InfoBytes Blog
Filter
Subscribe to our InfoBytes Blog weekly newsletter and other publications for news affecting the financial services industry.
HUD proposes streamlined AFFH rule
Recently, HUD announced plans to publish a notice of proposed rulemaking (NPRM) entitled “Affirmatively Furthering Fair Housing” (AFFH). The new rule will update a 2015 final rule that was intended to implement the Fair Housing Act’s statutory mandate that HUD ensure that recipients of its funding work to further fair housing, which was repealed by the Trump administration. In 2021, the Biden administration published an interim final rule to restore certain definitions and certifications to its regulations implementing the Fair Housing Act’s requirement to affirmatively further fair housing (covered by InfoBytes here). “This proposed rule is a major step towards fulfilling the law’s full promise and advancing our legal, ethical, and moral charge to provide equitable access to opportunity for all,” HUD Secretary Marcia L. Fudge said in an announcement.
The NPRM incorporates much of the 2015 AFFH rule and will streamline the required fair housing analysis for states, local communities, and public housing agencies. Program participants would be required to ensure protected classes have equitable access to affordable housing opportunities, by, for example, submitting an equity plan to HUD every five years. HUD-accepted equity plan analysis, goals, and strategies would then be incorporated into program participants’ subsequent planning documents. Program participants would also be required to conduct and submit annual progress evaluations. Both the equity plans and annual progress evaluations would be made available online.
HUD further explained that the NPRM is intended to simplify required fair housing analysis, increase transparency for public review and comment, improve compliance oversight, provide a process for regular progress evaluations, and enhance accountability, among other things. Comments on the NPRM are due April 24. HUD’s quick reference guide provides additional information.
HUD outlines plan for reducing the racial homeownership gap
On April 14, HUD released its first ever Equity Action Plan (the Plan) to address procurement and resources for the agency’s Office of Fair Housing and Equal Opportunity in coordination with President Biden’s 2021 Executive Order 13985 on “Advancing Racial Equity and Support for Underserved Communities Through the Federal Government.” Among other things, the Plan requests funding increases to process, investigate, and resolve fair housing complaints and “to improve capacity to pursue Secretary-initiated investigations and compliance reviews” that do not necessarily stem from public complaints. The Plan also outlines HUD’s approach to reducing the racial homeownership gap, including future rulemakings to implement the Fair Housing Act’s mandate to Affirmatively Further Fair Housing (covered by InfoBytes here) as well as other actions to promote equity. HUD also plans to engage in a range of actions in partnership with federal and non-federal organization to maximize homeownership for creditworthy first-time homebuyers and preserve homeownership for existing homeowners. This includes (i) “improving the efficiency of the [Federal Housing Administration] program by leveraging technologies and removing perceived bias of the program so individuals, lenders, and others can use it more with first time, lower income home buyers”; (ii) increasing outreach to non-traditional lenders; and (iii) considering ways “to increase the availability of small-dollar mortgage loans by addressing the financial and operational barriers limiting origination of these loans.” HUD intends to continue to monitor data on borrowers to determine statistical changes in Black and Hispanic households that access FHA-insured loans and the rest of the mortgage market, and will track FHA lending activity in underserved markets.
HUD restores AFFH definitions and certifications
On June 10, HUD published an interim final rule (IFR) to restore certain definitions and certifications to its regulations implementing the Fair Housing Act’s requirement to affirmatively further fair housing (AFFH). The IFR also reinstates a process where HUD will provide technical assistance and other support to funding recipients engaged in fair housing planning. The IFR essentially repeals HUD’s 2020 final rule (covered by a Buckley Special Alert), which was intended to align its disparate impact regulation, adopted in 2013, with the U.S. Supreme Court’s 2015 ruling in Texas Department of Housing and Community Affairs v. Inclusive Communities Project, Inc. As previously covered by InfoBytes, earlier in January, President Biden directed HUD to examine the effects of the final rule while emphasizing that HUD has a “statutory duty to ensure compliance with the Fair Housing Act,” and on April 12, the Office of Management and Budget posted notices (covered by InfoBytes here) announcing a pending proposed rule to reinstate HUD’s Discriminatory Effects Standard related to the 2020 final rule.
Among other things, the IFR “restores the understanding of the AFFH obligation for certain [funding recipients] to the previously established understanding by reinstating legally supportable definitions that are consistent with a meaningful AFFH requirement and certifications that incorporate these definitions.” The IFR also notes that HUD will provide technical assistance and support prior to the IFR’s July 31 effective date, due to a requirement that HUD funding recipients certify compliance with their AFFH duties on an annual basis, as well as HUD’s statutory obligation to ensure that it follows the Fair Housing Act’s AFFH requirements. HUD further recognizes that the 2020 final rule “did not interpret the AFFH mandate in a manner consistent with statutory requirements, HUD’s prior interpretations, or judicial precedent,” adding that the agency also failed to “provide sufficient justification for this substantial departure.”
HUD also announced that it will separately restore guidance and resources for funding recipients to use when conducting fair housing planning until the agency finalizes a new regulation to implement the statutory mandate to AFFH. Comments on the IFR are due July 12.