| (s) Limited English Proficiency. Owner shall comply
with the requirements in Executive Order 13166 of August 11, 2000,
reprinted at 65 FR 50121, August 16, 2000, Improving Access to Services
for Persons with Limited English Proficiency and 67 FR 41455. To ensure
compliance the Owner must take reasonable steps to insure that LEP
persons have meaningful access to the program and activities. Meaningful
access may entail providing language assistance services, including
oral and written translation, where necessary.
(t) Procurement of Recovered Materials. Owner, its
subrecipients, and its contractors must comply with Section 6002 of
the Solid Waste Disposal Act, as amended by the Resource Conservation
and Recovery Act. The requirements of Section 6002 include procuring
only items designated in guidelines of the Environmental Protection
Agency (EPA) at 40 CFR Part 247 that contain the highest percentage
of recovered materials practicable, consistent with maintaining a
satisfactory level of competition, where the purchase price of the
item exceeds $10,000 or the value of the quantity acquired by the
preceding fiscal year exceeded $10,000; procuring solid waste management
services in a manner that maximizes energy and resource recovery;
and establishing an affirmative procurement program for procurement
of recovered materials identified in the EPA guidelines.
(u) Drug-Free Workplace. Owner will follow the Drug-Free
Workplace Act of 1988 (41 U.S.C §701, et seq.) and HUD's implementing
regulations at 2 CFR Part 2429. Owner affirms by executing the Certification
Regarding Drug-Free Workplace Requirements attached hereto as Addendum
B, that it is implementing the Drug-Free Workplace Act of 1988.
(v) Equal Opportunity, Fair Housing, Nondiscrimination,
and Equal Access.
(1) Equal Opportunity. The Owner agrees to carry out
an Equal Employment Opportunity Program in keeping with the principles
as provided in President's Executive Order 11246 of September 24,
1965, as amended, and its implementing regulations at 41 CFR Part
60.
(2) Fair Housing Poster. The Owner is required to place
a fair housing poster (HUD-928.1 and HUD-9281.A) provided by the Department
in the leasing office, online, or anywhere else rental activities
occur pursuant to 24 CFR §200.620(e). A copy of the poster in
Spanish and in English can be found at http://www.tdhca.state.tx.us/section-811-pra/participating-agents.htm.
(3) Nondiscrimination Laws. Owner shall ensure that
no person shall, on the grounds of race, color, religion, sex, disability,
familial status, or national origin, be excluded from participation
in, be denied the benefits of, or be subjected to discrimination under,
any Program or activity funded in whole or in part with funds provided
under this Agreement. Owner shall follow Title VI of the Civil Rights
Act of 1964, as amended (42 U.S.C. §2000d et seq.), the Age Discrimination
Act of 1975 (42 U.S.C. §6101 et seq.) and its implementing regulations
at 24 CFR Part 146, Titles II and III of the Americans with Disabilities
Act (42 U.S.C. §§12131 - 12189; 47 U.S.C. §§155,
201, 218 and 255) as implemented by U.S. Department of Justice at
28 CFR Parts 35 and 36, Section 527 of the National Housing Act (12
U.S.C. §1701z-22), the Equal Credit Opportunity Act (15 U.S.C. §1691
et seq.), the Equal Opportunity in Housing (Executive Order 11063
as amended by Executive Order 12259) and its implementing regulations
at 24 CFR Part 107 and The Fair Housing Act (42 U.S.C. §3601
et seq.), as implemented by HUD at 24 CFR Part 100-115.
(4) Affirmatively Furthering Fair Housing. By Owner's
execution of the Agreement and pursuant to Section 808(e)(5) of the
Fair Housing Act, Owner agrees to use funds in a manner that follows
the State of Texas' "Analysis of Impediments" or "Assessment of Fair
Housing", as applicable and as amended, and will maintain records
in this regard.
(5) Protections for Victims of Domestic Violence, Dating
Violence, Sexual Assault, or Stalking. Subpart L of 24 CFR part 5
shall apply to the Assisted Units in Eligible Multifamily Properties.
(w) Security of Confidential Information.
(1) Systems Confidentiality Protocols. Owner must undertake
customary and industry standard efforts to ensure that the systems
developed and utilized under this Agreement protect the confidentiality
of every Eligible Applicant's and Eligible Tenant's personal and financial
information, both electronic and paper, including credit reports,
whether the information is received from the Eligible Applicants,
Tenants or from another source. Owner must undertake customary and
industry standard efforts so that neither they nor their systems vendors
disclose any Eligible Applicant's or Tenant's personal or financial
information to any third party, except for authorized personnel in
accordance with this Agreement.
