| (a) Purpose. The purpose of this section is to establish
the procedures by which complaints are filed with the Department and
how the Department handles those complaints under Department jurisdiction
in compliance with Tex. Gov't Code §2306.066, Tex. Gov't Code,
Chapter 2105, Subchapter C, and 24 CFR §91.115(h),as applicable.
(b) Definitions. The following words and terms, when
used in this section, shall have the following meanings, unless the
context clearly indicates otherwise.
(1) Complainant--A Person filing a Complaint.
(2) Complaint--A complaint submitted to the Department
in writing (via mailed letter, fax, email, or submitted online through
the Department website) from a person that believes the Department
has the authority to resolve the issue.
(3) Complaint Coordinator--Department employee designated
by the Executive Director or their designee to monitor the Public
Complaint System and coordinate activities related to complaints.
(4) Complaint Liaison--the Department employee(s) designated
by each division or program to handle each division or program's complaint-related
issues.
(5) Department--The Texas Department of Housing and
Community Affairs.
(6) Person--Any individual, other than an employee
of the Department, and any partnership, corporation, association,
governmental subdivision, or public or private organization of any
character.
(7) Public Complaint System--Department-created system
used to track complaints received by the Department.
(c) Applicability. Except as specifically adopted in
whole or in part by rule or contractual provision this rule is not
applicable to:
(1) consumer complaints relating to manufactured housing
which are alternatively addressed by §80.73 of this title relating
to Manufactured Housing Procedures for Handling Consumer Complaints;
and
(2) Complaints filed in association with temporary
Department programs for which a separate Complaint process has been
established.
(d) Procedures.
(1) Complaint Submission. A Person who has a Complaint
may submit such Complaint in writing to the Department, which will
be directed to a Complaint Coordinator. If an accommodation because
of a disability is needed in relation to the process of filing of
a Complaint, the Person interested in filing the Complaint should
refer to 10 TAC §1.1, Reasonable Accommodation Requests to the
Department; if assistance is needed for non-English speaking persons,
the Person interested in filing the Complaint should access the Department's
Language Assistance webpage (https://www.tdhca.state.tx.us/lap.htm).
(2) Upon receipt of a Complaint:
(A) A Complaint Coordinator will enter the complaint
in the Public Complaint System.
(B) A Complaint Coordinator will review the Complaint
and as needed, forward the Complaint to the appropriate program or
division Complaint Liaison(s).
(C) Notwithstanding any other provisions of this subsection,
in the case of Complaints received by the Department in which no method
of contacting the Complainant was provided, the Complaint Coordinator
will close the Complaint in the Public Complaint System and provide
a copy of the Complaint to the applicable program or division for
informational purposes only.
(D) A Complaint Coordinator may also identify whether
a Complaint received involves a potential Reasonable Accommodation
request involving a Department recipient or property; in such cases
the Complaint will be handled as provided for in §1.204 of this
chapter relating to Reasonable Accommodations.
(E) Complaints that have potential Fair Housing Act
violations may, at the Department's discretion, be also referred to
the Texas Workforce Commission's Civil Rights Division.
(F) The Department will notify the Complainant of the
status of the Complaint at least quarterly until there is a disposition
of the Complaint, which is the final determination; there is no further
process available, except as otherwise provided in state or federal
law.
(3) A Complaint Liaison will research and evaluate
the issues identified in the Complaint, and then resolve and close
the Complaint. The Complaint Liaison will enter in the Public Complaint
System summaries of each contact made with the Complainant and any
actions taken leading to complaint resolution.
(4) The Complaint Coordinator may submit periodic summary
reports or analysis to the Executive Director or designee.
(5) The Department will provide to the Person filing
the Complaint, and to each Person who is a subject of the Complaint
(to the extent contact information is available), a link to this rule,
which serves as the Department's policy and procedures relating to
complaint investigation and resolution.
(6) The Department will either notify the Complainant
of the resolution of the Complaint within 15 business days after the
date the Complaint was received by the Department, or notify the Complainant,
within such period, of the date the Complainant can expect a response
to the Complaint.
(7) Additional Complaints submitted by the same Complainant
describing an issue which has previously been closed, had a final
resolution, and for which there is no substantively new information
presented, will be considered resolved by the Department. A letter
to this effect will be sent to the Complainant by the Department.
In such cases, a new Complaint will not be opened in the system.
(8) An information file about each Complaint will be
maintained. The file must include:
(A) the Complaint number;
(B) the name of the Complainant;
(C) the date the Complaint was received by the Department;
(D) the subject matter of the Complaint;
(E) the name of each Person contacted in relation to
the Complaint, if applicable;
(F) a summary of the results of the review of the Complaint;
(G) the date the Complaint was closed; and
(H) an explanation of the final resolution of the Complaint
including the reason the file was closed.
(9) A Complaint may be withdrawn by the Complainant
at any time.
(10) A Complainant may request and receive from the
Department copies of any documentation or records collected by the
Department with regard to the Complaint, subject to the Texas Public
Information Act.
(11) Adherence to these procedures is not required
by the Department if another procedure is required by law, or if the
following of a procedure above would jeopardize an audit or Government
investigation.
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