SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Pursuant to the Privacy Act of 1974, as amended; OMB's guidance on this statute entitled, “Final Guidance Interpreting the Provisions of Public Law 100-503”; OMB Circular No. A-108, “Federal Agency Responsibilities for Review, Reporting, and Publication under the Privacy Act;” and OMB Circular No. A-130, “Managing Information as a Strategic Resource;” HUD is providing the public with notice of a re-established computer matching agreement with the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS). The previous notice of this computer matching program between HUD and HHS was published at 89 FR 18776 (March 15, 2024). The first HUD-HHS computer matching program was ( printed page 49439) conducted in September 2005 with HUD's Office of Public and Indian Housing (PIH). The scope of the HUD-HHS computer matching program was expanded in December 2007 to include HUD's Office of Housing for certain Multifamily Housing (MFH) programs and was revised in January 2011 to include participants in HUD's Disaster Housing Assistance Program.

The matching program will be carried out only to the extent necessary to: (1) verify the employment and income of participants in certain rental assistance programs 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 United States 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 will use this matching authority to provide and its third-party administrators (PHAs, O/As, and CAs) of eligible programs with information to identify, reduce or eliminate improper payments in HUD's rental housing assistance programs, while continuing to ensure that HUD rental housing assistance programs serve and are accessible by its intended program beneficiaries.

Participating Agencies

Department of Housing and Urban Development and the Department of Health and Human Services.

Authority for Conducting the Matching Program

This matching program is authorized by: Subsections 453(j)(7)(A), (C)(i), and (D)(i) of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 653(j)(7)(A), (C)(i), and (D)(i)) provide the legal authority to conduct the matching program.

Section 453(j)(7) Information comparisons for housing assistance programs states:

(A) Furnishing of information by HUD. Subject to subparagraph (G), the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development shall furnish to the Secretary, on such periodic basis as determined by the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development in consultation with the Secretary, information in the custody of the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development for comparison with information in the National Directory of New Hires, in order to obtain information in such Directory with respect to individuals who are participating in any program under—

(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. 1715l(d)(3), 1715l(d)(5) or 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).

(C) Duties of the Secretary

(i) Information disclosure—The Secretary, in cooperation with the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development, shall compare information in the National Directory of New Hires with information provided by the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development with respect to individuals described in subparagraph (A), and shall disclose information in such Directory regarding such individuals to the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development, in accordance with this paragraph, for the purposes specified in this paragraph.

(D) Use of information by HUD. The Secretary of Housing and Urban Development may use information resulting from a data match pursuant to this paragraph only—

(i) for the purpose of verifying the employment and income of individuals described in subparagraph (A); and (ii) after removal of personal identifiers, to conduct analyses of the employment and income reporting of individuals described in subparagraph (A).

42 U.S.C. 653(j)(7)(A), (C)(i), and (D). Subsection 453(j)(7)(D)(ii) of the Social Security Act provides legal authority to conduct analysis of employment and income reporting, “after the removal of personal identifiers.”

42 U.S.C. 653(j)(7)(D)(ii). HUD does not currently use NDNH match information to conduct analysis of employment and income reporting; however, if HUD seeks to conduct such analyses in the future, HUD must first obtain OCSE approval by requesting authorization and providing OCSE with documentation of the proposed analyses. The documentation must include the specific purpose for the analyses, specific HUD users, procedures for the removal of personal identifiers, data storage location and safeguards, retention periods, and other information about the use of the results of the information comparison for analyses.

Purpose(s)

HUD's primary objective of the computer matching program is to verify the employment and income of participants in certain rental assistance programs 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. 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 Quality Housing and Work Responsibility Act (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, published at 65 FR 16692 (March 29, 2000), specified that household composition must be ( printed page 49440) recertified annually for tenants who select a flat rent or income-based rent.

Categories of Individuals

Covered Programs

This notice of computer matching program applies to individuals receiving services from 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)

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.

Categories of Records

The following are the categories of record in this matching agreement:

HUD Input File

• First name
• Last name
• Date of birth
• Social Security number

HHS New Hire File

• New hire processed date
• Employee name
• Employee address
• Employee date of hire
• Employee state of hire
• Federal Employer Identification Number
• State Employer Identification Number
• Department of Defense status code
• Employer name
• Employer address
• Transmitter agency code
• Transmitter state code
• Transmitter state or agency name

HHS Quarterly Wage File

• Quarterly wage processed date
• Employee name
• Federal Employer Identification Number
• State Employer Identification Number
• Department of Defense code
• Employer name
• Employer address
• Employee wage amount
• Quarterly wage reporting period
• Transmitter agency code
• Transmitter state code
• Transmitter state or agency name

HHS Unemployment Insurance File

• Unemployment insurance processed date
• Claimant name
• Claimant address
• Claimant benefit amount
• Unemployment insurance reporting period
• Transmitter state code
• Transmitter state or agency name

System(s) of Records

The Office of Child Support Enforcement (OCSE) National Directory of New Hires (NDNH) contains new hire, quarterly wage, and unemployment insurance information furnished by state and federal agencies and is maintained by OCSE in the system of records “OCSE National Directory of New Hires,” System No. 09-80-0381, published at 89 FR 25625 (April 11, 2024). The disclosure of NDNH records by OCSE to HUD constitutes a routine use as defined by the Privacy Act, 5 U.S.C. 552a(b)(3). Routine Use (12) published in the NDNH SORN authorizes the disclosure of NDNH records to HUD.

The HUD records used in the information comparison are retrieved from, and the results of the information comparison are maintained within, the Enterprise Income Verification (EIV) System, HUD/PIH-05, as published in the applicable System of Records Notice. The applicable routine use in that SORN authorizes the disclosure of HUD records to OCSE for purposes of this matching program.

91 FR 49438