SECTION 20.13. Amendments to Written Agreements and Contracts

(a) The Department, acting by and through its Executive Director or his/her designee, may authorize, execute, and deliver amendments to any written Agreement or Contract that is not a Household commitment contract, provided that the requirements of this section are met unless otherwise indicated in the Program Rules.

(1) Time extensions. The Executive Director or his/her designee may grant up to a cumulative 12 months extension to the end date of any Contract unless otherwise indicated in the Program Rules. Any additional time extension beyond a cumulative 12 months granted by the Executive Director shall include a statement by the Executive Director identifying the unusual, non-foreseeable or extenuating circumstances justifying the extension. If more than a cumulative 12 months of extension is requested and the Department determines there are no unusual, non-foreseeable, or extenuating circumstances, it will be presented to the Board for approval, approval with revisions, or denial of the requested extension.

(2) Award or Contract Reductions. The Department may decrease an award for any good cause including but not limited to the request of the Administrator, insufficient eligible costs to support the award, or failure to meet deadlines or benchmarks.

(3) Changes in Households Served. Reductions in Contractual deliverables and the number of Households to be served shall require an amendment to the Contract. If such amendment is not approved, the Applicant will have the right to appeal in accordance with §1.7 of this title (relating to Appeals Process).

(4) Increases in Award and Contract Amounts.

(A) Requests for increases in funding will be evaluated by the Department on a first-come, first-served basis to assess the capacity to manage additional funding, the demonstrated need for additional funding and the ability to expend the increase in funding within the Contract Term.

(B) The considerations to approve an increase in funding shall include, at a minimum, fund availability, and Administrator's ability to continue to meet existing deadlines, benchmarks, and reporting requirements.

(C) Increases in funds may come from Program funds, Deobligated funds, or Program Income.

(D) Qualifying requests will be recommended to the Executive Director or his/her designee for approval.

(E) The Board must approve requests for increases in Program funds in excess of 25% of the original Contract amount.

(5) The Division Director may approve Contract budget amendments that move unexpended funds from one eligible cost category to another if the amendment would not have impacted the award of funds

(6) The Division Director may approve other amendments to a Contract or an Agreement, including amendments to the Administrator's Service Area, benchmarks, or selection of Activities administered under a Contract or an Agreement, provided that the amendment would not have negatively impacted the priority of Board approved Applications.

(b) The Department may terminate a Contract in whole or in part if the Administrator does not achieve performance benchmarks as outlined in the Program Rule and/or Contract, or for any other reason in the Department's reasonable discretion.

(c) In all instances noted in this section, where an expected Mortgage Loan transaction is involved, Mortgage Loan documents will be modified accordingly at the expense of the Administrator/borrower.

Source Note: The provisions of this §20.13 adopted to be effective January 2, 2022, 46 TexReg 9002