The homeowner’s industry is seeking to appeal a federal law that bars them from covert discrimination. Arizona’s Kris Mayes, along with 17 other attorneys general, filed a brief to the U.S. Court of Appeals this week in its defense.
“This is very much a housing state,” said Mayes. “And we know that so many young people are struggling to get into a first home or so many people are just struggling to buy a house as home prices continue to go up and up and up. So we definitely do not need discrimination on top of that.”
The Discriminatory Effects Rule bans practices that appear neutral but disproportionately harm people of color, like raising insurance rates or lowering appraisals in certain areas.
“They're not gonna go out and say, 'Hey, I'm going to discriminate against African Americans,'” explained Mayes. “What they will do is they'll say, 'I'm going to not lend to people in the south Phoenix area of the Valley,' or 'I'm going to provide insurance at higher rates in southwest Phoenix.'”
This rule and the Arizona Fair Housing Act, she said, allows authorities to hold bad actors accountable and help clear the path to affordable, accessible housing.
“In this day and age when people are already struggling with high prices in the housing market,” Mayes said, “it matters if we've got large corporations out there that are blatantly or behind the scenes secretly discriminating against them.”
