The U.S. Department of Urban Development (HUD) is restarting Real Estate Assessment Center (REAC) inspections in earnest.
Specifically, HUD issued guidance last week that provides for REAC inspections to occur on a much broader scale, effective on June 1, 2021. Since October of 2020, HUD has been conducting some REAC inspections, but the guidelines were limited, and very few REAC inspections were possible under those limited guidelines. Under these new, more expansive guidelines, many more inspections will occur in the second half of 2021. This will apply to high priority multifamily and public housing properties.
Owners and agents will now receive a 28-day advance notice of an upcoming inspection date, in addition to the 14-day notice that was HUD’s policy prior to the pandemic. This is a temporary change in recognition of the challenges presented by the coronavirus pandemic.
The high priority properties to be scheduled for inspections will be determined on the basis of multiple factors. Those factors include HUD’s risk analysis, resident complaints, the most recent inspection score, and the time elapsed since the last inspection.
Properties that have volunteered for the new NSPIRE demonstration will also begin receiving inspections under the NSPIRE inspection standards. For those properties, NSPIRE inspection scores will not be issued on record.