ERC Submits Comment on HUD’s Proposed AFFH Rule
By Nick Adjami
May 2, 2023
The Fair Housing Act includes an “Affirmatively Furthering Fair Housing” (AFFH) provision that requires “all executive departments and agencies”— including the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) and HUD programs — to proactively promote fair housing and integration.
Unfortunately, over the past 55 years, little progress toward that goal has been made. But in January, the Biden administration announced a new AFFH rule meant to “remedy the effects of the long history of discrimination in housing.” The new rule presents an exciting opportunity for local jurisdictions and HUD to work together to finally make progress toward integration and equal housing opportunities for all. Three dozen housing and civil rights groups applauded the release of the rule, calling it “an important step toward creating more equitable and affordable housing opportunities and stronger, more viable neighborhoods.”
The ERC submitted a comment noting changes that should be made to ensure maximum impact, and encouraging the Biden administration to implement the final rule quickly.
The ERC’s full comment is available here.
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The Equal Rights Center (ERC) — a national non-profit organization — is a civil rights organization that identifies and seeks to eliminate unlawful and unfair discrimination in housing, employment and public accommodations in its home community of Greater Washington DC and nationwide. The ERC’s core strategy for identifying unlawful and unfair discrimination is civil rights testing. When the ERC identifies discrimination, it seeks to eliminate it through the use of testing data to educate the public and business community, support policy advocacy, conduct compliance testing and training, and, if necessary, take enforcement action. For more information, please visit www.equalrightscenter.org.
The work that provided the basis for this publication was supported by funding under a grant with the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. The substance and findings of the work are dedicated to the public. The author and publisher are solely responsible for the accuracy of the statements and interpretations contained in this publication. Such interpretations do not necessarily reflect the views of the Federal Government.
