The Departmental Enforcement Center's (DEC) Operations Division, working with the DEC's five Satellite Offices, manages the day-to-day recovery and enforcement strategies for selected high-risk properties. The Division works with owners to achieve compliance. The Division is responsible for policy development of enforcement strategies for the DEC's Satellite Offices and the development and resolution of its own enforcement cases.

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

Referrals

The majority of the referrals that the Operations Division and satellite offices receive are from REAC. We do, however, receive elective and emergency referrals from the Office of Multifamily Housing.

Physical Referrals

REAC assesses the physical condition of HUD's 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. AFS statements are submitted 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 and assisted multifamily properties who do not comply.

Housing Elective Referrals

In some instances, irrespective of the REAC physical inspection scores or the results of the AFS review, HUD's Multifamily Hub Directors may refer projects to the DEC for further evaluation. These include situations where an owner has violated the terms of a Use Agreement or other agreements with the Department.