Guidance from HUD/REAC

As frequent critics of HUD and REAC, we are absolutely delighted to be able to instead offer praise.

REAC has issued "Guidance" which recommends that Multifamily Affordable Housing and Public Housing organizations (Owners and/or Managers of ANY properties subject to REAC inspections) begin to prepare for their REAC inspections by conducting in-house PRE-REAC INSPECTIONS, as we have been recommending for many years now.

Nobody is quite sure why REAC never offered this advice before, or why they have finally done it now, but we obviously feel that it is good advice.  Their Guidance goes as far as stating that 100% of Units should be pre-inspected - specifically to aid in preparation for the REAC inspection.

Their "Guidance" also acknowledges that pre-inspections might be conducted by on-site staff or by outside contractors like REACSolutions, The Inspection Group, and others.

We at REACSolutions think that this is perhaps one of the most helpful bits of Guidance ever issued.  Besides the obvious fact that it gives a subtle nod to what we do, the document includes links to other helpful REAC documents issued by HUD.  It references useful forms for conducting your own inspections, and some basic advice on prioritizing your efforts, as well as the current Compilation Bulletin and other useful information.  Even if you are not prepared to immediately take REAC's advice and conduct pre-inspections, you will find other useful information in this document.

To see the entire document, directly from HUD's web site, click this link:
http://www.hud.gov/utilities/intercept.cfm?/offices/reac/products/pass/PDFs/guidance4inspect.pdf

The original HUD document is 3 pages.  For your convenience in sharing it within your organization, we have condensed it to 2 pages for front and back printing on a single piece of paper.  Click this link to download the condensed version: http://reacsolutions.com/guidance.pdf

Additional Comments:

In the early days of these inspections, the REAC inspection was said to represent a "snap shot in time," that would allow HUD to evaluate the condition of the property as it might stand at any given point in time.  The attitude of the developers was that the property would probably not be subject to any special preparations, and that the inspection would reveal the real, day to day conditions.

It quickly became more and more evident that a "properly conducted inspection" was too tough for many average properties to pass, and that even very nice properties in excellent overall condition could fail based on a very few unexpectedly high scoring deficiencies.  It also became evident that the UPCS protocol is very complex, and that the outcome of an inspection is difficult to predict without constant involvement and expert knowledge.   Many Owner/Manager organizations and Public Housing Authorities began to hire expert advisors to pre-inspect and to develop plans of action for REAC preparations.

Despite complaints from the industry, and attempts within HUD and REAC to remedy the problem of low scores at properties that didn't seem to deserve them, the inspection is still unpredictable and poses certain dangers to Owners/Managers and Housing Authorities.  We believe that the taking course of conducting aggressive pre-inspections, and making special preparations for the REAC inspection, is the most effective and immediate remedy available to these endangered parties.