Communications regarding HUD insured financing in DC

Kevin Schmidt filed this request with the Department of Housing and Urban Development of the United States of America.
Tracking #

14-FI-HQ-00149

Status
Completed
Tags

Communications

From: Kevin Schmidt

To Whom It May Concern:

This is a request under the Freedom of Information Act. I hereby request the following records:

All communications between HUD and Forest City Washington, Forest City Enterprises,Congresswoman Eleanor Holmes Norton or members of her staff, and the District of Columbia Housing Finance Agency regarding the $46.1 million HUD-insured mortgage loan for the Foundry Lofts in Washington D.C from January 1, 2010 to September 1, 2010.

I also request that, if appropriate, fees be waived as I believe this request is in the public interest. The requested documents will be made available to the general public free of charge as part of the public information service at MuckRock.com, processed by a representative of the news media/press and is made in the process of news gathering and not for commercial usage.

In the event that fees cannot be waived, I would be grateful if you would inform me of the total charges in advance of fulfilling my request. I would prefer the request filled electronically, by e-mail attachment if available or CD-ROM if not.

Thank you in advance for your anticipated cooperation in this matter. I look forward to receiving your response to this request within 20 business days, as the statute requires.

Sincerely,

Kevin Schmidt

From: Kevin Schmidt

I write to follow up on my request dated October 27, 2013 (copied below). Please respond with acknowledgement of receipt and please let me know if you have any questions.

Thanks

Request dated October 27, 2013:

To Whom It May Concern:

This is a request under the Freedom of Information Act. I hereby request the following records:

All communications between HUD and Forest City Washington, Forest City Enterprises,Congresswoman Eleanor Holmes Norton or members of her staff, and the District of Columbia Housing Finance Agency regarding the $46.1 million HUD-insured mortgage loan for the Foundry Lofts in Washington D.C from January 1, 2010 to September 1, 2010.

I also request that, if appropriate, fees be waived as I believe this request is in the public interest. The requested documents will be made available to the general public free of charge as part of the public information service at MuckRock.com, processed by a representative of the news media/press and is made in the process of news gathering and not for commercial usage.

In the event that fees cannot be waived, I would be grateful if you would inform me of the total charges in advance of fulfilling my request. I would prefer the request filled electronically, by e-mail attachment if available or CD-ROM if not.

Thank you in advance for your anticipated cooperation in this matter. I look forward to receiving your response to this request within 20 business days, as the statute requires.

Sincerely,

Kevin Schmidt

From: Howard Rosenberg FOIA Analyst

Dear Mr. Schmidt,

Thank you also for your letter of November 7, following up on this request. It has been assigned to the relevant HUD program office to conduct the research end of your request.

Howard Rosenberg
FOIA Analyst

From: MuckRock.com

To Whom It May Concern:

I wanted to follow up on the following Freedom of Information request, copied below, and originally submitted on Oct. 27, 2013. Please let me know when I can expect to receive a response, or if further clarification is needed. You had assigned it reference number #14-FI-HQ-00149.

Thank you for your help.

From: Howard Rosenberg

Dear Mr. Schmidt,

Thank you for your voice message of last week. At least part of your search has been completed and around 2 dozen documents were found – they just showed up in the pile to be redacted. I’d be glad to update you as the process unfolds.

Howard Rosenberg
FOIA Analyst

From: MuckRock.com

To Whom It May Concern:

I wanted to follow up on the following Freedom of Information request, copied below, and originally submitted on Oct. 27, 2013. Please let me know when I can expect to receive a response, or if further clarification is needed. You had assigned it reference number #14-FI-HQ-00149.

Thank you for your help.

From: MuckRock.com

To Whom It May Concern:

I wanted to follow up on the following Freedom of Information request, copied below, and originally submitted on Oct. 27, 2013. Please let me know when I can expect to receive a response, or if further clarification is needed. You had assigned it reference number #14-FI-HQ-00149.

Thank you for your help.

From: MuckRock.com

To Whom It May Concern:

I wanted to follow up on the following Freedom of Information request, copied below, and originally submitted on Oct. 27, 2013. Please let me know when I can expect to receive a response, or if further clarification is needed. You had assigned it reference number #14-FI-HQ-00149.

Thank you for your help.

From: MuckRock.com

To Whom It May Concern:

I wanted to follow up on the following Freedom of Information request, copied below, and originally submitted on Oct. 27, 2013. Please let me know when I can expect to receive a response, or if further clarification is needed. You had assigned it reference number #14-FI-HQ-00149.

Thank you for your help.

From: Rosenberg, Howard

Dear Mr. Schmidt,

Thank you for your voice message and my apologies for the delay. The search has now been completed and several dozen documents were found. Plus, the HUD FOIA office is now bent on closing its oldest cases, and this is among them. I'm not sure how long it will take to do the redactions and get you the final material, but yours has been singled out for special attention. Sorry I can't give you a more definitive answer.

Sincerely,

Howard Rosenberg
FOIA Analyst

From: Kevin Schmidt

Thank you for the update!

From: MuckRock.com

To Whom It May Concern:

I wanted to follow up on the following Freedom of Information request, copied below, and originally submitted on Oct. 27, 2013. Please let me know when I can expect to receive a response, or if further clarification is needed. You had assigned it reference number #14-FI-HQ-00149.

Thank you for your help.

From: MuckRock.com

To Whom It May Concern:

I wanted to follow up on the following Freedom of Information request, copied below, and originally submitted on Oct. 27, 2013. Please let me know when I can expect to receive a response, or if further clarification is needed. You had assigned it reference number #14-FI-HQ-00149.

Thank you for your help.

From: Rosenberg, Howard

Dear Mr. Schmidt,

Good afternoon. My apologies. I'm relatively new at analyzing FOIA search results and the person who conducted the search sent me a slew a documents with the congresswoman's name in it, none of which are responsive to your request, and which I didn't realize that fact until after I had redacted all of the privacy-protected into across 180 pages. However, your request has now been assigned to a different HUD office (in Baltimore) that will conduct a more directed search.

Sorry for the inconvenience -- of all the FOIA requests I've worked on over the past few months, this was the one that by far threw me for a loop!
Thanks,

Howard Rosenberg
FOIA Analyst

From: Department of Housing and Urban Development

A cover letter granting the request and outlining any exempted materials, if any.

From: Department of Housing and Urban Development

A copy of documents responsive to the request.

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