U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) Secretary Marcia L. Fudge is proposing restoring HUD’s Discriminatory Effects Standard. The proposal would remove the Department’s 2020 disparate impact rule and restore the 2013 discriminatory effects rule.
The details:
HUD believes the 2013 rule is more consistent with decades of caselaw and better aligns with the act’s broad purpose of removing unnecessary discriminatory practices from the housing market.
The public will have 60 days to file comments on the proposal. HUD will then review the comments, provide responses and publish a final rule. In the meantime, HUD says they continue to “vigorously enforce the Fair Housing Act, including addressing policies and practices by housing providers, lenders, insurers, appraisers and others that cause unjustified systemic inequities based on race or other protected class.”
What it means:
“We must acknowledge that discrimination in housing continues today and that individuals, including people of color and those with disabilities, continue to be denied equal access to rental housing and homeownership,” said Secretary Fudge. “It is a new day at HUD—and our department is working to lift barriers to housing and promote diverse, inclusive communities across the country. Today’s publication of the proposed discriminatory effects rule is the latest step HUD is taking to fulfill its duty to ensure more fair and equitable housing.”
Source: HUD