12 C.F.R. § 1703.16 Appeals of denials.
Title 12 - Banks and Banking
(a) Right of appeal. If a request, including a request for expedited processing, has been denied in whole or in part, the requester may appeal the denial to: FOIA Appeals Officer, Office of Federal Housing Enterprise Oversight, 1700 G Street, NW, Fourth Floor, Washington DC 20552. Electronic appeals shall be submitted to [email protected] with “FOIA Appeal” in the subject line. (b) Letter of appeal. The appeal must be in writing and submitted within 30 days of receipt of the denial letter. The appeal shall be submitted in the manner described in §1703.13, except that it shall be clearly marked “FOIA Appeal” instead of “FOIA Request.” An appeal shall include a copy of the initial request, a copy of the letter denying the request in whole or in part, and a statement of the circumstances, reasons, or arguments advanced in support of disclosure of the requested record. An improperly addressed appeal shall be deemed not to have been received for the purposes of the 20-day time period set forth in §1703.17(b) until it is received, or would have been received with the exercise of due diligence, by the Appeals Officer. (c) Action on appeal. The disposition of an appeal will be in writing and will constitute the final action of OFHEO on a request. A decision affirming in whole or in part the denial of a request will include a brief statement of the reason or reasons for affirmance, including each FOIA exemption relied on. If the denial of a request is reversed in whole or in part on appeal, the request will be processed promptly in accordance with the decision on appeal. (d) Judicial review. If the denial of the request for records is upheld in whole or in part, or, if a determination on the appeal has not been mailed at the end of the 20-day period or the last extension thereof, the requester is deemed to have exhausted his or her administrative remedies, giving rise to a right of judicial review under 5 U.S.C. 552(a)(4). However, a requester's refusal of OFHEO's offer of an opportunity to limit the scope of the request or arrange an alternate time frame for processing the request shall be considered as a factor in determining whether “exceptional circumstances” exist, which permits a court in which a requester has sought judicial review, to grant a stay to allow OFHEO to complete its review of the records. [63 FR 71005, Dec. 23, 1998, as amended at 65 FR 55173, Sept. 13, 2000. Redesignated and amended at 65 FR 81327, Dec. 26, 2000]
Title 12: Banks and Banking
PART 1703—RELEASE OF INFORMATION
Subpart C—Availability of Records of OFHEO
§ 1703.16 Appeals of denials.
