HUD announced that it will begin Real Estate Assessment Center (REAC) inspections of HUD multifamily and public housing properties and units later this year. REAC will prioritize inspections in states and localities based on the latest COVID-19 data from Johns Hopkins University and health risk scoring methodology from the Harvard Global Health Institute. REAC has developed a heat map that categorizes states and localities into four risk categories:
- Low Risk – Green;
- Moderately Low Risk – Yellow;
- Moderately High Risk – Orange; and
- High Risk – Red.
REAC will provide a listing on its website of low-risk counties 45 days prior to the start of physical inspections. At the end of the 45-day period, REAC will provide a 14-day notification to priority properties in that county to inform families that an inspection will take place. The first outreach from inspectors to properties will start no earlier than September 21, 2020. A comprehensive list of safe inspection locations, as well as an overview of the methodology used to determine them can be found on the website here. Inspectors will prioritize properties with historically low REAC scores (high-risk properties) in low risk (Green) localities.
NH&RA and over 100 partners sent a letter to HUD in July urging them to extend the current moratorium on REAC inspections for all multifamily programs through the end of 2020, except where there is a documented threat to health and safety at a property. Such an extension would be consistent with the Office of Public and Indian Housing’s (PIH) decision to waive inspections as outlined in PIH Notice 2020-05.
