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Federal Register / Vol. 86, No. 8 / Wednesday, January 13, 2021 / Proposed Rules inspection standards across HUD
programs.
New paragraph b1 would incorporate existing provisions from 200.855 describing the entity responsible for inspecting HUD housing.
New paragraph b2 would provide an exception for the HCV, PBV and Mod rehab programs in cases where the PHA
is required to conduct the inspection.
New subparagraph 5.705c1
would pull elements from existing regulations which outline that a property must be inspected before the property is approved for participation in any of the HUD housing programs under this part unless the property is already a participant in another HUD program under this part. It would also continue to require that an entity responsible for conducting an inspection of HUD
housing must determine compliance with this subpart and must inspect such housing annually, unless otherwise specified below.
Current inspection requirements for public housing and multifamily programs are risk-based with frequencies ranging from annually to once every three years. The proposed rule would maintain risk-based annual inspection requirements. The proposed rule would expand this time period to between 2 and 5 years. The criteria under which a PHA or owner/agent may qualify for a longer inspection cycle would be described in a future Federal Register Notice and will be based on a risk assessment. This change in inspection frequency would further incentivize performance without any anticipated degradation in housing quality as it would not obviate the expectation of continuous compliance with housing quality requirements.
Further, since proposed 5.707 would require properties to conduct an annual self-inspection and submit results to HUD, the Agency believes that submission of self-inspection results and status of repair would mitigate risk associated with longer inspection frequencies. In all cases, HUD housing would be required to remain in compliance with all applicable laws and regulations, including the quality standards in 5.703, regardless of the date of the next inspection.
Due to different statutory and programmatic requirements, requirements surrounding inspections frequencies for some programs would continue to be governed by current applicable regulations, including HCV, PBV, and Moderate Rehabilitation.
Further, small rural PHAs would be exempted from the annual inspection requirement and would instead follow provisions of the Economic Growth and
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Recovery Act outlined later in this notice. Finally, HUD may exempt assisted-living facilities, board and care facilities, and intermediate care facilities, and any other Section 232
facilities if they meet certain criteria as outlined in the regulation.
New paragraph d would incorporate and align existing language regarding reinspection costs from the public housing and multifamily regulations.
The proposed rule would allow, but not require, the responsible entity as identified in proposed 5.705a1 to charge a property owner including PHAs a reasonable reinspection fee when an owner notifies the responsible entity that a repair has been made, or the allotted time for repairs has elapsed, and a reinspection reveals the deficiency was not corrected.
New paragraph a3 would outline variants in inspection standards for the HCV and PBV programs by incorporating existing regulations at 982.401aii. As required by statute, the proposed rule would continue to give PHAs the ability to consider variations in local laws and practices and provide appropriate flexibility to facilitate the efficient provision of assistance.10
With regard to inspection, HUD is requesting public comments on the following questions:
Question for Comment 14: HUD is soliciting comment on the risk-based annual inspection requirement expansion from 2 to 5 years. Is a different range merited? If so, what should HUD consider in setting and adjusting the ranges?
Question for Comment 15: HUD is soliciting comment on how to involve tenants in helping REAC identify poor performing properties. For example, could tenants provide a 15 rating of their units with 1 being poor and 5 being excellent? Could tenants recommend their units for inspection separate from the statistical sample for scoring purposes to inform HUDs risk analysis of the property?
d. Section 5.707 Uniform SelfInspection Requirement and Report While 42 U.S.C. 1437df3 requires that each PHA inspect all public housing projects annually, current regulations governing other covered HUD housing programs, such as those for Multifamily Housing, do not explicitly require an annual selfinspection of all units. The proposed rule would add a new regulation at 5.707 which would explicitly require annual self-inspections of all units in a 10 42

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project and would add a new electronic reporting requirement. The results of the electronic reporting requirement would be an integral part of HUDs real estate inspection process. With advances in technology, HUD believes it is now possible and practical to collect this type of property data electronically. The procedures for this reporting would be outlined in a future Federal Register Notice with an opportunity for public comment.
By making regular, comprehensive self-inspections and reporting a part of each covered propertys physical assessment regimen, HUD would once again signal a focus on identifying and mitigating risks to resident health and safety. Self-inspections are a key component of ensuring properties are maintained year-round and encourage regular, preventative maintenance rather than just in time repairs ahead of HUD-conducted inspections.
It should be noted that due to the unique statutory requirements of the HCV, PBV, and CPD programs, they would be exempted from this electronic reporting requirement. Additionally, Moderate Rehabilitation would continue to follow program requirements described in the current regulations.
With regard to self-inspection, HUD is requesting public comments on the following questions:
Question for Comment 16: HUD is soliciting comment on how the clarification to self-inspect all HUD
housing units in certain programs to ensure that units are being maintained in accordance with HUD housing quality standards will impact the operations of PHAs, owners and agents?
What advantages and disadvantages would arise from extending this selfinspection requirement to the programs that do not explicitly require an annual self-inspection of all units such as HCV, PBV, Moderate Rehabilitation, and CPD programs?
Question for Comment 17: Is there an alternative to the self-inspection protocol 5.707 Uniform selfinspection requirement and report that would allow HUD to achieve the objective that families live in safe and habitable units, and what are the risks and benefits of that alternative?
e. Section 5.709 Administrative Process for Defining and Revising Inspection Criteria The proposed rule would add 5.709
which would require HUD to establish an administrative process for regularly receiving public comments on scoring and ranking criteria through Federal Register notices.

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