The Fair Housing Act (“FHA”) imposes an obligation on states and local jurisdictions to take affirmative steps to further housing choice and opportunity. A 2015 regulation promulgated by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (“HUD”) implements this requirement. HUD has sought public comments on whether to amend or alter the 2015 Affirmatively Furthering Fair Housing Rule (“AFFH Rule” or “Rule”). The Washington Lawyers’ Committee has submitted comments in opposition to any changes.
The existing AFFH Rule is an effective and well-balanced tool to further the mandate of the FHA to overcome residential racial segregation. The statutory duty to affirmatively further fair housing arises from the recognition that housing segregation across the country has been fostered and maintained through decades of exclusionary policies at the federal, state, and local levels. Those intentional practices and policies have entrenched segregation, seriously limited housing choice, and deprived African Americans of a critical foothold to economic and social mobility, as well as access to a wide range of services and benefits. Remediation of the consequences of this pervasively harmful legacy requires active and equally intentional efforts to secure meaningful housing choice. The Committee strongly opposes efforts, such as those contemplated in the Advanced Notice, to alter the Rule and eviscerate its framework.