WAIS Document RetrievalFrom the Privacy Act Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov] [DOCID:agri_003-27] USDA/RURAL DEVELOPMENT-1 System name: Applicant, Borrower, Grantee, or Tenant File. System location: Each Rural Development applicant's, borrower's, grantee's, or tenant's file is located in the Local, Area, or State Office through which the financial assistance is sought or was obtained; in the Centralized Service Center, St. Louis, Missouri; and in the Finance Office in St. Louis, Missouri. A State Office version of the Local or Area Office file may be located in or accessible by the State Office which is responsible for that Local or Area Office. Correspondence regarding borrowers is located in the State and National Office files. A list of all State Offices and any additional States for which an office is responsible is as follows: Montgomery, AL Palmer, AK Phoenix, AZ Little Rock, AR Woodland, CA Lakewood, CO Camden, DE-DC, MD Gainsville, FL Athens, GA Hilo, HI-Western Pacific Terr. Boise, ID Champaign, IL Indianapolis, IN Des Monies, IA Topeka, KS Lexington, KY Alexandria, LA Bangor, ME Amherst, MA-CT, RI East Lansing, MI St. Paul, MN Jackson, MS Columbia, MO Bozeman, MT Lincoln, NE Carson City, NV Mt. Holy, NJ Albuquerque, NM Syracuse, NY Raleigh, NC Bismarck, ND Columbus, OH Stillwater, OK Portland, OR Harrisburg, PA Hato Rey, PR Columbia, SC Huron, SD Nashville, TN Temple, TX Salt Lake City, UT Montpelier, VT-NH, VI Richmond, VA Wentchee, WA Morgantown, WV Stevens Point, WI Casper, WY The address of Local, Area, and State Offices are listed in the telephone director of the appropriate city or town under the heading ``United States Government, Department of Agriculture, Rural Development.'' The Financial Office is located at 1520 Market Street, St. Louis, Missouri 63103. Categories of individuals covered by the system: Present and former Rural Development applicants, borrowers, grantees, tenants, and their respective household members, including members of associations. Categories of records in the system: The system includes files containing the names of applicants, borrowers, grantees, tenants, their social security or employer identification number, bank routing and account numbers; and their respective household members' characteristics, such as gross and net income, sources of income, capital, assets and liabilities, net worth, age, race, number of dependents, marital status, reference material, farm or ranch operating plans, and property appraisals. The system also includes credit reports and personal references from credit agencies, lenders, businesses, and individuals. In addition, a running record of observation concerning the operations of the person being financed is included. A record of deposits to and withdrawals from an individual's supervised bank account is also contained in those files where appropriate. In some Local Offices, this record is maintained in a separate folder containing only information relating to activity within supervised bank accounts. Some items of information are extracted from the individual's file and placed in a card file for quick reference. Authority for maintenance of the system: 7 U.S.C. 1921 et seq., 42 U.S.C. 1471 et seq., and 42 U.S.C. 2706. Routine uses of records maintained in the system, including categories of users and the purposes of such uses: 1. When a record on its face, or in conjunction with other records, indicates a violation or potential violation of law, whether civil, criminal, or regulatory in nature, and whether arising by general statute or particular program statute, or by regulation, rule, or order issued pursuant thereto, disclosure may be made to the appropriate agency, whether Federal, foreign, State, local, or tribal, or other public authority responsible for enforcing, investigating, or prosecuting such violation or charged with enforcing or implementing the statute, or rule, regulation, or order issued pursuant thereto, if the information disclosed is relevant to any enforcement, regulatory, investigative, or prospective responsibility of the receiving entity. 2. A record from this system of records may be disclosed to a Member of Congress or to a congressional staff member in response to an inquiry of the congressional office made at the written request of the constituent about whom the record is maintained. 3. Rural Development will provide information from this system to the U.S. Department of the Treasury and to other Federal agencies maintaining debt servicing centers, in connection with overdue debts, in order to participate in the Treasury Offset Program as required by the Debt Collection Improvements Act, Pub. L. 104-134, section 31001. 4. Disclosure of the name, home address, and information concerning default on loan repayment when the default involves a security interest in tribal allotted or trust land. Pursuant to the Cranston-Gonzales National Affordable Housing Act of 1990 (42 U.S.C. 12701 et seq.), liquidation may be pursued only after offering to transfer the account to an eligible tribal member, the tribe, or the Indian housing authority serving the tribe(s). 