In August, HUD published proposed revisions to its interpretation of the Fair Housing Act’s disparate impact rule. Disparate impact allows people to show that a housing policy had a negative impact on them because of their race, sex, national origin, disability, or other protected characteristic – even if the policy appears on its face to apply to everyone equally. Practically speaking, the HUD proposal would effectively eliminate disparate impact as a usable legal tool. This means that the housing industry would be free to engage in activities that deprive people of color, families with children, and people with disabilities of housing opportunities — so long as a discriminatory intent could not be shown. This HUD proposal would allow harmful discriminatory conduct to go unchecked. Comments on the proposal are due TOMORROW!
NYHC submitted comments and strongly encourages other NY housing groups and individuals to do the same!
Despite the looming deadline, we have compiled some national groups’ templates you can use to quickly and easily make your voice heard!
National Fair Housing Alliance: https://www.defendcivilrights.org/make-comment
Fight for Housing Justice: https://www.fightforhousingjustice.org/comment-now
National Low Income Housing Coalition: https://tinyurl.com/y3c543td