HUD has made a number of changes in the way REAC inspections will be scored, beginning with inspections on or after January 1, 2013. The changes are noted in Compilation Bulleting Revision 2.3.
HUD has added a “point loss cap” to limit the impact of a single deficiency in reducing an overall property score. Each of the five inspectable areas will have a cap that prevents the scoring value of any individual defect from exceeding a defined number.
Key changes were also made to the Dictionary of Definitions:
- Infestation/Insects: the inspector must now see a live roach in order to score a defect – not a dead roach or roach droppings;
- Hazards/Sharp Edges: resident owned items, such as broken mirrors or missing fan covers, will now fall under “Hazards/Other,” and will be non-scoring;
- Fire Extinguishers: resident-owned fire extinguishers will be non-scoring “Hazards/Other”; and
- Windows: all cited building exterior windows will now be non-scoring, but window screen defects for common areas and units have increased in importance.
When we introduce our new service of pre-MOR reviews in 2013, these will be areas that we will review as part of the pre-MOR inspection.
Please feel free to contact me with any questions on this issue.