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HRA / Program foundations

Lesson 3: Administrator readiness and reservations

14 practice questions · Sources reviewed October 4, 2026

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Establish authority to administer

Before GCHS operates HRA, verify the executed agreement, eligible activity, approved service area and organizational standing. The program file should hold governing-body authority, current organizational registrations, the approved application, agreement and amendments, financial capacity evidence, applicable insurance or fidelity-bond evidence, policies and staff responsibilities. A staff training certificate cannot replace an agreement. The source research says GCHS had not applied; no later executed HRA agreement has been verified for this course.

Administrator readiness and reservations: four decision stagesOrganization ready: Agreement, authority, policies and financial evidence support participation.; Area and funds ready: Confirm the address, approved service area, funding source and available window.; Household ready: Complete the household, property and environmental package before submission.; Reservation tracked: Monitor status, deficiencies, commitments, county counts and household mix.01Organization ready02Area and funds ready03Household ready04Reservation tracked
Administrator readiness and reservations: use each stage with its evidence before advancing.
  1. Organization ready. Agreement, authority, policies and financial evidence support participation.
  2. Area and funds ready. Confirm the address, approved service area, funding source and available window.
  3. Household ready. Complete the household, property and environmental package before submission.
  4. Reservation tracked. Monitor status, deficiencies, commitments, county counts and household mix.

The current Application Submission Procedures Manual and application workbook define the submission package. Use the forms linked from TDHCA's HOME application page and follow its upload instructions. The currently linked manual, labeled April 2026 inside the PDF, describes electronic Excel and bookmarked PDF copies. A missing entire application tab or a substantially unusable application can be terminated rather than processed as an ordinary deficiency. Use a completeness review before uploading, and retain the exact submitted package and receipt.

Confirm financial capacity

For construction applications, adopted 10 TAC 23.23(6) requires evidence of at least $100,000 in cash reserves. The rule permits the specified unrestricted cash or cash-equivalent documentation, or evidence of an available line of credit or equivalent tool meeting the requirement. Include the reserve commitment in the governing-body resolution. Do not substitute another organization's general wealth for the applying entity's documented capacity.

This threshold is not a project budget, an award or a promise that $100,000 will cover every operating need. Prepare a separate cash-flow projection for overlapping jobs, reimbursement review, withheld retainage, disputed costs and required match. List when cash must leave and the evidence needed before reimbursement can arrive. Resolve any gap before promising a production schedule. A line of credit may demonstrate capacity but still has availability, draw and repayment conditions that management must understand.

Prepare the resolution and service area

Section 23.23 requires the governing-body resolution to identify application authority, reserves, match commitments where applicable, the authorized signatory and required timing. Confirm current SAM registration and the Unique Entity Identifier. State the proposed service area precisely, including whether only certain cities within a county are included. Do not treat a county name on a regional map as proof of HOME eligibility.

Participating jurisdictions require address-level care. The General Set-Aside restriction and county service-area exceptions must be checked against the current funding notice and boundary information. Obtain written confirmation when a city may be outside its county PJ's HOME service area. Preserve that confirmation with the address and funding-source decision. Public outreach should describe the approved area, not all of Region 6 unless that scope has actually been approved.

Manage the reservation queue

Under 23.25, an RSP agreement may run up to 36 months but does not guarantee money. Except for the stated disaster set-aside exception, no more than five reservations per county may be submitted for approval at one time. Track county, submission date, status, deficiency response and the point at which a slot becomes available. Do not count a saved draft as an approved reservation or an incomplete submission as a successful performance benchmark.

The same rule requires at least one extremely low-income household out of every four submitted and approved, subject to its exception and definition. Monitor this at the program level while applying the approved fair-selection policy. Do not manipulate household income or bypass the waitlist to repair a missed target. If the queue cannot satisfy the requirement, elevate the issue before another submission and request program guidance.

Track several clocks, not one

The agreement term, household commitment term, construction completion deadline and draw period are distinct. RSP construction generally must finish within twelve months of commitment unless amended. Contract-award benchmarks differ: the adopted 23.24 has a six-month environmental-clearance benchmark and twelve-month setup benchmark for the required households. Those Contract benchmarks are not interchangeable with an RSP household's clock.

Read each deficiency notice immediately and log its exact due date and time. Application deficiencies under 23.22 and activity requests under 23.26 have their own language. Do not assume a deadline extends because a staff member is away. Assign a backup owner, collect all missing evidence, check the response as one package and retain submission confirmation. An extension is effective only when the authorized amendment or decision is obtained, not when a request is sent.

Work the case

GCHS has $70,000 unrestricted cash and a bank letter for an available $120,000 line of credit. A manager assumes the smaller cash balance makes application impossible.

Review the decision

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.

Apply it in the file

Authorities for this lesson

Practice questions

1. What reserve threshold applies to construction applications in the adopted rule?

  1. $80,000
  2. $30,000
  3. $100,000
  4. $175,000

2. Which alternative does the reserve rule allow?

  1. A verbal pledge from a contractor
  2. An estimated future award
  3. An unrelated partner's building value
  4. An available qualifying line of credit

3. What does the reserve threshold measure?

  1. Organizational financial capacity
  2. The maximum home construction price
  3. The household's income limit
  4. The amount of every grant

4. Who authorizes the application through the required resolution?

  1. The lowest bidder
  2. The applicant's governing body
  3. The first household on the list
  4. Any staff member answering the phone

5. What must be checked about SAM?

  1. Only a historical screenshot
  2. Only the contractor's website
  3. Current registration and UEI
  4. Only the organization's logo

6. How many reservations per county may generally await approval under an RSP?

  1. One permanently
  2. Twenty without exception
  3. An unlimited number
  4. Five

7. What is the ordinary extremely low-income service requirement?

  1. At least one of every four submitted and approved households
  2. Every household must be above 80 percent AMFI
  3. Only the first household ever served
  4. No program-level tracking

8. Does an agreement's 36-month maximum replace the construction deadline?

  1. Yes, every house gets 36 months
  2. No
  3. Yes, if staff are busy
  4. Yes, after a first draw

9. What is the ordinary RSP construction deadline from commitment?

  1. Thirty-six months automatically
  2. Sixty days in every case
  3. Twelve months unless amended
  4. No deadline before final draw

10. Under the new Contract-award rule, complete setup is due within what period?

  1. Nine months under the old text
  2. Thirty-six months for every program
  3. Fourteen days after the first invoice
  4. Twelve months of Contract effectiveness

11. What should staff do when a deficiency notice arrives?

  1. Calendar its exact terms immediately
  2. Wait until the contractor responds
  3. Assume every notice uses working days
  4. Submit an empty placeholder response

12. When does a requested extension become reliable?

  1. When an email request is drafted
  2. When the authorized approval is obtained
  3. When a contractor agrees verbally
  4. When the old date passes

13. What proves that a city is outside a county PJ service area?

  1. Its different ZIP code alone
  2. The mayor's campaign website
  3. Applicable current boundary evidence and confirmation
  4. Its location within Region 6

14. A complete application is missing an entire tab. What is the risk?

  1. Automatic approval after fourteen days
  2. A guaranteed reservation slot
  3. No consequence if the title page is signed
  4. Termination without ordinary deficiency processing

Glossary

RSP agreement
The participation agreement, which does not guarantee funds.
UEI
Unique Entity Identifier associated with federal registration.
SAM
System for Award Management.
Cash reserve
Documented capacity to cover program costs before reimbursement.
Match
An eligible non-HOME contribution meeting the applicable requirement.
Commitment
The program funding event that starts specified project obligations.
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