Policy

HAC Opposes Fair Housing Rule Change

HAC has taken a firm stance against the Administration’s proposed change to the Affirmatively Furthering Fair Housing (AFFH) regulations. In comments submitted on March 16, 2020, HAC wrote, in part:

The definition [of affirmatively furthering fair housing] now proposed – “acting in a manner consistent with reducing obstacles within the participant’s sphere of influence to providing fair housing choice”  – asks very little. It omits any vision of a truly fair community, contemplating only the actions that can be taken by a single entity without any far-reaching goals. Taken with the rest of the proposal’s weakened provisions, this definition inappropriately downgrades the importance of AFFH activities. . .  .
HUD proposes to measure whether a jurisdiction is affirmatively furthering fair housing by examining its lack of adjudicated fair housing violations, the availability of affordable housing and the availability of affordable housing in decent condition. Yet none of these is a determinant of fair housing choice.

HAC’s full comments are here and the complete comment docket is here.