(D) Exclude a household with person(s) with disabilities
from admission to the Development because an accessible unit is not
currently available; or
(E) Require a household to rent a unit that has already
been made accessible.
(d) Waitlist Policy. Owners must maintain a written
waitlist policy, regardless of current Unit availability. The policy
must be maintained at the Development. The policy must include procedures
the Development uses in:
(1) Opening, closing, and selecting applicants from
the waitlist, including but not limited to the requirements in §10.615(b)
of this title (relating to Elections under IRC §42(g) and Additional
Income and Rent Restrictions for HTC, Exchange, and TCAP Developments);
(2) Determining how lawful preferences are applied;
and
(3) Procedures for prioritizing applicants needing
accessible Units in accordance with 24 CFR §8.27, and Chapter
1, Subchapter B of this title (relating to Accessibility and Reasonable
Accommodations).
(e) Changes in Household Designation Policy. This is
applicable if a Development has adopted a policy in accordance with §10.611(c)
of this subchapter (relating to Determination, Documentation and Certification
of Annual Income).
(f) Denied Application Policies. Owners must maintain
a written policy regarding the procedures they will follow when denying
an application and when notifying denied applicants of their rights.
(1) The policy must address the manner by which rejections
of applications will be handled, including timeframes and appeal procedures,
if any.
(2) Within seven days after the determination is made
to deny an application, the owner must provide any rejected or ineligible
applicant that completed the application process a written notification
of the grounds for rejection. The written notification must include:
(A) The specific reason for the denial and reference
the specific leasing criteria upon which the denial is based;
(B) Contact information for any third parties that
provided the information on which the rejection was based and information
on the appeals process, if one is used by the Development. An appeals
procedure is required for HOME Developments that are owned by Community
Housing Development Organizations, and Units at Developments that
lease Units under the Department's Section 811 PRA program. The appeals
process must provide a 14-day period for the applicant to contest
the reason for the denial, and comply with other requirements of the
HUD Handbook 4350.3 4-9; and
(C) The TDHCA form based on HUD form 5380 "Notice
of Occupancy Rights under the Violence Against Women Act" and
the HUD form 5382 "Certification of Domestic Violence, Dating
Violence, Sexual Assault, or Stalking and Alternate Documentation."
(3) The Development must keep and may periodically
be requested to submit to the Department a log of all denied applicants
that completed the application process to include:
(A) Basic household demographic and rental assistance
information, if requested during any part of the application process;
and
(B) The specific reason for which an applicant was
denied.
(4) If an 811 applicant is being denied, within three
calendar days of the denial the Department's 811 PRA Program point
of contact must be notified and provided with a copy of the written
notice that was provided to the applicant.
(g) Non-renewal and/or Termination Notices. A Development
Owner must maintain a written policy regarding procedures for providing
households non-renewal and termination notices.
(1) The owner must provide in any non-renewal or termination
notice, a specific and lawful reason for the termination or non-renewal.
(2) The notification must:
(A) Be delivered as required under applicable program
rules and the lease. For HOME, HOME ARP, TCAP RF, NHTF, NSP, HTC,
TCAP and Exchange Developments, see 10 TAC §10.613(a) - (b) of
this chapter (relating to Lease Requirements). For Section 811 PRA,
see 24 CFR §247.4(a) - (f);
(B) Include the TDHCA form based on HUD form 5380 "Notice
of Occupancy Rights under the Violence Against Women Act" and
the HUD form 5382 "Certification of Domestic Violence, Dating
Violence, Sexual Assault, or Stalking and Alternate Documentation."
To avoid providing applicants and residents with duplicate information,
TDHCA administered Developments layered with other federal funds are
permitted to amend the TDHCA VAWA forms to incorporate requirements
of other funders. However, none of the information included in the
TDHCA created form may be omitted;
(C) State how a person with a disability may request
a reasonable accommodation in relation to such notice; and
(D) Include information on the appeals process if one
is used by the Development (this is required under some LURAs, for
HOME Developments that are owned by Community Housing Development
Organizations, and for 811 PRA units).
(h) At the time of application Owners must provide
each adult in the household the TDHCA form based on HUD form 5380 "Notice
of Occupancy Rights under the Violence Against Women Act" and
the HUD form 5382 "Certification of Domestic Violence, Dating
Violence, Sexual Assault, or Stalking and Alternate Documentation."
To avoid providing applicants and residents with duplicate information,
TDHCA administered Developments layered with other federal funds are
permitted to amend the TDHCA VAWA forms to incorporate requirements
of other funders. However, none of the information included in the
TDHCA created form may be omitted.
(i) Policies and procedures will be reviewed periodically
by the Department's Fair Housing staff, as a result of complaints,
or through an owner initiated written policies and procedures review.
Owners may request a review of the written policies and procedures
for a portfolio of Developments by submitting a request to fair.housing@tdhca.state.tx.us.
After review by the Department, an Owner may make non-substantive
changes to the policies.
(j) Development Owners must allow applicants to submit
applications via mail and at the Development site or leasing office;
if the Development is electronically equipped, the Development may
also allow applications to be submitted via email, website form, or
fax. The Development's tenant selection criteria must state available
alternate means of submission and include address, email, or other
necessary contact information on the form or its attached leasing
criteria.
|