Today, the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) announced that they will resume Real Estate Assessment Center (REAC) inspections of HUD multifamily and public housing properties and units under strict safety protocols during the national recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic. REAC inspections were paused due to the Coronavirus outbreak in March of 2020.
According to the release issued by HUD, 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
- 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 in Low Risk localities. HUD stated that these locations will change over time, and HUD will adjust its inspection plans as needed.
For additional information on HUD’s coronavirus response efforts, please visit HUD.gov/coronavirus.
