42 U.S.C. § 3541 — Paperwork reduction
submitted 48 years ago by Pub. L. 95-557 to r/title-42-THE-PUBLIC-HEALTH-AND-WELFARE · 554 words · no verdicts yet
This section finds that duplicate Federal housing forms create paperwork and costs, then requires uniform forms and coordination among three agencies. It also requires rules eliminating forms whose information is already available and reports on the effort.
(a) Declaration of policy. Congress finds that Federal housing and housing-finance departments, agencies, and instrumentalities use many different forms for mortgages, deeds of trust, notes, applications, appraisals, and other purposes. Duplicating forms burdens homeowners and home buyers and adds national costs. Unneeded paperwork makes Federal housing and finance programs less effective. Both single-family and multifamily programs are affected. Simplifying this paperwork would help meet national housing goals by lowering housing costs.
(b) Uniform forms. (1) By October 1, 1980, the Secretaries of Housing and Urban Development, Agriculture, and Veterans Affairs must, consistently with laws governing their programs, use: (A) uniform single-family and multifamily notes and mortgage forms; (B) a uniform application for mortgage approval and mortgage-insurance commitment; (C) a uniform form calculating applicants’ monthly net effective income; (D) a uniform property-appraisal form; (E) a uniform settlement statement satisfying the Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act of 1974; and (F) other consolidated or simplified forms, especially forms seeking identical or nearly identical information from the same people for two or more programs, when the three Secretaries mutually agree consolidation or simplification would reduce paperwork and regulatory burdens. (2) The three Secretaries must by regulation eliminate forms seeking information already available from other sources through indexing or other identification methods. (3) Each agency may use riders, addenda, or similar modifications to adapt uniform forms to its programs and policies, while minimizing those modifications and making the forms as suitable as possible for all public and private participants.
(c) Coordination and reports. The Office of Management and Budget Director* must coordinate and monitor Federal agencies’ development and implementation of subsection (b). As part of each report required under Public Law 93–556, the Director must report to Congress on that development and implementation and on laws unnecessarily preventing compliance. The report must estimate the reduction in paperwork-burden hours for affected agencies as OMB allocates them.
The Congress finds and declares—
that various departments, agencies, and instrumentalities of the Federal Government with responsibilities involving housing and housing finance programs, require, approve, use or otherwise employ a variety of different forms as residential mortgages (or deeds of trust or similar security instruments) as notes secured by those mortgages, and for applications, appraisals and other purposes, and that such duplication of forms constitutes a paperwork burden that adds to the costs imposed on the Nation’s homeowners and home buyers;
that unnecessary paperwork impairs the effectiveness of Federal housing and housing finance programs;
that both single-family and multi-family programs are affected; and
that simplification of paperwork imposed by Federal housing and housing finance programs would contribute to achieving the Nation’s housing goals by reducing housing costs.
Not later than October 1, 1980, the Secretary* of Housing and Urban Development, the Secretary of Agriculture, and the Secretary of Veterans Affairs shall, consistent with provisions of law governing the conduct of housing programs, employ in their respective programs—
uniform single-family and multi-family note and mortgage forms;
a uniform application form for mortgage approval and commitment for mortgage insurance;
a uniform form for computation of the monthly net effective income of applicants;
a uniform property appraisal form;
a uniform settlement statement which shall satisfy the requirements of the Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act of 1974 [12 U.S.C. 2601 et seq.]; and
such other consolidated or simplified forms, particularly those which solicit identical or nearly identical information from the same persons in the conduct of two or more such programs, the consolidation or simplification of which the Secretaries of Housing and Urban Development and Agriculture and the Secretary of Veterans Affairs mutually agree would contribute to a reduction in the paperwork and regulatory burden of such programs.
The Secretary of Housing and Urban Development, the Secretary of Agriculture, and the Secretary of Veterans Affairs shall, consistent with provisions of law governing their respective programs, provide by regulation for the elimination of forms which solicit information which is already available from other available sources through indexing or other means of identifying such forms.
Each agency referred to in subsection (b) may employ riders, addenda, or similar forms of modification agreements to adapt such uniform forms to its respective programs and policies, consistent with the goals of minimizing the use and extent of such modification agreements and maximizing the suitability of such forms for the use of all participants, public and private.
The Director of the Office of Management and Budget shall coordinate and monitor the development and implementation by Federal departments and agencies of the efforts required by subsection (b) and shall report to the Congress on such development and implementation and with respect to any provisions of law which unnecessarily prevent such departments and agencies from carrying out the provisions of this section as part of each report required under Public Law 93–556. Such report shall include an estimate of the reduction of the level of paperwork burden hours of the affected agencies as allocated by the Office of Management and Budget.
Source credit: (Pub. L. 95–557, title IX, § 905, Oct. 31, 1978, 92 Stat. 2126; Pub. L. 96–153, title III, § 328, Dec. 21, 1979, 93 Stat. 1121; Pub. L. 98–479, title II, § 204(n)(4), Oct. 17, 1984, 98 Stat. 2234; Pub. L. 102–54, § 13(q)(10), June 13, 1991, 105 Stat. 281.)
- 1978Enacted · Pub. L. 95-557 · 92 Stat. 2126
- 1979Amended · Pub. L. 96-153 · 93 Stat. 1121
- 1984Amended · Pub. L. 98-479 · 98 Stat. 2234
- 1991Amended · Pub. L. 102-54 · 105 Stat. 281
A history note hasn’t been published yet. The record shows enactment by Pub. L. 95-557 on 1978-10-31.
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