(2) Protected Health Information. If Owner collects
or receives documentation for disability, medical records or any other
medical information in the course of administering the Program, Owner
shall comply with the Protected Health Information state and federal
laws and regulations, as applicable, under §1.24 of this title
(relating to Protected Health Information), Chapter 181 of the Texas
Health and Safety Code, the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability
Act of 1996 (HIPAA) (Pub. L. 104-191, 110 Stat. 1936, enacted August
21, 1996), and the HIPAA Privacy Rules (45 CFR Part 160 and Subparts
A and E of 45 CFR Part 164).
(x) Real Property Acquisition and Relocation. Except
as otherwise provided by federal statute, HUD-assisted programs or
projects are subject to the Uniform Relocation Assistance and Real
Property Acquisition Policies Act of 1970, as amended (Uniform Act
or URA) (42 U.S.C. §4601), and the government wide implementing
regulations issued by the U.S. Department of Transportation at 49
CFR Part 24. The Uniform Act's protections and assistance apply to
acquisitions of real property and displacements resulting from the
acquisition, rehabilitation, or demolition of real property for federal
or federally assisted programs or projects. With certain limited exceptions,
real property acquisitions for a HUD-assisted program or project must
comply with 49 CFR Part 24, Subpart B. To be exempt from the URA's
acquisition policies, real property acquisitions conducted without
the threat or use of eminent domain, commonly referred to as voluntary
acquisitions, the Owner must satisfy the applicable requirements of
49 CFR §24.101(b)(1) - (5). Evidence of compliance with these
requirements must be maintained by the recipient. The URA's relocation
requirements remain applicable to any tenant who is displaced by an
acquisition that meets the requirements of 49 CFR §24.101(b)(1)
- (5). The relocation requirements of the Uniform Act, and its implementing
regulations at 49 CFR Part 24, cover any person who moves permanently
from real property or moves personal property from real property as
a direct result of acquisition, rehabilitation, or demolition for
a program or project receiving HUD assistance. While there are no
statutory provisions for temporary relocation under the URA, the URA
regulations recognize that there are circumstances where a person
will not be permanently displaced but may need to be moved from a
project for a short period of time. Appendix A of the URA regulation
(49 CFR §24.2(a)(9)(ii)(D)) explains that any tenant who has
been temporarily relocated for a period beyond one year must be contacted
by the displacing agency and offered URA relocation assistance.
(y) Dispute Resolution; Conflict Management.
(1) Eligible Tenant Disputes. The Owner or Owner's
representative is required to participate in a Dispute Resolution
process, as required by HUD, to resolve an appeal of an Eligible Tenant
dispute with the Owner.
(2) Agreement Disputes. In accordance with Tex. Gov't
Code 2306.082, it is the Department's policy to encourage the use
of appropriate alternative dispute resolution procedures (ADR) under
the Governmental Dispute Resolution Act and the Negotiated Rulemaking
Act (Chapters 2009 and 2006 respectively, Tex. Gov't Code), to assist
in the fair and expeditious resolution of internal and external disputes
involving the Department and the use of negotiated rulemaking procedures
for the adoption of Department rules. As described in Chapter 154,
Civil Practices and Remedies Code, ADR procedures include mediation.
Except as prohibited by the Department's ex parte communications policy,
the Department encourages informal communications between Department
staff and the Owner, to exchange information and informally resolve
disputes. The Department also has administrative appeals processes
to fairly and expeditiously resolve disputes. If at any time the Owner
would like to engage the Department in an ADR procedure, the Owner
may send a proposal to the Department's Dispute Resolution Coordinator.
For additional information on the Department's ADR policy, see the
Department's Alternative Dispute Resolution and Negotiated Rulemaking
at §1.17 of this title (relating to Alternative Dispute Resolution).
(3) Conflict Management. The purpose of the Conflict
Management process is to address any concerns that Owner or Owner's
agent or representative may have with an Eligible Family. At any time,
an Eligible Family may choose to give consent to their Section 811
service coordinator to work directly with the property manager of
the Eligible Multifamily Property. However, such consent cannot be
made a condition of tenancy.
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