HUD Modifies TRACS Privacy Act System of Records, Updates System Manager and Routine Uses

Content

ACTION:

Notice of a Modified System of Records.

SUMMARY:

Pursuant to the provisions of the Privacy Act of 1974, as amended, the Department of the Housing and Urban Development (HUD),
Office of Multifamily Housing, is issuing public notice of its intent to modify system of records for the Tenant Rental Assistance
Certification System (TRACS). TRACS supports HUD's multifamily housing rental assistance programs by managing information
about rental assistance contracts, tenants and property owners. The system is used to process housing subsidy payments, track
contract funding amounts, and ensure that rental assistance payments are calculated and issued accurately. The modification
makes clarifying changes to the System Manager and Routine Uses. The updates are explained in the “Supplementary Section”
of this notice. This notice supersedes the previously published SORN.

DATES:

Comments will be accepted on or before May 26, 2026. This proposed action will be effective immediately upon publication.
Routine uses will become effective on the date following the end of the comment period unless comments are received which
result in a contrary determination.

ADDRESSES:

You may submit comments, identified by docket number or by one of the following methods:

Federal e-Rulemaking Portal: http://www.regulations.gov. Follow the instructions provided on that site to submit comments electronically.

Fax: 202-619-8365.

Email: privacy@hud.gov.

Mail: Attention: Privacy Office; Kimberly Morton, Acting Chief Privacy Officer; Office of the Executive Secretariat; 451 7th Street
SW, Room 10139; Washington, DC 20410-0001.

Instructions: All submissions received must include the agency name and docket number for this rulemaking. All comments received will be
posted without change to https://www.regulations.gov, including any personal information provided.

Docket: For access to the docket to read background documents or comments received, go to https://www.regulations.gov.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

Kimberly Morton, Acting Chief Privacy Officer; 451 7th Street, SW, Room 10139; Washington, DC 20410-0001; telephone number
(804) 822-4801 (this is not a toll-free number). HUD welcomes and is prepared to receive calls from individuals who are deaf
or hard of hearing, as well as individuals with speech or communication disabilities. To learn more about how to make an accessible
telephone call, please visit https://www.fcc.gov/consumers/guides/telecommunications-relayservice-trs.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

HUD, Office of Multifamily Housing maintains the TRACS System. HUD is publishing this notice to include these changes reflecting
the modified items below:

1. System Manager(s): Updated to reflect current system manager.

2. Routine Uses for Records Maintained in the System: Updated to bring it to current applicable routine uses. Routine Use
   18, which was previously added by 91 FR 2137 (January 16, 2026), has been incorporated at the end of the Routine Use Section.

SYSTEM NAME AND NUMBER:

Tenant Rental Assistance Certification System (TRACS), HUD/HOU-11.

SECURITY CLASSIFICATION:

Unclassified.

SYSTEM LOCATION:

The Department of Housing and Urban Development Headquarters, 451 7th Street, SW, Washington, DC 20410-0001; and at HUD Field
and Regional Office. TRACS is maintained at: the National Center for Critical Information Processing and Storage, 9325 Cypress
Loop Road, Stennis, MS 39629.

SYSTEM MANAGER(S):

Jamiece B. Sanders-Lambert, Management Information Specialist, Office of Deputy Assistant Secretary for Multifamily Housing
Programs, 451 7th Street SW, Room 6124 Washington, DC 20410, (202)402-6373.

AUTHORITY FOR MAINTENANCE OF THE SYSTEM:

The United States Housing Act of 1937, Public Law 93-383, 88 Stat. 653, as amended, 42 U.S.C. 1437 et seq.; The Housing and Community Development Act of 1987, Public Law 100-242, 101 Stat. 1864, section 165, 42 U.S.C 3543, The Housing
and Community Development Amendments of 1981, Public Law 97-35, 95 Stat. 408; The Stewart B. McKinney Homeless Assistance
Amendments Act of 1988, Public Law 100-628, 102 Stat. 3259, section 904 as amended, 42 U.S.C. 3544.

