(a) General. The Secretary shall review all Requests for Proprietary Treatment from the GSEs, along with any other information that the Secretary may elicit from other sources regarding the Request.

(b) Factors for proprietary treatment. Except as provided in paragraph (c) of this section, in making the determination of whether to accord proprietary treatment to mortgage data or AHAR information, the Secretary's considerations shall include, but are not limited to:

(1) The type of data or information involved and the nature of the adverse consequences to the GSE, financial or otherwise, that would result from disclosure, including any adverse effect on the GSE's competitive position;

(2) The existence and applicability of any prior determinations by HUD, any other Federal agency, or a court, concerning similar data or information;

(3) The measures taken by the GSE to protect the confidentiality of the mortgage data or AHAR information in question, and similar data or information, before and after its submission to the Secretary;

(4) The extent to which the mortgage data or AHAR information is publicly available including whether the data or information is available from other entities, from local government offices or records, including deeds, recorded mortgages, and similar documents, or from publicly available data bases;

(5) The difficulty that a competitor, including a seller/servicer, would face in obtaining or compiling the mortgage data or AHAR information; and

(6) Such additional facts and legal and other authorities as the Secretary may consider appropriate, including the age of the mortgage data (see 24 CFR 81.75(b)(3)), or the extent to which particular mortgage data or AHAR information, when considered together with other information, could reveal proprietary information.

(c) Alternative criterion for mortgage data or AHAR information subject to a temporary order, final order, or regulation in effect. Where the request for proprietary treatment pertains to mortgage data or AHAR information that has been deemed proprietary by the Secretary under a temporary order, final order, or regulation in effect, the Secretary shall grant the request with respect to any mortgage data or AHAR information which comes within the order or regulation.

(d) Determination of proprietary treatment. The Secretary shall determine, as expeditiously as possible, whether mortgage data or AHAR information designated as proprietary by a GSE is proprietary information, or whether it is not proprietary and subject to inclusion in the public-use database and public release notwithstanding the GSE's request.

(e) Action when according proprietary treatment to mortgage data and AHAR information.

(1) When the Secretary determines that mortgage data or AHAR information designated as proprietary by a GSE is proprietary, and the mortgage data or AHAR information is not subject to a temporary order, a final order, or a regulation in effect providing that the mortgage data or AHAR information is not subject to public disclosure, the Secretary shall notify the GSE that the request has been granted. In such cases, the Secretary shall issue either a temporary order, a final order, or a regulation providing that the mortgage data or information is not subject to public disclosure. Such a temporary order, final order, or regulation shall:

(i) Document the reasons for the determination; and

(ii) Be provided to the GSE, made available to members of the public, and published in the Federal Register, except that any portions of such order or regulation that would reveal the proprietary information shall be withheld from public disclosure. Publications of temporary orders shall invite public comments when feasible.

(2) Where the Secretary determines that such mortgage data or information is proprietary, the Secretary shall not make it publicly available, except as otherwise provided in accordance with this subpart.

(f) Determination not to accord proprietary treatment to mortgage data and AHAR information or to seek further information. When the Secretary determines that such mortgage data or AHAR information designated as proprietary by a GSE may not be proprietary, that the request may be granted only in part, or that questions exist concerning the request, the following procedure shall apply:

(1) The Secretary shall provide the GSE with an opportunity for a meeting with HUD to discuss the matter, for the purpose of gaining additional information concerning the request.

(2) Following the meeting, based on the Secretary's review of the mortgage data or AHAR information that is the subject of a request and the GSE's objections, if any, to disclosure of such mortgage data or AHAR information, the Secretary shall make a determination:

(i) If the Secretary determines to withhold from the public-use database as proprietary the mortgage data or AHAR information that is the subject of a request, the procedures in paragraph (e) of this section shall apply; or

(ii) If the Secretary determines that any mortgage data or AHAR information that is the subject of a request is not proprietary, the Secretary shall provide notice in writing to the GSE of the reasons for this determination, and such notice shall provide that the Secretary shall not release the mortgage data or AHAR information to the public for 10 working days.

[60 FR 61888, Dec. 1, 1995, as amended at 70 FR 69031, Nov. 10, 2005]