The federal government’s inspection system for public housing suffered a major technical failure that forced inspections to be canceled for two weeks, according to groups representing housing providers.
The Department of Housing and Urban Development stopped conducting mandatory health and safety inspections from May 6 until Monday, according to staff members of the Public Housing Authorities Directors Association and LeadingAge, a nonprofit that represents nursing homes and HUD-funded senior housing providers, based on their conversations with federal officials.
The federal government conducts about 20,000 inspections every year to ensure that its subsidized housing for low-income residents is “decent, safe and sanitary,” as required under federal law.
In a statement to NBC News, HUD attributed the stoppage to “a failed update from our IT vendor” and confirmed that inspections resumed Monday. “The safety and security of residents in properties participating in HUD assisted housing programs is a top priority,” the agency added.
HUD did not respond to questions about when the information technology failure began or how many inspections were affected.
Millsapps, Ballinger & Associates, a Virginia-based technology company that developed the inspection software platform, did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The stoppage is the latest challenge that HUD has faced in revamping its inspection system, which it has spent years developing.
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