PURPOSE(S) OF THE SYSTEM:

TRACS performs edit checks and accepts tenant and voucher request data needed to verify data quality, and interfaces with
other HUD systems to validate tenant income, verify contract funding, obligate, and commit contract funds, provide information
to other HUD divisions, and submit voucher requests for payment to minimize improper payments, and detect subsidy fraud, waste,
and abuse in multifamily housing rental housing assistance programs. TRACS automates and integrates critical modules for TRACS
activities related to the Contract Business System, the Tenant Business System, and the Voucher/Payment Business System:

• Integrated Multifamily Access Exchange (iMAX) provides efficient access to authorized industry partners (i.e., Contract Administrators (CAs) and Owner/Agents (OAs)) to transmit tenant data and voucher data files to HUD and other authorized
partners. Other authorized partners may include HUD contractors providing technical or operational support, financial institutions
processing housing assistance payments, and federal oversight entities consistent with applicable law and published routine
uses.

• Integrated Contracts (iCon) supports rental assistance contracts repository. Contracts are added (e.g., for the Rental Assistance Demonstration (RAD) and Paperwork Reduction Act (PRA) Section 811 programs) and maintained by internal
MFH staff.

• Automated Renewal and Amendment Management Subsystem (ARAMS) Supports funding functions for contract renewals and amendments. Headquarters staff enter and update funding transactions which are then interfaced to Line of Credit Control System (LOCCS).

CATEGORIES OF INDIVIDUALS COVERED BY THE SYSTEM:

Individuals receiving project-based rental housing assistance, property owner, management agent, and contract administrator
who administers or receives subsidies.

CATEGORIES OF RECORDS IN THE SYSTEM:

Full Name, Social Security Number (SSN), Date of Birth, Employment Status/History/Information, Home Address, Marital Status,
Military Status or other information, Race/Ethnicity, Phone Number(s), Email Address(s), Salary, Sex, Taxpayer ID, User ID,
Name of head of household member, Name of all household members, Name of Owners/Management Agent, Tenant/

Owners/Management Agent, Identification number: Alien Registration Number and Taxpayer Identification Number (TIN), Spouse
Name, and financial transactions pertaining to the contracts.

RECORD SOURCE CATEGORIES:

Records in the system are obtained from Owners/Management Agents/Housing Authorities and/or Contract Administrators on behalf
of the assisted tenants. The TRACS system and contained subsystems may collect data and information from the following other
systems: Geocode Service Center (GSC), Line of Credit Control System (LOCCS), HUD Central Accounting and Program System (HUDCAPS),
Integrated Real Estate Management System (iREMS), and Web Access Security System (WASS).

ROUTINE USES OF RECORDS MAINTAINED IN THE SYSTEM, INCLUDING CATEGORIES OF USERS AND PURPOSES OF SUCH USES:

(1) To contractors, grantees, experts, consultants, Federal agencies, and non-Federal entities, including, but not limited
to, State and local governments and other research institutions or their parties, and entities and their agents with whom
HUD has a contract, service agreement, grant, cooperative agreement, or other agreement for the purposes of statistical analysis
and research in support of program operations, management, performance monitoring, evaluation, risk management, and policy
development, to otherwise support the Department's mission, or for other research and statistical purposes not otherwise prohibited
by law or regulation. Records under this routine use may not be used in whole or in part to make decisions that affect the
rights, benefits, or privileges of specific individuals. The entity receiving information under this routine use may not further
disclose the records in an identifiable form.

(2) To Housing Authorities, (HAs) to verify the accuracy and completeness of tenant data used in determining eligibility and
continued eligibility and the amount of housing assistance received.

(3) To Private Owners of assisted housing to verify the accuracy and completeness of the applicant and tenant data used in
determining eligibility and continued eligibility and the amount of assistance received by the applicant.

(4) To HAs, owners, management agents and contract administrators to identify and resolve discrepancies in tenant data related
to eligibility determinations, rental assistance calculations, certification information, household composition or subsidy
payment processing.

(5) To the Internal Revenue Service to report income using IRS Form 1099 and to disclose records to the Internal Revenue Service
when HUD determines that the use of those records is relevant and necessary to report payments or discharge of indebtedness.

