New REAC Quality Assurance Inspection (QAI) Process

 Effective February 3, 2020, REAC will be conducting Quality Assurance Inspections (QAI).  We asked our REAC expert, Scott Precourt – President of US Housing Consultants, to provide us with some insight that we can pass along to you. 

A QAI is a re-inspection of a property, that has recently participated in a REAC Inspection. The QAI is generally conducted within two to five business days after the REAC Inspection and is meant to assess the REAC Inspector’s performance using the same inspection protocol and same unit sample. 

HUD says, "The Quality Assurance (QA) reviews ensure that the inspector conducts the inspection of a HUD-insured or assisted property in accordance with the UPCS inspection protocol and that the results of the inspection are accurate and represent the physical condition of the property. QA reviews may be conducted at any time, including during the course of an inspection, after an inspection has been completed, or as a separate analysis independent of an inspection." 

The Quality Assurance inspector will not have access to the original REAC inspection. During the QAI the HUD Quality Assurance Inspector may ask general questions about the original REAC inspection and may also ask about specific REAC findings and subsequent repairs. 

There is no new procedure for REAC Inspection scoring. After the QAI, the property may receive either:

·    The original REAC inspection report and score generated by the original REAC Inspector

·    If the original REAC Inspector was found to be “out of standard”, then

·    The Quality Assurance Inspection Report and its score will be released; or

·    The inspection can be excluded and another inspection ordered. 

New Resident Notice Requirements 

When providing resident notices, you will now include a statement to address the following: 

“Please notify your residents that for up to 5 days past the completion of the inspection a Quality Assurance inspection may be performed, requiring re-entry of a Quality Assurance inspector to the same units inspected on the original inspection.” 

We added the following language to the REAC Inspection Notice we have developed for our customers. 

If your unit is selected for inspection during the REAC Inspection, your unit may be subject to a second inspection that will occur within five days of the original REAC Inspection. This is part of HUD’s Quality Control efforts. 

Properties are randomly selected for HUD’s Quality Control inspections. If this property is selected for a HUD Quality Control inspection, we will do our best to provide you with as much advance notice as possible, however we are limited by the notice provided by HUD. 

We’ve added a new Notice to our RBD FASTForms Individual Forms. See the Form Notice Inspection REAC. We've also added this form to our FASTForms Unit Inspection Bundle. 

You may also want to send a separate notice to residents, whose units were selected during the original REAC Inspection, informing them of the possibility of a re-inspection.  

Also, don't forget that HUD is still looking for owner/agents to volunteer to participate in the NATIONAL STANDARDS FOR THE PHYSICAL INSPECTION OF REAL ESTATE (NSPIRE) program. For additional information, visit HUD's web site at https://www.hud.gov/program_offices/public_indian_housing/reac/nspire