Prior to an initial lease-up and annually thereafter, apartments that are scheduled to receive federal rental assistance payments (Section 8) will be inspected to ensure compliance with HUD’s Housing Quality Standards. The WHA contracts with a private vendor to conduct all of its apartment inspections. If you have any questions relative to an inspection, please call (508-858-0570 Ext. #2) or visit www.mccright.com
Initial Inspections (New lease-ups):
Once the prospective tenant or property owner brings in the Request for Lease Approval, the owner will be called within 72 hours to set up an appointment for the apartment to be inspected.
Annual Inspections:
Letters will be mailed out ten (10) days in advance to both tenants and owners with the scheduled date and time for inspection.
If an apartment fails inspection
Initial Inspections (New lease-ups):
The owner will receive a written letter detailing any deficiencies found during the inspection and a re-inspection of the unit will be scheduled only upon request from the owner. The new tenant should not move-in until the apartment passes inspection.
Annual Inspections:
If the unit fails its annual inspection, all repairs must be made within 30 days. A re-inspection is automatically scheduled for 35 days after the unit failed inspection. Both the tenant and the owner will receive a letter indicating the repairs that need to be made by the next scheduled inspection date. Some emergency repairs (for example, no heat during cold weather) must be completed within 24 hours.
It is important for owners to make sure that all repairs are made and that the owner or tenant is present for the re-inspection. If no one is there or if the unit inspection fails again, the unit falls into the “Abatement” category Owners will be sent out a letter from the inspection company and also from WHA explaining that their Housing Assistance Payment (HAP) will be abated for this unit as of the first of the following month or until the unit passes inspection. The owner will be responsible for scheduling a re-inspection of the unit.
If the unit is in abatement status for more than 30 days, a termination letter is sent out to the landlord for a violation of the HAP Contract, and the tenant is issued a voucher to search for new housing. The tenant will be responsible for the entire contract rent after the HAP contract termination date if they remain in the unit.
Top Reasons Apartments Fail Annual HQS Inspections
The most common items that can cause a unit to "fail" an initial or annual housing quality standards (HQS) inspection are listed below. Keep in mind that this list of items is only a portion of what is inspected during an HQS Inspection.
- Smoke detectors are missing or will not work when tested!
- If security bars are present, they must be installed to current local code requirements (contact building and compliance office for local code).
- GFCI outlets not tripping (kitchen or bathroom).
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