(6) To Social Security Administration and Immigration and Naturalization Service to verify alien status and continued eligibility
in HUD's rental assistance programs via Enterprise Income Verification (EIV).

(7) To the congressional office from the record of an individual in response to an inquiry from that congressional office
made at the request of the individual to whom the record pertains.

(8) To the Universal Service Administrative Company (USAC), which is designated by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC)
as the Federal administrator of the Universal Service Fund (USF or Fund) Lifeline Program (Lifeline), the Emergency Broadband
Benefit (EBB) program and other Federal Telecommunications Benefit (FTB) programs that utilizes Lifeline eligibility criteria
as specified by the Lifeline program, 47 CFR 54.409. The purpose of this routine use is to establish eligibility for the Lifeline,
EBB and other FTB programs for families which also participate in a HUD rental assistance program.

(9) To any Federal, State, or local agency (e.g., State agencies administering the State's unemployment compensation laws, Temporary Assistance to Needy Families, or Supplemental
Nutrition Assistance Program agencies, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, and U.S. Social Security Administration):
To verify the accuracy and completeness of the data provided, to verify eligibility or continued eligibility in HUD's rental
assistance programs, to identify and recover improper payments under the Payment Integrity Information Act of 2019, Public
Law 116-117, and to aid in the identification of tenant errors, fraud, and abuse in assisted housing programs.

(10) To appropriate agencies, entities, and persons when: (1) HUD suspects or has confirmed that there has been a breach of
the system of records; (2) HUD has determined that as a result of the suspected or confirmed breach there is a risk of harm
to individuals, HUD (including its information systems, programs, and operations), the Federal Government, or national security:
and (3) the disclosure made to such agencies, entities, and persons is reasonably necessary to assist in connection with HUD's
efforts to respond to the suspected or confirmed breach or to prevent, minimize, or remedy such harm.

(11) To another Federal agency or Federal entity, when HUD determines that information from this system of records is reasonably
necessary to assist the recipient agency or entity in (1) responding to suspected or confirmed breach, or (2) preventing,
minimizing, or remedying the risk of harm to individuals, the recipient agency or entity (including its information systems,
programs, and operations), the Federal Government, or national security, resulting from a suspected or confirmed breach.

(12) To contractors, experts, and consultants with whom HUD has a contract, service agreement, or another assignment when
HUD provides system access to HUD contractors to develop, maintain and troubleshoot application issues to support the Department's
programs needed to meet its mission. Upgrades and migrations to this TRACS system are needed to meet the changes in technology
and improve system performance.

(13) To Federal agencies, non-Federal entities, their employees, and agents (including contractors, their agents or employees;
employees or contractors of the agents or designated agents); or contractors, their employees or agents with whom HUD has
a contract, service agreement, grant, cooperative agreement, or computer matching agreement for the purpose of: (1) detection,
prevention, and recovery of improper payments; (2) detection and prevention of fraud, waste, and abuse in major Federal programs
administered by a Federal agency or non-Federal entity; (3) detection of fraud, waste, and abuse by individuals in their operations
and programs; (4) for the purpose of establishing or verifying the eligibility of, or continuing compliance with statutory
and regulatory requirements by, applicants for, recipients or beneficiaries of, participants in, or providers of services
with respect to, cash or in-kind assistance or payments under Federal benefits programs or recouping payments or delinquent
debts under such Federal benefits programs. Records under this routine use may be disclosed only to the extent that the information
shared is necessary and relevant to verify pre-award and prepayment requirements prior to the release of Federal funds or
to prevent and recover improper payments for services rendered under programs of HUD or of those Federal agencies and non-Federal
entities to which HUD

provides information under this routine use.

(14) To contractors, grantees, experts, consultants and their agents, or others performing or working under a contract, service,
grant, cooperative agreement, or other agreement with HUD, when necessary to accomplish an agency function related to a system
of records.

