| (a) All Developments funded by the Department must
be decent, safe, sanitary, in good repair, and suitable for occupancy
throughout the Affordability Period. The Department will use HUD's
National Standards for the Physical Inspection of Real Estate (NSPIRE)
to determine compliance with property condition standards. In addition,
Developments must comply with all local health, safety, and building
codes. Timelines for correcting deficiencies under the NSPIRE standards
are as follows:
(1) Life-Threatening and Severe deficiencies must be
corrected within 24 hours.
(2) Moderate deficiencies must be corrected within
30 days.
(3) Low deficiencies must be corrected within 60 days.
(b) HTC Development Owners are required by Treasury
Regulation §1.42-5 to report (through the Annual Owner's Compliance
Report) any local health, safety, or building code violations. HTC
Developments that fail to comply with local codes shall be reported
to the IRS.
(c) The Department is required to report any HTC Development
that fails to comply with any requirements of the NSPIRE or local
codes at any time during the compliance period to the IRS on IRS Form
8823. Accordingly, the Department will submit IRS Form 8823 for any
NSPIRE violation.
(d) Acceptable evidence of correction of deficiencies
is a certification from an appropriate licensed professional that
the item now complies with the inspection standard or other documentation
that will allow the Department to reasonably determine when the repair
was made and whether the repair sufficiently corrected the violation(s)
of NSPIRE standards. Acceptable documentation includes: copies of
work orders (listing the deficiency, action taken or repairs made
to correct the deficiency, date of corrective action, and signature
of the person responsible for the correction), invoices (from vendors,
etc.), or other proof of correction. Photographs are not required
but may be submitted if labeled and only in support of a work order
or invoice. The Department will determine if submitted materials satisfactorily
document correction of noncompliance.
(e) Selection of Units for Inspection.
(1) Vacant Units will not be inspected (alternate Units
will be selected) if a Unit has been vacant for fewer than 30 days.
(2) Units vacant for more than 30 days are assumed
to be ready for occupancy and may be inspected. No deficiencies will
be cited for inspectable items that require utility service, if utilities
are turned off and the inspectable item is present and appears to
be in working order.
(f) The Department will consider a request for review
of a NSPIRE score using a process similar to the process established
by the U. S. Department of Housing and Urban Development Real Estate
Assessment Center. The request must be submitted in writing within
45 calendar days of receiving the initial NSPIRE inspection report
and score. The request must be accompanied by evidence that supports
the claim, which if corrected will result in a significant improvement
in the overall score of the property. Upon receipt of this request
from the Owner the Department will review the inspection and evidence.
If the Department's review determines that an objectively verifiable
and material error (or errors) or adverse condition(s) beyond the
Owner's control has been documented and that it is likely to result
in a significant improvement in the Development's overall score, the
Department will take one or a combination of the following actions:
(1) Undertake a new inspection;
(2) Correct the original inspection; or
(3) Issue a new physical condition score.
(g) The responsibility rests with the Owner to demonstrate
that an objectively verifiable and material error (or errors) or adverse
conditions occurred in Department's inspection through submission
of materials, which if corrected will result in a significant improvement
in the Development's overall score. To support its request for a technical
review of the physical inspection results, the Owner may submit photographic
evidence, written material from an objective source with subject matter
expertise that pertains to the item being reviewed such as a local
fire marshal, building code official, registered architect, or professional
engineer, or other similar third party-documentation.
(h) Examples of items that can be adjusted include,
but are not limited to:
(1) Building Data Errors--The inspection includes the
wrong building or a building that is not owned by the Development.
(2) Unit Count Errors--The total number of units considered
in scoring is incorrect as reported at the time of the inspection.
(3) Non-Existent Deficiency Errors--The inspection
cites a deficiency that did not exist at the time of the inspection.
(4) Local Conditions and Exceptions--Circumstances
include inconsistencies between local code requirements and the NSPIRE
inspection protocol, such as conditions permitted by local variance
or license (e.g., child guards allowed on sleeping room windows by
local building codes) or preexisting physical features that do not
conform to or are inconsistent with the Department's physical condition
protocol.
(5) Ownership Issues--Items that were captured and
scored during the inspection that are not owned and not the responsibility
of the Development. Examples include sidewalks, roads, fences, retaining
walls, and mailboxes owned and maintained by adjoining properties
or the city/county/state and resident-owned appliances that are not
maintained by the Owner. However, if the Owner has an agreement with
the city/county/state for the responsibility of maintenance on accessible
routes including sidewalks, then the Owner will be responsible for
any repairs.
(6) Modernization Work In Progress--Developments undergoing
extensive modernization work in progress, underway at the time of
the physical inspection, may qualify for an adjustment. All elements
of the Unit that are not undergoing modernization at the time of the
inspection (even if modernization is planned) will be subject to the
Department's physical inspection protocol without adjustment. Any
request for a technical review process for modernization work in progress
must include proof the work was contracted before any notice of inspection
was issued by the Department.
(i) Examples of items that cannot be adjusted include,
but are not limited to:
(1) Deficiencies that were repaired or corrected during
or after the inspection; or
(2) Deficiencies recorded with no associated point
loss (for example, inoperable smoke detectors) or deficiencies for
survey purposes only (for example, fair housing accessibility).
(j) All Life-Threatening and Severe deficiencies must
be corrected within 24 hours. Project Owner's Certification That All
Life Threatening and Severe Deficiencies Have Been Corrected must
be completed and uploaded to CMTS within 72 hours (three Department
business days).
|
| Source Note: The provisions of this §10.621 adopted to be effective February 11, 2019, 44 TexReg 560; amended to be effective November 3, 2022, 47 TexReg 7271; amended to be effective February 26, 2024, 49 TexReg 1065 |