5. Referral of names, home addresses, social security numbers, and financial information to a collection or servicing contractor, financial institution, or a local, State, or Federal agency, when Rural Development determines such referral is appropriate for servicing or collecting the borrower's account or as provided for in contracts with servicing or collection agencies. 6. It shall be a routine use of the records in this system of records to disclose them in a proceeding before a court or adjudicative body, when: (a) The agency or any component thereof; or (b) any employee of the agency in his or her official capacity; or (c) any employee of the agency in his or her individual capacity where the agency has agreed to represent the employee; or (d) the United States is a party to litigation or has an interest in such litigation, and by careful review, the agency determines that the records are both relevant and necessary to the litigation, provided, however, that in each case, the agency determines that disclosure of the records is a use of the information contained in the records that is compatible with the purpose for which the agency collected the records. 7. Referral of names, home addresses, and financial information for selected borrowers to financial consultants, advisors, lending institutions, packagers, agents, and private or commercial credit sources, when Rural Development determines such referral is appropriate to encourage the borrower to refinance his Rural Development indebtedness as required by Title V of the Housing Act of 1949, as amended (42 U.S.C. 1471), or to assist the borrower in the sale of the property. 8. Referral of legally enforceable debts to the Department of the Treasury, Internal Revenue Service (IRS), to be offset against any tax refund that may become due the debtor for the tax year in which the referral is made, in accordance with the IRS regulations at 26 CFR 301.6402-6T, Offset of Past Due Legally Enforceable Debt Against Overpayment, and under the authority contained in 31 U.S.C. 3720A. 9. Referral of information regarding indebtedness to the Defense Manpower Data Center, Department of Defense, and the United States Postal Service for the purpose of conducting computer matching programs to identify and locate individuals receiving Federal salary or benefit payments and who are delinquent in their repayment of debts owed to the U.S. Government under certain programs administered by Rural Development in order to collect debts under the provisions of the Debt Collection Act of 1982 (5 U.S.C. 5514) by voluntary repayment, administrative or salary offset procedures, or by collection agencies. 10. Referral of names, home addresses, and financial information to lending institutions when Rural Development determines the individual may be financially capable of qualifying for credit with or without a guarantee. 11. Disclosure of names, home addresses, social security numbers, and financial information to lending institutions that have a lien against the same property as Rural Development for the purpose of the collection of the debt. These loans can be under the direct and guaranteed loan programs. 12. Referral to private attorneys under contract with either Rural Development or with the Department of Justice for the purpose of foreclosure and possession actions and collection of past due accounts in connection with Rural Development. 13. It shall be a routine use of the records in this system of records to disclose them to the Department of Justice when: (a) The agency or any component thereof; or (b) any employee of the agency in his or her official capacity where the Department of Justice has agreed to represent the employee; or (c) the United States Government, is a party to litigation or has an interest in such litigation, and by careful review, the agency determines that the records are both relevant and necessary to the litigation and the use of such records by the Department of Justice is therefore deemed by the agency to be for a purpose that is compatible with the purpose for which the agency collected the records. 14. Referral of names, home addresses, social security numbers, and financial information to the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) as a record of location utilized by Federal agencies for an automatic credit prescreening system. 15. Referral of names, home addresses, social security numbers, and financial information to the Department of Labor, State Wage Information Collection Agencies, and other Federal, State, and local agencies, as well as those responsible for verifying information furnished to qualify for Federal benefits, to conduct wage and benefit matching through manual and/or automated means, for the purpose of determining compliance with Federal regulations and appropriate servicing actions against those not entitled to program benefits, including possible recovery of improper benefits. 16. Referral of names, home addresses, and financial information to financial consultants, advisors, or underwriters, when Rural Development determines such referral is appropriate for developing packaging and marketing strategies involving the sale of Rural Development loan assets. 17. Rural Development, in accordance with 31 U.S.C. 3711(e)(5), will provide to consumer reporting agencies or commercial reporting agencies information from this system indicating that an individual is responsible for a claim that is current. 