(a) For Competitive HTC Applications, an Applicant
or Development Owner may appeal decisions made by the Department pursuant
to Tex. Gov't Code §2306.0321 and §2306.6715 using the process
identified in this section. For Tax-Exempt Bond Developments and Direct
Loan Developments (not layered with a Competitive HTC Application),
an Applicant or Development Owner may appeal decisions made by the
Department pursuant to §1.7 of this title (relating to Appeals).
Matters that can be appealed include:
(1) A determination regarding the Application's satisfaction
of applicable requirements, Subchapter B of this chapter (relating
to Site and Development Requirements and Restrictions) and Subchapter
C of this chapter (relating to Application Submission Requirements,
Ineligibility Criteria, Board Decisions and Waiver of Rules for Applications),
pre-application threshold criteria, and underwriting criteria;
(2) The scoring of the Application under the applicable
selection criteria;
(3) A recommendation as to the amount of Department
funding to be allocated to the Application;
(4) Misplacement of an Application or parts of an Application,
mathematical errors in scoring an Application, or procedural errors
resulting in unequal consideration of the Applicant's proposal;
(5) Denial of a requested change to a Commitment or
Determination Notice;
(6) Denial of a requested change to a loan agreement;
(7) Denial of a requested change to a LURA;
(8) Any Department decision that results in the termination
or change in set-aside of an Application; and
(9) Any other matter for which an appeal is permitted
under this chapter.
(b) An Applicant or Development Owner may not appeal
a decision made regarding an Application filed by or an issue related
to another Applicant or Development Owner.
(c) An Applicant or Development Owner must file its
appeal in writing with the Department not later than the seventh calendar
day after the date the Department publishes the results of any stage
of the Application evaluation or otherwise notifies the Applicant
or Development Owner of a decision subject to appeal. The appeal must
be made by a Person designated to act on behalf of the Applicant or
an attorney that represents the Applicant. For Application related
appeals, the Applicant must specifically identify the Applicant's
grounds for appeal, based on the original Application and additional
documentation filed with the original Application as supplemented
in accordance with the limitations and requirements of this chapter.
(d) The Executive Director may respond in writing not
later than 14 calendar days after the date of actual receipt of the
appeal by the Department. If the Applicant is not satisfied with the
Executive Director's response to the appeal or the Executive Director
does not respond, the Applicant may appeal directly in writing to
the Board. While information can be provided in accordance with any
rules related to public comment before the Board, full and complete
explanation of the grounds for appeal and circumstances warranting
the granting of an appeal must be disclosed in the appeal documentation
filed with the Executive Director.
(e) An appeal filed with the Board must be received
in accordance with Tex. Gov't Code §2306.6715(d).
(f) If there is insufficient time for the Executive
Director to respond to a Competitive Housing Tax Credit Application
appeal prior to the agenda being posted for the July Board meeting
at which awards from the Application Round will be made, the appeal
may be posted to the Board agenda prior to the Executive Director's
issuance of a response.
(g) Board review of an Application related appeal will
be based on the original Application. A witness in an appeal may not
present or refer to any document, instrument, or writing not already
contained within the Application as reflected in the Department's
records.
(h) The decision of the Board regarding an appeal is
the final decision of the Department.
(i) The Department will post to its website an appeal
filed with the Department or Board and any other document relating
to the processing of an Application related appeal. (§2306.6717(a)(5))
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