
annually for tenants who select a flat rent or income-based rent.
    An additional objective of this computer matching program is to 
facilitate the statistical measurement of subsidy error by completing 
an annual QC study. The QC study provides national estimates of the 
extent, severity, costs, and sources of rent errors for rental 
assistance programs, administered by the Offices of Housing and Public 
and Indian Housing. This study is designed to measure the extent of 
administrative errors by housing providers and tenant income reporting 
errors. The errors evaluated in this study affect the rent 
contributions tenants should have been charged. HUD will use NDNH 
information resulting from this data comparison and disclosure solely 
for the purpose of conducting aggregate analyses of employment and 
income reporting of individuals participating in the rental housing 
assistance programs. The study will not contain personally identifiable 
information of individuals.

IV. Program Description

    In this computer matching program, tenant-provided information 
included in HUD's automated systems of records known as Tenant Rental 
Assistance Certification System (TRACS) covered under HUD's Tenant 
Housing Assistance and Contract Verification Data System (HUD/H-11), 
Inventory Management System, formerly the Public and Indian Housing 
Information Center (PIC) (commonly referred to as IMS/PIC) (HUD/PIH-4), 
and Enterprise Income Verification (EIV) System (HUD/PIH-5) will be 
compared to data from the NDNH database. HUD will disclose to HHS only 
tenant personal identifiers, i.e., full name, Social Security Number, 
and date of birth. HHS will match the HUD-provided personal identifiers 
to personal identifiers included in the National Directory of New Hires 
(NDNH) contained within their systems of records known as ``OCSE 
National Directory of New Hires'', System Number 09-80-0381. HHS will 
provide employment information and income data to HUD only for 
individuals with matching personal identifiers.

A. Income Verification

    Any disparity between tenant-reported income and/or sources and the 
income and sources derived from the match (i.e., a ``hit'') will be 
further reviewed by HUD, the program administrator, or the HUD Office 
of Inspector General (OIG) to determine whether the income reported by 
tenants to the program administrator is correct and complies with HUD 
and program administrator requirements. Specifically, current or prior 
wage information and other data will be sought directly from employers 
and/or tenants.

B. Administrative or Legal Actions

    With respect to the ``hits'' that will occur as a result of this 
matching program, HUD requires program administrators to take 
appropriate action in consultation with tenants to: (1) Resolve income 
disparities between tenant-reported and independent income source data, 
and (2) use correct income amounts in determining housing rental 
assistance.
    Program administrators must compute the rent in full compliance 
with all applicable occupancy regulations. Program administrator must 
ensure that they use the correct income and correctly compute the rent. 
The program administrator may not suspend, terminate, reduce, or make a 
final denial of any housing assistance to any tenant as the result of 
information produced by this matching program until: (a) The tenant has 
received notice from the program administrator of its findings, and 
tenants are informed of the opportunity to contest such findings and 
(b) either the expiration of any notice period provided in applicable 
HUD requirements of the program or the 30-day period beginning on the 
date on which notice of adverse findings was mailed or otherwise 
provided to the tenant. In all cases, program administrators will 
resolve income discrepancies in consultation with tenants. 
Additionally, serious violations, which program administrators, HUD 
program staff, or HUD OIG verify, should be referred for full 
investigation and appropriate civil and/or criminal proceedings.

V. Records To Be Matched

    HHS will conduct the matching of tenant SSNs, full names, and dates 
of births (DOBs) to tenant data HUD supplies from its Tenant Rental 
Assistance Certification System (TRACS) (HUD/H-11) and the Public and 
Indian Housing Information Center (PIC) (HUD/PIH-4). Program 
administrators utilize the form HUD-50058 module within the PIC and the 
form HUD-50059 module within the TRACS to provide HUD with the tenant 
data.
    HHS will match the tenant records included in HUD/H-11 and HUD/PIH-
4 to NDNH records contained in HHS' ``OCSE National Directory of New 
Hires,'' System Number 09-80-0381. HUD will place the resulting matched 
data into its Enterprise Income Verification (EIV) system (HUD/PIH-5).

VI. Period of the Match

    The matching program will become effective and the matching may 
commence after the respective Data Integrity Boards (DIBs) of both 
agencies approve and sign the computer matching agreement, and after, 
the later of the following: (1) 40 Days after report of the matching 
program is sent to Congress and OMB; (2) at least 30 days after 
publication of this notice in the Federal Register, unless comments are 
received, which would result in a contrary determination. The computer 
matching program will be conducted according to agreement between HUD 
and HHS. The computer matching agreement for the planned match will 
terminate either when the purpose of the computer matching program is 
accomplished, or 18 months from the effective date. The agreement may 
be

[[Page 13406]]

renewed for one 12-month period, with the mutual agreement of all 
involved parties, if the following conditions are met:

    (1) Within 3 months of the expiration date, all Data Integrity 
Boards (DIBs) review the agreement, find that the program will be 
conducted without change, and find a continued favorable examination 
of benefit/cost results;
    (2) All parties certify that the program has been conducted in 
compliance with the agreement.

    The agreement may be terminated, prior to accomplishment of the 
computer matching purpose or 18 months from the date the agreement is 
signed (whichever comes first), by the mutual agreement of all involved 
parties within 30 days of written notice.

    Authority: 5 U.S.C. 552a; 88 Stat. 1896; 42 U.S.C. 3535(d).

    Dated: March 3, 2016.
Patricia A. Hoban-Moore,
Chief Administrative Officer.
[FR Doc. 2016-05695 Filed 3-11-16; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4210-67-P