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Analysis of HUD's Proposed AFFH Rule Michael Allen Reiman, Dane & Col fax, PLLC 1225 19th Street, N.W., Suite 600 Washington, D.C. 20036 Telephone: 2021728-1888 E-mail • mallenrelmanlaw.com Briefing on the Proposed HUD Rule Affirmatively Furthering Fair Housing Tuesday, July 30, 2013 Overview With the passage of the Fair Housing Act in 1968, Congress first imposed on the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) and recipients of HUD funds, the obligation to affirmatively further fair housing (AFFH), 42 U.S.C. §3608; see also 42 U.S.C. §§5304(b)(2), 5306(d)(7)(B)(Housing and Community Development Act of 1974, as amended); 42 U.S.C. §12705(b)(15) (consolidated planning); 42 U.S.C. §1437C -1(d)(16) (public housing). HUD has promulgated regulations implementing the AFFH requirements for entities receiving block grant and public housing funds. See 24 C.F.R. §§570.602; 91.225, 91.325, 91.425, 903.7(o). HUD recently proposed new regulations to clarify and expand the AFFH obligations of HUD "program participants" (States and municipalities that receive HUD block grant funds and public housing authorities, or PHAs). See Proposed Rule on Affirmatively Furthering Fair Housing, 78 Fed. Reg, 43710-43743; July 19, 2013 (Proposed Rule). The Proposed Rule requires program participants to address "fair housing issues," which are defined as "local or regional segregation..., racial or ethnic concentrations of poverty, disparities in access to community assets, disproportionate housing needs based on race [and other protected classes] and evidence of illegal discrimination...." §5.152. Comments are due on September 17, 2013. The Proposed Rule's revised definition of AFFH, at §5.152, frames all of a participant's obligations: "Affirmativelv furthering fair housing means taking proactive steps beyond simply combating. discrimination to foster more inclusive communities and access to community assets for all persons protected by the Fair Housing Act. More specifically, it means taking steps proactively to address significant disparities in access to community assets, to overcome segregated living patterns and support and promote integrated communities, to end racially and ethnically concentrated areas of poverty, and to foster and maintain compliance with civil rights and fair housing laws.