The welding, automotive, aviation maintenance, submarine, shipbuilding, and other defense-related trade industries are facing a workforce shortage. Many service members and veterans possess the skills to excel in trade jobs benefiting the defense industrial base...
The United States will host the 2026 FIFA World Cup, along with Canada and Mexico. Miami was chosen as one of the host cities to hold matches, with additional Florida cities serving as base camps for the competing national teams. The increased tourism activity across...
Oropouche virus is a disease spread to humans by mosquitoes and biting midges that can cause neurological effects and devastating effects on unborn babies. Recent surveillance data reports approximately 40 travel-associated cases of oropouche, in Florida, from...
The United States Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF), created by the International Religious Freedom Act of 1998, is a bipartisan commission that monitors and reports on international religious freedom. The commission’s authorization is currently...
U.S. Senator Marco Rubio’s (R-FL) office will host in-person Mobile Office Hours next week to assist constituents with federal casework issues in their respective local communities. These office hours offer constituents who do not live close to one of Senator Rubio’s...
U.S. government agencies have different criteria for sanctioning adversaries and preventing them from engaging in the U.S. economy. Our biggest foreign adversaries, like China, benefit from this lack of interagency coordination, which must come to an immediate...
Miami, FL — U.S. Senator Marco Rubio (R-FL) urged U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) Secretary Marcia Fudge to immediately address several of Florida’s Section 8 Project-Based Rental Assistance properties with failing Real Estate Assessment Center (REAC) scores that had previously experienced inspection delays.
“Last year, in response to direct outreach from constituents, my staff visited numerous Section 8 Project-Based Rental Assistance properties throughout the State of Florida,” Rubio wrote. “In many of these cases, my staff found systemic evidence of harmful conditions and a general state of chronic despair. I wrote to you on May 18, 2021, expressing my concern over a lack of timely and regular inspections. At the time, at least 29 properties in Florida with failing REAC scores under the Section 8 Project-Based Rental Assistance program had not been inspected in several years—apparently violating the Department of Housing and Urban Development’s (HUD) Uniform Physical Condition Standards. My staff visited most of these 29 properties and confirmed that the conditions were unsafe and unsanitary.”
“On July 7, 2021, you confirmed that each of the properties I highlighted had received new inspections, with the exception of one that has since been completed,” Rubio continued. “While I am appreciative that the mandatory REAC inspections occurred, upon review of the most recent REAC scores, I found that at least seven of the 29 properties that previously had failing REAC scores continue to have failing scores. Even more alarming, more than half of the properties on this list have worse conditions now than when they were previously inspected. Moreover, of the 29 inspections that you shared were completed, seven scores have yet to be posted on HUD’s website.”
The full text of the letter is below.
Dear Secretary Fudge:
I write to direct your attention to certain Florida properties that participate in the Section 8 Project-Based Rental Assistance program with a troubling history that once again received failing Real Estate Assessment Center (REAC) scores.
Last year, in response to direct outreach from constituents, my staff visited numerous Section 8 Project-Based Rental Assistance properties throughout the State of Florida. In many of these cases, my staff found systemic evidence of harmful conditions and a general state of chronic despair. I wrote to you on May 18, 2021, expressing my concern over a lack of timely and regular inspections. At the time, at least 29 properties in Florida with failing REAC scores under the Section 8 Project-Based Rental Assistance program had not been inspected in several years—apparently violating the Department of Housing and Urban Development’s (HUD) Uniform Physical Condition Standards. My staff visited most of these 29 properties and confirmed that the conditions were unsafe and unsanitary.
On July 7, 2021, you confirmed that each of the properties I highlighted had received new inspections, with the exception of one that has since been completed. While I am appreciative that the mandatory REAC inspections occurred, upon review of the most recent REAC scores, I found that at least seven of the 29 properties that previously had failing REAC scores continue to have failing scores. Even more alarming, more than half of the properties on this list have worse conditions now than when they were previously inspected. Moreover, of the 29 inspections that you shared were completed, seven scores have yet to be posted on HUD’s website.
These failing scores and ongoing delays highlight an urgent need to address the unsafe and unsanitary conditions that many Florida families have been facing on a daily basis. Accordingly, I request that you provide my office with the following by February 7, 2022:
Thank you for your attention to this important matter. I look forward to continuing to work with you to protect the people and families of Florida.
Sincerely,