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Credit Alert Verification Reporting System (CAIVRS)

Under what legal authority is CAIVRS implemented?

Title 31, United States Code, Section 3720B bars "delinquent Federal debtors from obtaining Federal loans or loan insurance guarantees."

The Office of Management and Budget (OMB) has mandated that all Federal Credit agencies prescreen all applicants for non-delinquency in Federal debt, and, if practical, do the prescreening through a shared data system. CAIVRS provides a single repository of delinquent Federal debtor records from HUD, USDA, VA, and SBA.  Over 61,000 authorized users, including HUD staff and lenders approved by HUD, USDA, VA, SBA, and the Department of Education, may access this data when evaluating applicants for federal debt.

Most credit bureau reports do not identify insured debts as delinquent Federal debts. CAIVRS is the only system of shared delinquent Federal debtor records currently available to support the OMB mandate.

CAIVRS authority derives from Public Law 100-503, "The Computer Matching and Privacy Protection Act of 1988," as amended; Office of Management and Budget (OMB) Circulars A-129 (Managing Federal Credit Programs) and A-70 (Policies and Guidelines for Federal Credit Programs); the Budget and Accounting Acts of 1921 and 1950, as amended; the Debt Collection Act of 1982, as amended; the Deficit Reduction Act of 1984, as amended, and the Debt Collection Improvement Act of 1996, as amended.

CAIVRS supports the HUD Home Ownership Centers and HUD 2020 Reform Initiatives.

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