On July 26, 2021, the U.S. Department of Justice and the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services issued joint Guidance on “Long COVID” as a Disability Under the ADA, Section 504, and Section 1557. Click here to read the full guidance.
Newsletter Articles
HUD Restores Affirmatively Furthering Fair Housing Requirement
On June 10, 2021, HUD announced the publication of the interim final rule restoring a long-standing Fair Housing Act requirement for recipients of HUD funding to Affirmatively Further Fair Housing (“AFFH”). The interim final rule restores the robust definition of the duty to affirmatively further fair housing, originally adopted in 2015. The Fair Housing Act …
New Videos Educate Tenants & Others About Fair Housing Rights
The Fair Housing Project has released six new videos to educate the public about their fair housing rights. The videos provide information about reasonable accommodations for people with disabilities, assistance animals, fair housing protections for families with children, and what a person should do if they believe they have been discriminated against. Videos in English: …
Court Upholds Seattle, WA, “Fair Chance” Housing Law Prohibiting Criminal History Screening
On July 6, 2021, a federal court upheld the City of Seattle’s Fair Chance Housing Ordinance. See Yim v. City of Seattle, 2021 WL 2805377 (W.D. Wash. July 6, 2021). The ordinance prohibits housing providers from taking an adverse action against a prospective occupant, tenant, or household member based on any arrest record, conviction record, …
Recent HUD Enforcement Activities: Conciliation Agreements and Charges of Discrimination
Since February, 2021, HUD has approved several conciliation agreements and charged several housing providers with discrimination. Below provides a summary of some of HUD’s recent enforcement activities. Conciliation Agreements On March 4, 2021, HUD approved a Conciliation Agreement resolving allegations that 19 apartment complexes in and near Philadelphia refused to grant reasonable accommodations requested by …
Housing complex settles discrimination case, adopts fair criminal history policy for tenant applicants
On March 29, 2021, Legal Aid of North Carolina announced that it had settled a housing discrimination complaint against Cypress Grove Apartments, a multifamily housing complex located in Wilmington, North Carolina. Legal Aid’s Fair Housing Project filed the complaint on behalf of a 64-year-old tenant whose rental application was denied because of Cypress Grove’s criminal …
HUD Withdraws Proposed Rule, Reaffirms Its Commitment to Equal Access to Housing, Shelters, and Other Services Regardless of Gender Identity
On April 27, 2021, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) withdrew a proposed rule that would have weakened the 2016 “Equal Access” protections for transgender individuals in shelters and other HUD-funded housing. In withdrawing the 2020 rule, HUD noted that it was inconsistent with Executive Order 13985, titled ‘‘Advancing Racial Equity and …
Celebrating Fair Housing Month
On April 1, 2021, HUD kicked off Fair Housing Month 2021. This year’s Fair Housing Month theme, Fair Housing: More Than Just Words, reflects HUD’s commitment to advancing equity in housing and the importance of increasing public awareness of everyone’s right to fair housing. Click here for HUD’s commemoration. Fair housing advocates across North Carolina, …
HUD Moves to Reinstate the 2015 Affirmatively Furthering Fair Housing rule and the 2013 Disparate Impact rule
On April 13, 2021, HUD moved to reinstate two key fair housing regulations: the 2015 Affirmatively Furthering Fair Housing rule and the 2013 Disparate Impact rule. The 2015 Affirmatively Furthering Fair Housing (“AFFH”) rule set out fair housing requirements for state and local governments that receive HUD funding. Among these were that these HUD funding …
President Biden Directs HUD to Review Recent Fair Housing Rules
On January 26, 2021, President Biden issued an “Memorandum on Redressing Our Nation’s and the Federal Government’s History of Discriminatory Housing Practices and Policies” directing HUD to review two recent fair housing rules. The first of these rules, “Preserving Community and Neighborhood Choice” rule, went into effect on August 7, 2020, and replaced HUD’s 2015 …