(15) To any component of the Department of Justice or other Federal agency conducting litigation or in proceedings before
any court, adjudicative, or administrative body, when HUD determines that the use of such records is relevant and necessary
to the litigation and when any of the following is a party to the litigation or have an interest in such litigation: (1) HUD,
or any component thereof; or (2) any HUD employee in his or her official capacity; or (3) any HUD employee in his or her individual
capacity where the Department of Justice or agency conducting the litigation has agreed to represent the employee; or (4)
the United States, or any agency thereof, where HUD determines that litigation is likely to affect HUD or any of its components.

(16) To appropriate Federal, State, local, Tribal, or other governmental agencies or multilateral governmental organizations
responsible for investigating or prosecuting the violations of, or for enforcing or implementing, a statute, rule, regulation,
order, or license, where HUD determines that the information would assist in the enforcement of civil or criminal laws and
when such records, either alone or in conjunction with other information, indicate a violation or potential violation of law.

(17) To a court, magistrate, administrative tribunal, or arbitrator in the course of presenting evidence, including disclosures
to opposing counsel or witnesses in the course of civil discovery, litigation, mediation, or settlement negotiations, or in
connection with criminal law proceedings; when HUD determines that use of such records is relevant and necessary to the litigation
and when any of the following is a party to the litigation or have an interest in such litigation: (1) HUD, or any component
thereof; or (2) any HUD employee in his or her official capacity; or (3) any HUD employee in his or her individual capacity
where HUD has agreed to represent the employee; or (4) the United States, or any agency thereof, where HUD determines that
litigation is likely to affect HUD or any of its components.

(18) To the U.S. Department of the Treasury when disclosure of the information is relevant to review payment and award eligibility
through the Do Not Pay Working System for the purposes of identifying, preventing, or recouping improper payments to an applicant
for, or recipient of, Federal funds, including funds disbursed by a state (meaning a state of the United States, the District
of Columbia, a territory or possession of the United States, or a federally recognized Indian tribe) in a state-administered,
federally funded program.

POLICIES AND PRACTICES FOR STORAGE OF RECORDS:

Records are stored in electronic and paper formats. Electronic records are maintained within HUD-authorized systems using
encryption and restricted-access directories. Paper records are stored in secured offices or file cabinets with physical access
controls.

POLICIES AND PRACTICES FOR RETRIEVAL OF RECORDS:

Records from this system may be retrieved by Name, SSN, and Home Address in connection with MFH rental assistance program
records.

POLICIES AND PRACTICES FOR RETENTION AND DISPOSAL OF RECORDS:

TRACS retention and disposal requirements are assessed at the module level:

(a) ARAMS module (Contract Database) retention instruction is Temporary: Delete data twenty-five years after the contract
expiration date.

(b) Tenant Module retention (Extract of TRACS Tenant Data (HUD 50059 data)) instruction is Permanent: Transfer current year
electronic data to the National Archives annually at end of calendar year. The initial transfer must include historic (1995-2006)
and current electronic data. Nl-207-06-2, item 14.B (a)(2).

(c) Voucher Module (Voucher Database) retention instruction is Temporary: Archive data to tape five (5) years after the last
voucher date or any voucher from a contract that has been terminated five (5) years or longer. Delete data from the tape twenty-five
(25) years after the last voucher date or any voucher from a contract that has been terminated twenty-five (25) years or longer.
N1-207-06-2-Item 14 B a2(c).

(d) iMAX Module retention is Temporary: Delete data twenty-five years after contract expiration date. (NARA Job No. N1-207-06-2,
item 14.B (a)(2)(b).

(e) User Guides and Manuals for TRACS and all modules or subsystems retention instruction is Temporary: Destroy or delete
when superseded or obsolete. N1-207-06-2, item 14.D(e)

(f) iCon module (Contract Database) retention is Temporary: Delete data twenty-five years after the contract expiration date.
Backup and Recovery of digital media will be destroyed or otherwise rendered irrecoverable per NIST SP 800-88 Revision 1 “Guidelines
for Media Sanitization” N1-207-06-2-Item 14 B a2(b).

(g) Tenant Database (HUD 50059 data) retention is Temporary. Archive data to tape three (3) years after the certification
effective date. NARA Job No. N1-207-06-2, item 14.B (a)

(h) Tenant Archives Database (Sub-set of data derived from Tenant Database) Retention is Temporary. Delete data twenty-five
(25) years after the tenant move-out date or twenty-five (25) years after the termination date. NARA Job No. 1-207-06-2, item
14.B(a)(1).

