Data Base Adjustment - 45 Day Delivery Deadline (based on scoring report release date)  
  PLEASE SCROLL TO YELLOW HIGHLIGHTED LINE BELOW BEFORE CONSIDERING THIS TYPE OF APPEAL  
  If there were not workers physically present, working on a specific item at the time of inspection,
we can no longer appeal it successfully.		  
  Everything else on this page needs revision - go straight to the yellow highlighted line and read below it.  
Modernization Work in Progress Often referred to as "work in progress," this is more complicated than simply showing that repair work was scheduled or contracted.  REAC often rejects such arguments if the work in question involves small dollar amounts or work that could be argued to be "routine maintenance."  This type of appeal nearly always requires that such work is formally contracted with a licensed third party whose capabilities are greater than an in-house maintenance staff.  Contracts will be scrutinized for proper legal form and execution.  They must be legally binding on both the property and the contractor, and must predate the inspection.  Reviewers may reject such an appeal if there is any technical error in the contract, or if it lacks proper signatures and titles indicating that the signers are authorized to enter into the legal agreement on behalf of the property and the contractor.  These require an adequate description of the scope of work and projected commencement and completion dates.  These must clearly show that they apply to the deficiencies being appealed, by mentioning the specific buildings, areas, or units where work is being done.  
     
Example You have ten buildings, and the shingles on all of them are nearing the end of their useful life.  They exhibit cupping and warping on most buildings, and a few shingles are broken and missing on others.  Planning ahead for next year's capital improvements budget, you enter into a contract to replace the roofs on all the buildings in the middle of December, but the work will not begin until reasonably warm weather begins in Spring.  Unfortunately, your REAC inspection is due in April, and the work has only just begun by that time.  On the day of your REAC inspection, workers have one building nearly completed, and the shingles are completely stripped off of another building.  
     
  Your inspector cites the building that is nearly complete for Level 1 Deteriorated/Missing Shingles.  The building with the shingles stripped is cited for the same defect at Level 3, and the other buildings are cited for Level 2 Shingles due to the visible warping and cupping issues.  
     
  Luckily, your company follows a strict policy of contractualizing jobs like this in a standard AIA format that spells out the scope of work, the start date, the anticipated completion date, etc.  All documents are signed and countersigned, with dates, and with titles under each signature.  You also issued a "notice to commence" the work after the documents were signed and reviewed by your legal counsel.  
     
  We will appeal all of these deficiencies as "work in progress."  We will need to submit the contract documents along with a brief explanation of why it took 4 months for work to begin and why it is not yet complete.  You will win this appeal - but it illustrates one aspect of the great importance of insisting on having a legally binding, fully executed contract.  
     
  Had you accepted a less formal proposal that was faxed over by the contractor - had you simply signed it and returned it - you might not win this appeal.  The contract document has to meet the standard of being a legally binding contract - binding on the contractor as well as you.  Someone from your company must sign it, but it also needs their printed name, their title, and the date that it was signed.  The same applies to the contractor.  If there is no title under their name, we don't really know that this person represents the contractor and has the authority to enter into a legal agreement on the company's behalf.  
     
  The great news in this case is that all the documents are solid - you dotted all the eyes and crossed all the tees.  
     
  Next time, consider this: You planned ahead pretty well on this job, but if you had planned extremely well, you would have realized at the time of signing the contract that you had a REAC inspection coming soon.  You could have PRE APPEALED the defects relating to the shingles, back in December, so that they would have been automatically removed from the report before it was scored and became official.  This is a called a Pre Data Base Adjustment.  REAC considers your case, and grants the appeal in advance.  They register this information into your property's records in their database, and the approved appeal is applied to the REAC inspection immediately upon completion. 

If all goes well, you (your boss and/or your investors, more importantly) never suffer the shock of seeing the impact of the shingle defects on your REAC score.		  
IMPORTANT UPDATE - IMPORTANT UPDATE - IMPORTANT UPDATE - IMPORTANT UPDATE - IMPORTANT UPDATE
     
  As of March 20, 2019, the requirements for Work in Progress appeals have changed drastically.  
     
  What was once an easy appeal has become nearly impossible.  
     
  This can be found on HUD's web site < click to go there  
     
 

Changes to the below documentation requirements for the Database - Modernization Work in Progress will be effective on or after March 20, 2019 inspections Modernization Work in Progress – Properties and developments undergoing modernization work in progress may qualify for a database adjustment for observed deficiencies actively being worked on at the time of the inspection.

What is supporting documentation for a DBA request based on modernization work in progress?

To request a database adjustment based on modernization work in progress at the time of inspection, the request must be submitted within the 45-day timeframe and include:

  1. an executed contract with a copy of the scope of work, including change orders if applicable; 
  2. a Notice to Proceed with start and completion dates;
  3. an affidavit from the contractor’s authorized representative identifying:
    1. the modernization work in progress that it was performing at the time of the inspection;
    2. the identifiable location of the work in progress;
    3. the work it has completed as of the date of the affidavit;
    4. the date on which the work was completed; and 
    5. if the work is not completed as of the date of the affidavit, an explanation of why the work is still in progress and when it will be completed; and
  4. photographic evidence sufficient to show that the observed deficiencies have been corrected or are in the process of being corrected.

Documents submitted from the contractor(s) must be on the contractor’s letterhead and include the contractor’s licensing and contact information. Only the observed deficiencies that were in the process of being corrected by modernization work in progress at the time of inspection are eligible for consideration. Modernization work to be performed under an executed contract, but was not in progress at the time of the inspection, is not eligible for a database adjustment.

Before processing a database adjustment, REAC may contact the contractor for additional information or visit the property to verify the information submitted in the appeal.

  
  What this means:  Work in progress no longer means "under contract to be completed in the near future" it means literally "in progress," as in "work has started on the specific individual item that you are appealing."  
     
  Let's say you had a contract to replace all the windows, in all the units, in all the buildings of the property.  
     
  In the past, we could appeal the defects pertaining to all these windows by virtue of the fact you had made a legally binding commitment to perform the replacements.   
     
  Now - we can only appeal the specific individual windows that are being worked on at the time of the inspection.  
     
  If you have workers inside of 4 apartments already working on those windows, we can appeal them.  
     
  If you have 80 more units where workers will start work in the near future, but they have not physically started work, we cannot appeal anything in those 80 units.