Saipan Tribune

Thursday, May 23, 2013

Friday, October 26, 2012

Three NMHC subdivisions hurdle REAC's inspections

Three of the four subdivisions under the Section 8 program of the Northern Marianas Housing Corp. passed the Real Estate Assessment Center inspection conducted last month by a visiting inspector from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development.

Jesse Palacios, corporate director for NMHC, informed the board during yesterday's meeting that REAC inspector William Wong inspected Mihaville, Koblerville, and the Tinian subdivision.

The HUD website states that REAC's mission is to provide and promote the use of accurate, timely and reliable information assessing the condition of HUD's portfolio; to provide information to help ensure safe, decent and affordable housing; and to identify fraud, abuse and waste of HUD resources.

“We're happy to report that all the three inspected properties have passed inspection,” Palacios told the board.

Palacios revealed that out of the 100-point system, both Koblerville and Mihaville scored 88 while the Tinian subdivision racked up a 97 mark.

Bryan Bocago, acting manager for NMHC's Program and Housing Division, told the board that the REAC inspection involved assessing the housing property for health, safety, and fire hazards.

Bocago noted that one unit was cited for a smoke detector that was not functioning at the time of the inspection.

“The smoke detector was just loose. We simply had to put it back,” he said.

Another unit, Bocago said, was cited for an expired fire extinguisher that was in plain sight during the inspection. He said the tenant had already been notified to update the expired fire extinguisher and to store it within the housing premises.

The corporate director said Wong was not able to include the Rota subdivision in the inspection because of the flight situation in the southern island, adding that the Rota inspection will coincide possibly with the Guam inspection next month.

Marcie M. Tomokane, NMHC board chair, commended the agency staff for receiving good ratings in the inspection. She suggested that the agency should have a competition by island to encourage continued good ratings for every inspection.