(i) System Documentation and Data Administration Records GRS 3.1 Item 50 & 51

a. Item 50—Documentation necessary for preservation of permanent electronic records. Permanent. Transfer to the National Archives
with the permanent electronic records to which the documentation relates. DAA-GRS-2013-0005-0002.

b. Item 51—All documentation for temporary electronic records and documentation not necessary for the preservation of permanent
records Temporarily. Destroy 5 years after the project/activity/transaction is completed or superseded, or the associated
system is terminated, or the associated data is migrated to a successor system, but longer retention is authorized if required
for business use. DAA-GRS-2013-0005-0034.

(j) System Development records. GRS 3.1 Item 10 & 11

a. Item 10—Infrastructure project records. Temporary. Destroy 5 years after the project is terminated, but longer retention
is authorized if required for business use. DAA-GRS-2013-0005-0006.

b. Item 11—System development records. Temporary. Destroy 5 years after the system is superseded by a new iteration, or is
terminated, defunded, or no longer needed for agency/IT administrative purposes, but longer retention is authorized if required
for business use. DAA-GRS-2013-0005-0007.

(k) Systems and data security records GRS 3.2 Item 10

a. Item 10—Systems and data security records. Temporary. Destroy 1 year after the system is superseded by a new iteration
or when no longer needed for agency/IT administrative purposes to ensure a continuity of security controls

throughout the life of the system. DAA-GRS-2013-0006-0001.

(l) System Access Records GRS 3.2 Item 31

a. Item 31—Systems requiring special accountability for access. Temporary. Destroy 6 years after the password is altered or
the user account is terminated, but longer retention is authorized if required for business use. DAA-GRS-2013-0006-0004.

(m) Input and Output Files GRS 5.1 Item 20

a. Item 20—Temporary. Destroy immediately after copying to a recordkeeping system or otherwise preserving, but longer retention
is authorized if required for business use. DAA-GRS-2016-0016-0002.

ADMINISTRATIVE, TECHNICAL, AND PHYSICAL SAFEGUARDS:

Access to TRACS is by password and user ID and is limited to authorized users. Role-based access levels or assignment roles
are restricted to those with a need to know. When first gaining access to TRACS annually, all users must agree to the system's
Rules of Behavior, which specify the handling of personal information and any physical records. Access to facilities containing
and storing physical copies of this data is controlled by security protocol signed to limit access to authorized individuals.

RECORD ACCESS PROCEDURES:

Individuals requesting records of themselves should address written inquiries to the Department of Housing Urban and Development,
451 7th Street, SW, Washington, DC 20410-0001. For verification, individuals should provide their full name, current address,
and telephone number. In addition, the requester must provide either a notarized statement or an unsworn declaration made
under 24 CFR 16.4.

CONTESTING RECORD PROCEDURES:

The HUD rule for contesting the content of any record pertaining to the individual by the individual concerned is published
in 24 CFR 16.8 or may be obtained from the system manager.

NOTIFICATION PROCEDURES:

Individuals requesting notification of records of themselves should address written inquiries to the Department of Housing
Urban Development, 451 7th Street, SW, Washington, DC 20410-0001. For verification purposes, individuals should provide their
full name, office or organization where assigned, if applicable, and current address and telephone number. In addition, the
requester must provide either a notarized statement or an unsworn declaration made under 24 CFR 16.4.

EXEMPTIONS PROMULGATED FOR THE SYSTEM:

None.

HISTORY:

Docket No. FR-7092-N-40, 89 FR 92700, November 22, 2024, modified by Docket No. FR-7106-N-12, 91 FR 2137, January 16, 2026.
Docket No. FR-7077-N-13A, 88 FR 62813, September 13, 2023. Docket No. FR-5921-N-13, 81 FR 56684, August 22, 2016.

Kimberly Morton, Acting Chief Privacy Officer, Office of Administration. [FR Doc. 2026-07999 Filed 4-23-26; 8:45 am] BILLING CODE 4210-67-P

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