HRA facilitator guide

Download the 30-page printable field pack (PDF)

Use this course for internal staff preparation. It is not an official TDHCA examination or authorization to administer HRA. Confirm local roles and procedures before operational use.

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Suggested delivery

Run five facilitated sessions aligned with the modules, with independent reading and practice between meetings. Adjust session length to staff experience. Open each session with its process diagram, let learners explain the next approval gate, discuss the case, and complete one blank field sheet using fictional data.

Facilitation and assessment

• Ask each learner to identify the decision, authority, evidence and hold point.
• Use keyboard-accessible step controls; animations are optional and all information remains available as text.
• Discuss incorrect options before revealing the explanation. Distinguish an operating rule from a proposed local control.
• Use the 60-question, 120-minute practice sitting with a 70-percent learning target. This target is a GCHS practice setting, not a TDHCA certification standard.
• Review missed topics and repeat the related case. Track operational readiness separately from course completion.

Capstone review key

1. Update the older-than-six-month income determination and required near-limit documentation. Resolve title and required owner consent.
2. Keep demolition on hold. Private financing does not remove the environmental restriction or other construction-start gates.
3. For the unadjusted ordinary example, min(1,100 × $150, $175,000) = $165,000. The $172,000 base proposal exceeds that example cap; verify current limits and any separately eligible categories without relabeling costs.
4. $60,000 × 10% = $6,000 retainage; $60,000 − $6,000 − $36,000 = $18,000 before other required adjustments. Verify inspection, match, title/lien and eligibility evidence.
5. An HCS draft is not accepted closeout. Complete the submission, required final documents and household warranty delivery.
6. Set retention by category and trigger, including affordability documents and any audit or legal holds.

Readiness sign-off

Have the responsible GCHS manager confirm the executed agreement, funding window, approved policies, designated reviewers, restricted records location and written answers to unresolved agency questions. Record the remaining conditions instead of certifying readiness prematurely.

Lesson discussion keys

Lesson 1: What HRA is and how the money flows

Explain that HRA is a separate federal program. Verify GCHS participation, the funding window and the address before taking a funded application. Do not authorize demolition. Environmental clearance, assistance documents and construction start conditions remain unresolved. Record the inquiry and referral or follow-up without promising a construction date.

Lesson 2: The current rules map and source control

Follow its reference to the June 19 text adopted without changes. Section 23.23(6) states $100,000 for construction applications. Save both sources and the September 24 effective date. Use the correct version for the relevant application or reservation and obtain clarification for an older agreement instead of silently changing its terms.

Lesson 3: Administrator readiness and reservations

Section 23.23(6) expressly allows an available line of credit or equivalent tool meeting the $100,000 construction threshold. Review the bank evidence and resolution rather than adding unsupported numbers or rejecting the alternative. Separately test the cash-flow plan and submit the required financial documentation for TDHCA review.

Lesson 4: Outreach, fair housing and language access

Record and promptly route the accommodation request. Offer an accessible process consistent with the approved policy; do not simply tell the applicant to find someone to complete it. Document the response, the accessible communication and any effect on intake handling. Keep disability details out of public outreach logs.

Lesson 5: Intake, selection and written decisions

The sixty-day written-notice requirement runs from application receipt in 23.26(9), not from the drawing. Calendar both the receipt-based requirement and the denial-notice rule. Resolve the schedule now and seek guidance if needed; do not reset the receipt date or quietly extend the clock.

Lesson 6: Household eligibility and income verification

Update the income determination before assistance because the certification exceeds six months. Obtain the required signatures and complete source support. Because the income is within $3,000 of the limit, include all required income documentation with the reservation package and follow TDHCA instructions for an updated submission.

Lesson 7: Property eligibility and the reconstruction decision

Obtain the necessary professional condition assessment and title review. Identify every required owner and lienholder consent. Do not treat the apparent severity of defects as permission to bypass ownership or environmental review. Hold demolition until all required approvals and consents are documented.

Lesson 8: Environmental review and the stop-work gate

Do not approve that action. Section 58.22 can prohibit a choice-limiting action financed with non-HUD money. Explain the restriction, preserve the hold and contact the responsible environmental reviewer. The absence of a reimbursement claim does not restore alternatives after demolition.

Lesson 9: Design, construction standards and energy requirements

Review the separate Texas 20.16(d)(2) requirement and any current TDHCA guidance. The federal baseline alone does not settle the state-funded administration conditions. Have the design professional document the applicable compliant pathway before accepting the substitution or changing the energy scope.

Lesson 10: Cost limits, match and defensible procurement

Using the unadjusted rule for this exercise, the area comparison is $165,000. That is the lower base ceiling. Investigate scope, eligible separate categories, other financing and current program limits; do not approve $172,000 simply because it is below $175,000 or relabel the excess as administration.

Lesson 11: Relocation, labor standards and conflicts

Review Davis-Bacon applicability at the construction-contract level. Separate household files do not reduce thirteen assisted units to one. Ensure the appropriate labor provisions and administration are included before procurement and execution. Assess Section 3 separately using its own project and funding framework.

Lesson 12: Assistance documents, liens and affordability

Explain that a reconstruction grant has an affordability period and approved occupancy conditions. Review the actual agreement and obtain program guidance before any rental. Do not promise that grant status removes restrictions or calculate a remedy from a generic loan example.

Lesson 13: Construction, inspections, draws and retainage

Reconcile the cumulative claim. With the exercise assumption of ten-percent retainage, $6,000 remains held and cumulative payable is $54,000. Subtract the $36,000 prior payments: the current amount is $18,000 before other adjustments. Verify the inspection, eligibility, match and required lien or title evidence before submission.

Lesson 14: Closeout, monitoring and the full-file review

The activity is not administratively complete. Obtain and review the required lien evidence, finish and submit the HCS package through the authorized process, and deliver warranty information to the household. Reconcile deadlines and retain acceptance evidence. Do not mark the file closed simply because the physical work ended.