[Federal Register Volume 64, Number 92 (Thursday, May 13, 1999)]
[Notices]
[Pages 26218-26219]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 99-11913]
[[Page 26217]]
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Part VI
Department of Housing and Urban Development
_______________________________________________________________________
Public Housing Assessment System (PHAS) Technical Review of Physical
Inspection Results and Appeals of PHAS Scores; Notice
Federal Register / Vol. 64, No. 92 / Thursday, May 13, 1999 /
Notices
[[Page 26218]]
DEPARTMENT OF HOUSING AND URBAN DEVELOPMENT
[Docket No. FR-4509-N-03]
Public Housing Assessment System (PHAS); Technical Review of
Physical Inspection Results and Appeals of PHAS Scores
AGENCY: Office of the Director of the Real Estate Assessment Center,
HUD.
ACTION: Notice.
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SUMMARY: This notice provides additional information to public housing
agencies and members of the public about the process for requesting and
granting (1) technical reviews of the results of physical inspections
of public housing properties conducted by HUD's Real Estate Assessment
Center (REAC); and (2) appeals of PHAS scores. This notice does not
apply to PHAS advisory scores.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: For further information contact Wanda
Funk, Real Estate Assessment Center, Department of Housing and Urban
Development, 1280 Maryland Avenue, SW, Suite 800, Washington, DC,
20024; telephone Customer Service Center at 1-888-245-4860 (this is a
toll-free number). Persons with hearing or speech impairments may
access that number via TTY by calling the Federal Information Relay
Service at 1-800 877-8339. Additional information is available from the
REAC Internet Site at http://www.hud.gov/reac.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Purpose of this Notice
The purpose of this notice is to provide additional information
about the process for requesting and granting (1) technical reviews of
the results of physical inspections of public housing properties
conducted by the REAC; and (2) appeals of PHAS scores. There are
specific circumstances when the REAC will consider conducting a
technical review of an individual property's inspections results, and
when an appeal of a PHAS score may be granted. This notice describes
those circumstances and provides examples under the discussion of
``Material Errors''.
Basis for Technical Review of Physical Inspection Results
For each property inspected, the REAC will provide the results of
the physical inspection and a score for that property to the PHA. If
the PHA believes that an objectively verifiable and material error (or
errors) occurred in the inspection of an individual property, then the
PHA may request a technical review of the inspection results for that
property.
A request for technical review of a property's physical inspection
results must be submitted in writing to the Director of the Real Estate
Assessment Center and must be received by REAC no later than 15 days
following the issuance of the physical inspection results to the PHA.
The request must be accompanied by the PHA's clear and convincing
evidence that an objectively verifiable and material error has
occurred. A technical review of a property's physical inspection will
not be conducted based on conditions that were corrected subsequent to
the inspection, nor will the REAC consider a request for a technical
review that is based on a challenge to the inspector's findings as to
the severity of the deficiency (i.e., minor, major or severe).
The burden of proof rests with the PHA to provide evidence to the
REAC that an objectively verifiable and material error has occurred to
support its request for technical review of a property's physical
inspection results. The documentation submitted by the PHA may be
photographic evidence, written material from an objective source, such
as a local fire marshal or building code official, or other similar
evidence. The evidence must be more than a disagreement with the
inspector's observations, or the inspector's finding regarding the
severity of the deficiency.
Upon receipt of a PHA's request for technical review of a
property's inspection results, the REAC will review the PHA's file and
any objectively verifiable evidence produced by the PHA. If the REAC's
review determines that an objectively verifiable and material error (or
errors) has been documented, then the REAC may take one or a
combination of the following actions: (1) undertake a new inspection;
(2) correct the physical inspection report; (3) issue a corrected
physical condition score; and (4) issue a corrected PHAS score.
In determining whether a new inspection of the property is
warranted and a new PHAS score must be issued, the REAC will review the
PHA's file and evidence submitted to determine whether the evidence
supports that there may have been a significant contractor error in the
inspection which results in a significant change from the property's
original physical condition score and the PHAS designation assigned to
the PHA (i.e., high performer, standard performer, or troubled). For a
PHA to understand how the REAC may conclude that a significant change
may result from a new inspection, the PHA may use REAC's document
titled ``Item Weights and Criticality Levels'' to determine whether a
significant change in the score may result from a new inspection. This
document is included as Appendix 1 in the Notice of Physical Inspection
Scoring, published elsewhere in today's Federal Register. The different
severity levels of deficiencies (severe, major and minor) are defined
in the REAC's ``Dictionary of Deficiencies Definitions,'' which is
included as Appendix 2 in the Notice of Physical Inspection Scoring.
These two documents are also available on the REAC Internet Site at
http://www.hud.gov/reac. If the REAC determines that a new inspection
is warranted, and the new inspection results in a significant change
from the original physical condition score, and the PHA's PHAS score
and PHAS designation, the REAC shall issue a new PHAS score to the PHA.
Material Errors
Material errors are the only grounds for technical review of
physical inspection results. Material errors are those that exhibit
specific characteristics and meet specific thresholds. The three types
of material errors are described below.
1. Building Data Error
A building data error occurs if the inspection includes the wrong
building or a building that was not owned by the property, including
common or site areas that were not a part of the property. Incorrect
building data that does not affect the score, such as the address,
building name, year built, etc., would not be considered material, but
is of great interest to HUD and will be corrected upon notice to the
REAC.
2. Unit Count Error
A unit count error occurs if the total number of units considered
in scoring is incorrect. Since scoring uses total units, the REAC will
examine instances where the participant can provide evidence that the
total units used is incorrect.
3. Non-Existent Deficiency Error
A non-existent deficiency error occurs if the inspection cites a
deficiency that does not exist.
A PHA's subsequent correction of deficiencies identified as a
result of a property's physical inspection cannot serve as the basis
for an appeal of the PHA's physical condition score.
Basis for Appeal of PHAS Score
If a PHA believes that an objectively verifiable and material error
(or errors) exists in any of the scores for its PHAS Indicators, which,
if corrected, will
[[Page 26219]]
result in a significant change in the PHA's PHAS score and its
designation (i.e., as troubled, standard, or high performer), the PHA
may appeal its PHAS score. A significant change in a PHAS score is a
change that would cause the PHA's PHAS score to increase, resulting in
a higher PHAS designation for the PHA (i.e., from troubled performer to
standard performer, or from standard performer to high performer).
To request an appeal of its PHAS score, a PHA must submit its
request in writing to the Director of the Real Estate Assessment Center
and must be received by the REAC no later than 30 days following the
issuance of the PHAS score to the PHA. The request for appeal must be
accompanied by the PHA's clear and convincing evidence that an
objectively verifiable and material error occurred. The REAC will
review the PHA's file and the evidence submitted by the PHA to support
that an error occurred. If the REAC determines that an objectively
verifiable and material error has been documented by the PHA, the REAC
may undertake a new inspection of the property, or a reexamination of
the financial information, management information, or resident
information (the components of the PHAS score), depending upon which
PHAS Indicator the PHA believes that an error occurred in the scoring
and the type of evidence submitted by the PHA to support its position
that an error occurred.
Dated: May 6, 1999.
Barbara L. Burkhalter,
Deputy Director, Real Estate Assessment Center.
[FR Doc. 99-11913 Filed 5-12-99; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4210-32-P
