Financial information
When you see financial information submitted to the agency by a third party, what should you do?
A) Cry
B) Send a submitter notice
C) Release it to the FOIA requestor
B
if you receive a request that is missing a necessary piece of information for a response to be prepared, such as an address, what should you do?
Search for all records created regardless of address for the time identified
Seek clarification from the requestor through FPM
Try to figure out what the address must be based on other information in the request
(b) seek clarification from the requestor through FPM
Which of the following documents might be protected under the “deliberative process privilege?”
A)Your email to your husband debating what to get for dinner
B) Your edits on a soon-to-be-issued guidance document
C) Your email to your coworker, ccing your grantee
Answer: B!
Is this an acceptable response from a submitter to a Submitter Notice: “Withhold everything. Thanks.”?
No
if you receive a request that asks for a list of all addresses at a 200-unit apartment complex where tenants complained about responses to requests for reasonable accommodation, and there is no list available, you should:
Create a list, and be as careful as you can to be accurate
Not create a list
Look for all documents reflecting any complaint about responses to requests for reasonable accommodation at the apartment complex
(b) is the best answer
In order to redact the content in an email between HUD coworkers under Exemption 5’s deliberative process privilege, that content would need be Deliberative AND:
What is pre-decisional
Who makes the ultimate determination of whether a submitter’s information should be redacted?
A) The Submitter
B) The Program Office
C) The Regional Counsel
B) – the Program Office
if you receive a request that asks for reports of physical inspections of apartments that the Agency does not have, but that you could request from the public housing authority, you should:
Produce a copy of existing guidelines regarding the procedure for preparation and maintenance of property inspection reports
Contact the PHA and ask them to send you inspection reports so that you can produce them
Do nothing; do not produce documents in response to this portion of the request.
(c) is the best answer.
What objective of the deliberative process privilege justifies protecting draft documents?
Answer: To protect against public confusion
You receive a FOIA request that asks for multiple items, one of which is “an explanation of why the landlord at 1234 Green Street has been allowed to operate without posting required notices.” There are no documents with such an explanation. You should:
Prepare an explanation and be sure your supervisor reviews it before you send it to OGC for review.
Produce nothing in response to this item.
Call the landlord to confirm she has posted required notices and if she has not, ask why that has not occurred.
(b) is the best answer.
Forwarding OGC memos or your emails with OGC regarding legal advice to other Agency personnel could result in this action, which means relinquishing the right to protect attorney-client communications from disclosure.
What is a waiver
You are responding to a FOIA request and receive emails from an Agency employee, Fred Monroy. One of Fred’s emails says, in part, “I’ve asked Agency employee Melissa Elworth to look into this.” You should:
Take steps to gather responsive documents from Melissa Elworth.
Redact Melissa Elworth’s name from this email.
Not produce this email because Melissa Elworth was not mentioned in the FOIA request.
(a) is the best answer
This type of Exemption 5 privilege applies to an agency’s (as opposed to a third-party’s) internal confidential research, development, or commercial information.
What is Agency’s trade secrets