§ 1944.555 - Settlement of grievances and appeals.

(a) General. Borrowers and applicants/tenants are encouraged to attempt to settle disputes through informal meetings without resorting to the hearing process further described in this subpart.

(b) Notice to applicant/tenant. In the case of a borrower's proposed adverse action including denial of admission to occupancy, the borrower shall notify the applicant/tenant in writing. The notice must be delivered by certified mail return receipt requested, or a hand-delivered letter with a signed and dated acknowledgement of receipt from the applicant/tenant, giving specific reasons for the proposed action. The notice must also advise the applicant or tenant of the right to respond to the notice within 10 calendar days after receipt, in accordance with paragraph (c) of this section and of the right to a hearing in accordance with § 1944.556 of the subpart. In projects where there is a concentration of non-English speaking individuals, the notice must also be in the non-English concentration language, when necessary, for the tenant's understanding.

(c) Presentation of grievances or responses to notice of proposed adverse actions. If the adverse action cannot be resolved otherwise, the applicant/tenant shall personally present to the borrower or borrower's designee any grievance or response, either orally or in writing, within 10 calendar days after occurrence of the grievance or receipt of a notice of proposed adverse action. If requested, the borrower shall meet with the tenant within 5 working days of the request in an attempt to resolve the grievance. The meeting shall be informal and the borrower shall be responsible for keeping appropriate notes relative to the meeting. If the grievance is not resolved to the applicant's/tenant's satisfaction, the borrower shall prepare a summary of the problem, including the borrower's position, the applicant's/tenant's position, and the results of the meeting (Exhibit A of this subpart must be used as the format for the summary) within 10 calendar days after the informal meeting. Two copies of the summary must be given to the applicant/tenant, one retained in the borrower's files and one sent to the District Director.