[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





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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