18. Referral of names, home and work addresses, home telephone numbers, social security numbers, and financial information to escrow agents (which also could include attorneys and title companies) selected by the applicant or borrower for the purpose of closing the loan. Disclosure to consumer reporting agencies: Disclosures pursuant to 5 U.S.C. 552a(b)(12): Disclosures may be made from this system to consumer reporting agencies as defined in the Fair Credit Reporting Act (15 U.S.C. 1681a(f)) or the Federal Claims Collection Act (31 U.S.C. 3701(a)(3)). Policies and practices for storing, retrieving, accessing, retaining, and disposing of records in the system: Storage: Records are maintained in file folders at the Local, Area, State, and National Offices. A limited subset of personal, financial, and characteristics data required for effective management of the programs and borrower repayment status is maintained on disc or magnetic tape at the Finance Office. This subset of data may by accessed by the authorized personnel from each office. Retrievability: Records are indexed by name, identification number and type of loan or grant. Data may be retrieved from the paper records or the magnetic tapes. A limited subset of data is available through telecommunications capability, ranging from telephones to intelligent terminals. All Rural Development offices have the telecommunications capability available to access this subset of data. Safeguards: Records are kept in locked offices at the Local, Area, State, and National Offices. A limited subset of data is also maintained in a tape and disc library and an on-line retrieval system at the Finance Office. Access is restricted to authorized Rural Development personnel. A system of operator and terminal passwords and code numbers is used to restrict access to the on-line system. Passwords and code numbers are changed as necessary. Retention and disposal: Records are maintained subject to the Federal Records Disposal Act of 1943 (44 U.S.C. 33), and in accordance with Rural Development's disposal schedules. The Local, Area, State, and National Offices dispose of records by shredding, burning, or other suitable disposal methods after established retention periods have been fulfilled. Finance Office records are disposed of by overprinting. (Destruction methods may never compromise the confidentiality of information contained in the records.) Applications, including credit reports and personal references, which are rejected, withdrawn, or otherwise terminated are kept in the Local, Area, or State Office for 2 full fiscal years and 1 month after the end of the fiscal year in which the application was rejected, withdrawn, canceled, or expired. If final action was taken on the application, including an appeal, investigation, or litigation, the application is kept for 1 full fiscal year after the end of the fiscal year in which final action was taken. The records, including credit reports, of borrowers who have paid or otherwise satisfied their obligation are retained in the Local, Area, or State Office for 1 full fiscal year after the fiscal year in which the loan was paid in full. Correspondence records at the National Office which concern borrowers and applicants are retained for 3 full fiscal years after the last year in which there was correspondence. System manager(s) and address: The Community Development Manager at the Local Office, the Rural Development Manager at the Area Office, and the State Director at the State Office, the Deputy Chief Financial Officer in St. Louis, MO, and the respective Administrators in the National Office at the following addresses: Administrator, Rural Housing Service, USDA, 1400 Independence Avenue, SW, Room 5014, South Building, Stop 0701, Washington, DC 20250-0701; Administrator, Rural Business-Cooperative Service, USDA, 1400 Independence Avenue, SW, Room 5045, South Building, Stop 3201, Washington, DC 20250-3201; Administrator, Rural Utilities Service, USDA, 1400 Independence Avenue, SW, Room 4501, South Building, Stop 1510, Washington, DC 2050-1510. Notification procedure: Any individual may request information regarding this system of records, or determine whether the system contains records pertaining to him/her, from the appropriate System Manager. If the specific location of the record is not known, the individual should address his or her request to: Rural Development, Freedom of Information Officer, United States Department of Agriculture, 1400 Independence Avenue, SW., Stop 0742, Washington, DC 20250-0742. A request for information pertaining to an individual must include a name; an address; the Rural Development office where the loan or grant was applied for, approved, and/or denied; the type of Rural Development program; and the date of the request or approval. Record access procedures: Any individual may obtain information regarding the procedures for gaining access to a record in the system which pertains to him or her by submitting a written request to one of the System Managers. Contesting record procedures: Same as record access procedures. Record source categories: Information in this system comes primarily from the applicant, borrower, grantee, or tenant. Credit reports and personal references come primarily from credit agencies and creditors. Exemptions claimed for the system: None.