| (a) Upon the acceptance of a complaint under this chapter,
CRD shall initiate an investigation. The CRD director may initiate
an investigation to determine whether a complaint should be filed
under this chapter and the Texas Fair Housing Act, Subchapter E. Such
investigations shall be conducted in accordance with the procedures
set forth in this chapter. CRD also may invite the parties to participate
in a voluntary mediation program in an effort to conciliate the dispute.
(b) The CRD director shall determine the scope and
nature of the investigation within the context of the allegations
set forth in the complaint.
(c) At all reasonable times in the complaint investigation,
the CRD director shall have access to:
(1) necessary witnesses for examination under oath
or affirmation; and
(2) records, documents, and other information relevant
to the investigation of alleged violations of the Texas Fair Housing
Act, for inspection and copying.
(d) Within 20 days of the acceptance of a complaint
or amended complaint under this chapter, the CRD director shall serve
a notice on each respondent by regular mail, or electronic communication
upon agreement of the respondent. A person who is not named as a respondent
in a complaint, but who is identified in the course of the investigation
under the Texas Fair Housing Act, Subchapter E, and this chapter,
as a person who is alleged to be engaged or to have engaged in the
discriminatory housing practice upon which the complaint is based,
may be joined as an additional or substitute respondent by service
of a notice on the person under this section.
(e) The notice to a respondent shall include, but not
be limited to, the following:
(1) Identification of the alleged discriminatory housing
practice upon which the complaint is based, and a copy of the complaint;
(2) Date that the complaint was accepted for filing;
(3) Time limits applicable to complaint processing
under this chapter and the procedural rights and obligations of the
respondent under the Texas Fair Housing Act, and this chapter, including
the opportunity to submit an answer to the complaint within 10 days
of the receipt of the notice;
(4) Complainant's right to commence a civil action
under the Texas Fair Housing Act, Subchapter H, and federal law, not
later than two years after the occurrence or termination of the alleged
discriminatory housing practice; an explanation that the computation
of the two-year period excludes any time during which an administrative
hearing is pending under this chapter or the Texas Fair Housing Act,
Subchapter E, with respect to a complaint or charge based on the alleged
discriminatory housing practice;
(5) If the person is not named in the complaint, but
is being joined as an additional or substitute respondent, an explanation
of the basis for the CRD director's belief that the joined person
is properly joined as a respondent;
(6) Instruction that retaliation against any person
because he or she made a complaint or testified, assisted, or participated
in an investigation, conciliation, or an administrative proceeding
under this chapter is a discriminatory housing practice that is prohibited
under the Texas Fair Housing Act;
(7) Invitation to enter into a conciliation agreement
for the purpose of resolving the complaint; and
(8) Initial request for information and documentation
concerning the facts and circumstances surrounding the alleged discriminatory
housing practice set forth in the complaint.
(f) The respondent may file an answer not later than
10 days after receipt of the notice described in this section. The
respondent may assert any defense that might be available to a defendant
in a court of law. The written answer shall either be signed under
oath or subscribed by the person making the declaration as true under
penalty of perjury and in substantially the form prescribed by Texas
Civil Practice and Remedies Code, Chapter 132, or its successor statute.
(g) An answer may be reasonably and fairly amended
at any time.
(h) CRD may conduct discovery in aid of the investigation
by the same methods and to the same extent that parties may conduct
discovery in an administrative proceeding under the Texas Fair Housing
Act, Subchapter E. The CRD director shall have the power to issue
subpoenas described under the Texas Fair Housing Act, Subchapter D,
in support of the investigation.
(i) As part of the complaint investigation, CRD may
request information relevant to the alleged violations of the Texas
Fair Housing Act. In obtaining this information, CRD may use, but
is not limited to using, any of the following:
(1) Oral and video interviews and depositions;
(2) Written interrogatories;
(3) Production of documents and records;
(4) Requests for admissions;
(5) On-site inspection of respondent's facilities;
(6) Written statements or affidavits;
(7) A written statement of position or information
provided by the complainant or the respondent that is either under
oath or subscribed in conformity with this section regarding the allegations
in the complaint; or
(8) Other forms of discovery authorized by the Administrative
Procedure Act, Texas Government Code §§2001.081 - 2001.103,
or the Texas Rules of Civil Procedure.
(j) CRD may establish time requirements regarding responses
to requests for information relevant to an investigation of alleged
violations of the Texas Fair Housing Act. The CRD director may extend
such time requirements for good cause shown.
(k) CRD shall complete the initial investigation of
the alleged discriminatory housing practice within 100 days of the
filing of the complaint, unless it is impracticable to do so.
(l) The complaint shall remain open until a no reasonable
cause determination is made, a charge is made, or a conciliation agreement
is executed and approved under this chapter and the Texas Fair Housing
Act, Subchapter E.
(m) At the end of each investigation under this chapter,
CRD shall prepare a final investigative report. The investigative
report shall contain:
(1) the names and dates of contacts with witnesses.
The report shall not disclose the names of witnesses that request
anonymity; however, the names of such witnesses may be required to
be disclosed in the course of an administrative hearing or a civil
action;
(2) a summary and the dates of correspondence and other
contacts with the complainant and the respondent;
(3) a summary description of other pertinent records;
(4) a summary of witness statements; and
(5) answers to interrogatories.
(n) A final investigative report may be amended if
additional evidence is discovered.
(o) CRD shall provide a summary of the final determination
and shall make available the full investigative report to the complainant
and the respondent.
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