HOMEfires - Vol. 6 No. 2, October, 2005

Q: What are the participating jurisdictions responsibilities for performing inspections of units purchased with HOME or ADDI assistance? Can PJs rely on inspections performed by third parties (such as consumer inspections) to determine compliance of HOME or ADDI units with applicable property standards?

 
A. Pursuant to 24 CFR 92.504(a), the PJ is responsible for managing the day to day operations of its HOME program including compliance with property standards applicable to HOME units. PJs must perform inspections of HOME units purchased with HOME or ADDI assistance. PJs may not rely on independent inspections performed by any party not under contract to the PJ.

The HOME rule at §92.251(a)(2) and §92.612 (b) requires housing acquired with HOME or ADDI funds respectively to meet all applicable State and local housing quality standards and code requirements. In the absence of such standards and codes, the housing must meet the Section 8 Housing Quality Standards (HQS) in 24 CFR 982.401. The PJ is responsible for ensuring compliance with the property standards requirements at §92.251(a)(2) through inspections performed by it, its state recipient or subrecipient, or a third party contracted for this purpose by the PJ, its state recipient, or subrecipient. Because third parties such as consumer inspectors or FHA appraisers are not contractually obligated to perform the PJ's obligations, their inspections cannot be used to determine compliance with HOME and ADDI property standards requirements.

Each PJ must develop and implement procedures that ensure that it uses fully qualified personnel to inspect all HOME- or ADDI- assisted homebuyer units for compliance with applicable state or local housing quality standards and codes or HQS. These inspections may be performed by qualified in-house staff or contracted out. If the PJ uses a state recipient, subrecipient, or contractor to perform these inspections, it must assess the work performed through periodic monitoring. Because housing purchased with HOME- or ADDI- funded downpayment assistance is subject to subpart K of the Lead Safe Housing regulations of 24 CFR Part 35, inspectors must be qualified at a minimum to perform visual assessments for defective paint in HOME and ADDI downpayment assisted units.