HUD Takes Another Step Towards Realizing Fair Housing
2015 Final Rule
The Affirmatively Furthering Fair Housing (AFFH) 2015 Final Rule enforced the principles and policies of the 1968 Fair Housing Act which protected access to housing regardless of race, color, national origin, religion, sex, familial status, or disability.
The 2015 Final Rule requires that recipients of HUD funds:
Take meaningful action to overcome inequities created by patterns of segregation and discrimination based on protected characteristics.
Identify the conditions negatively impacting fair housing that exist in their communities and the factors that lead to those conditions.
Establish goals, strategies, and actions to overcome the conditions and factors negatively impacting fair housing.
Submit fair housing assessments and equity plans to overcome negative impacts.
2023 Proposed Rule
In the eight years since the publication of the 2015 Final Rule, HUD recipients have provided feedback on the Rule’s assessment and Equity Plan process. HUD responded with the 2023 Proposed Rule which made the following key changes from the 2015 Final Rule:
Provides underserved communities a greater say and implements a more transparent process for fair housing strategies development by HUD grantees. HUD grantees will be required to:
Consult with community members.
Hold meetings in diverse settings.
Ensure that individuals with disabilities have access to those meetings.
Partner with local community-based organizations to engage with underserved communities.
Streamlines the Equity Plan’s fair housing assessments and provides data to support that assessment.
Places greater focus on housing goals. The emphasis of Equity Plans will be to ensure that goals are based on data. This should expedite the assessments and make goals more closely aligned to existing conditions.
Provides more flexibility for HUD to work with program participants to improve Equity Plans.
In the 2015 Final Rule, HUD accepted or rejected Equity Plans within 60 days of submission, creating a de facto prohibition on HUD from dialogue with grantees on revisions. HUD accepted every plan based on the extremely limited window in which to evaluate and respond.
The 2023 Proposed Rule extends the revision period to 180 days, allowing grantees greater flexibility and more time to work with HUD to ensure Equity Plans meet requirements.
Tracks progress on Fair Housing goals by requiring participants to conduct yearly evaluations. These progress evaluations will be submitted to HUD to be made publicly available.
Increases accountability by creating a complaint-filing mechanism for the public to enable HUD to further engage in oversight and enforcement.
Bronner Can Help You Address the New Requirements
BRONNER’s experts have spent decades helping housing agencies and housing departments manage change within HUD’s complex compliance and funding landscape. BRONNER’s team provides expertise in strategy, transformation and accountability to support housing authorities drive excellence in the provision of high-quality housing.