HUD Update: HUD Negotiates Agreement with Harris County, Texas, to Ensure Equitable Use of Disaster Recovery Funds

HUD recently announced a Voluntary Compliance Agreement/Conciliation Agreement resolving allegations that Harris County, Texas (the County), discriminated on the basis of race and national origin in its design and operation of its Post Disaster Relocation and Buyout Program. The complaint alleged that the County operated a mandatory buyout program in predominantly Hispanic neighborhoods, while offering voluntary buyouts and other hazard mitigation alternatives to majority white neighborhoods with comparable flood risk.

The agreement includes various requirements, including that the County to provide remaining acquisition targets of its current mandatory buyout program with a “Notice of Rights,” including the right to appeal the County’s buyout of their home. The agreement also requires that the County submit for HUD review and approval any future proposal to use HUD disaster recovery funds to undertake a mandatory buyout. As part of its submission to HUD, the County must provide a discussion of steps it will take to ensure that the proposed buyout program does not result in discrimination.

The County denied the allegations of discrimination and HUD made no findings of discrimination under the Fair Housing Act, Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, or Section 109 of the Housing and Community Development Act of 1974.

Click here to read HUD’s press release and voluntary compliance agreement.