3.1. GENERAL BACKGROUND INFORMATION The Cuyahoga Metropolitan Housing Authority (CMHA), through its Housing Choice Voucher Program (HCVP), is requesting proposals from qualified and experienced firms who have a demonstrated track record in successfully performing residential property inspections in accordance with both the Housing Quality Standards (HQS) and NSPIRE (National Standards for the Physical Inspection of Real Estate) as regulated by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD). While the Voucher Program is currently subject to HQS inspection protocol, the Low Rent and Multifamily Housing Programs are subject to the NSPIRE inspection protocol. Nationally, HCVP will adopt this NSPIRE protocol, likely by October of 2025. Therefore, responsive contractors must indicate that they are qualified to inspect units in compliance under both the HQS and NSPIRE inspection protocols. CMHA anticipates utilizing NSPIRE voucher inspections for all voucher programs by no later than October 1, 2025 and further requires that all responsive bidders completed these inspections within the Yardi Voyager environment leveraging Maintenance IQ based mobile inspections applications on contemporary Applebrand devices. The responsive bidder will prepare all scheduling notices in voyager using YSR reports that attach to client and vendor records, are emailed and are available on various Yardi Rent Café portals; (this is in addition to the vendor-produced correspondence also being physically mailed out by the selected contractor.) Housing Choice Voucher Program CMHA currently administers subsidy to multiple residential housing units under various components of the Section 8 Housing Assistance Program, including the HCV Program and the Moderate Rehabilitation Program and several boutique HCVP assistance programs. For the purpose of this proposal, we expect a utilization of approximately 15,000 units in the Program annually via both portable and project-based vouchers throughout Cuyahoga County. This number can be used to estimate required annual inspections. We have approximately 6,000 applicants processed for eligibility per year along with approximately 2,000 movers for a universe of potentially 8,000 initial inspections.
