The Departmental Enforcement Center's (DEC) Operations Division, working with the DEC's five Satellite Offices, manages the day-to-day assessment and enforcement strategies for selected high-risk insured and assisted multifamily housing and health care facilities, public housing agencies, and grantees of HUD grants. The Division is a liaison with HUD’s program offices in HUD headquarters and is responsible for policy development of enforcement strategies for the DEC's Satellite Offices and the development and resolution of its own enforcement cases.

Oversight Reviews

The Operations Division coordinates oversight reviews that quickly analyze and evaluate the efficiency and/or assess the vulnerability of HUD programs and operations being administered by outside entities (i.e. grantees, public housing agencies, etc.). DEC field staff conduct the reviews using various study methods and evaluative techniques to provide timely information to improve policies, programs and procedures. In addition, DEC field staff make recommendations to HUD program managers to ensure program compliance with regulatory and policy requirements, streamline operations, improve customer service, and reduce program vulnerabilities to fraud, waste, abuse, or mismanagement.

Multifamily Housing and Office of Healthcare Program Referrals

The DEC's satellite offices focus on properties with physical and financial deficiencies that are referred from HUD's Real Estate Assessment Center (REAC), the Office of Multifamily Housing and the Office of Healthcare Programs.

Physical Referrals

REAC assesses the physical condition of HUD's insured and assisted multifamily housing inventory. Properties with a REAC inspection score of 30 points or less are automatically referred to the DEC. Properties scoring between 31-59 may be referred electively.

Financial Referrals

In addition to referrals of properties with physical deficiencies, we also handle financial referrals, where the annual financial statements (AFS) reflect compliance discrepancies. Owners submit AFS electronically to REAC through the Financial Assessment Subsystem (FASS). Some of these submissions are handled routinely by multifamily housing staff, while others are specially routed to the DEC for evaluation and appropriate action.

Non-Filer Referrals

Owners who do not file timely annual financial statements with REAC are referred to the DEC. The DEC's primary goal has been to obtain owner compliance in filing the required statements. However, the DEC has authority to impose civil money penalties (CMPs) against owners of HUD-insured facilities and assisted multifamily properties who do not comply.

Elective Referrals

In some instances, program officials may refer projects to the DEC for further evaluation. These include situations where we review a portfolio of properties with a common owner or management agent or we address owners who have not complied with the terms of a Use Agreement or other agreements with the Department.