State and federal agencies regularly spend limited resources on duplicative inspections of rental housing properties receiving support from multiple government programs. HUD-REAC’s Physical Inspection Alignment Program (PIAP) generates efficiencies across subsidized housing programs by sharing REAC physical inspection reports for these aligned properties via the web-based Interagency Housing Alignment Portal (IHAP). Partner agencies can access REAC inspections to meet compliance requirements, avoiding the need for redundant inspections and reducing costs and burdens for all stakeholders – federal agencies, state agencies, property owners, property managers, and residents.

Alignment Program History

The effort to align records and inspections that would become PIAP began in 2011 as part of a White House initiative sponsored by the Rental Policy Working Group, composed of housing policy representatives from various White House councils and other federal agencies. After establishing itself within REAC in 2012, PIAP coordinated with state and federal agencies to conduct several physical inspection pilot initiatives proving the viability of a common standard. Development on IHAP began in 2016 with technical assistance from REAC Research & Development, and IHAP released to external users in late 2017. 

Interagency Housing Alignment Portal

IHAP is a secure web-based interface for sharing housing data between HUD and external partner agencies. It stores records of properties that receive support from HUD or partner agencies, aligns those records across agencies using an internal matching algorithm and manual verification, and provides users with REAC physical inspection information for aligned properties including schedules and reports. As of November 2023, IHAP has aligned 7,538 partner agency properties with HUD records, for which external users have downloaded 2,371 inspection reports, translating to potential cost avoidance of $3,556,500 (at $1,500 per inspection).

Partner Collaboration

Since 2012, participation in PIAP has grown to three federal agencies (HUD, IRS, and USDA) and 60 state Housing Finance Agencies (HFAs). These partner agencies can use IHAP to download REAC-compliant inspections of their properties that have been aligned with HUD-PIH or -MFH records, eliminating the need for duplicative inspections. PIAP also enables future collaborations by maintaining direct relationships with these partners. For example, in 2018 PIAP began working with HFAs and HUD-PD&R to add IHAP functionality for collecting IRS Low-Income Housing Tax Credit (LIHTC) compliance data. With no mandate or dedicated funding, PIAP and IHAP save time and money for affordable housing stakeholders in addition to promoting deeper interagency cooperation and a common national physical inspection standard.

For more information or additional resources contact the Alignment Program Team at AP_Portal@hud.gov.

Jeremy Alexander
REAC Research & Development
Jeremy.D.Alexander@hud.gov