TAKE ACTION BY THURSDAY, MAY 1
Defend the Fair Housing Act!
The 1968 Fair Housing Act made housing discrimination illegal. It also required the US Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) "affirmatively to further" the goal of eliminating bias in housing. The law directed HUD to make rules that would help fix problems caused by past discrimination.
In the half-century since then, HUD has drafted rules to affirmatively further fair housing. But none of those rules are in place. And now, things could get worse.
Recent draft rules made an impact, encouraging some local governments to put programs in place addressing past discrimination. But HUD has just proposed a new version of the rule that would wipe away the goals of the recent drafts -- replacing them with a pass for violating the Fair Housing Act.
How's this for irony? HUD's 2025 proposed final rule to affirmatively further fair housing would dramatically weaken obligations of local governments to prove they're working to ensure equal housing access. We can't let that happen!
Tell HUD to do what's right:
- Revoke the new proposed rule weakening fair housing law.
- Restore and finalize the 2021 draft rule with stronger fair housing protections.
- Fully implement the 1968 Fair Housing Act.
HUD will accept comments until early May. We need your voice by Thursday, May 1.
Read our official comment, written in partnership with Legal Aid Justice Center and the Virginia Poverty Law Center and sent to HUD, at this link.