Arizona Attorney General Kris Mayes is among 24 attorneys general who are speaking out about a Trump administration plan to roll back certain fair housing regulations.
The Fair Housing Act of 1968 prohibits housing discrimination based on someone’s race, color, religion, national origin, sex, disability or familial status.
But landlords and lenders also can’t make policies that disproportionately impact people in one of those protected groups, even if the policy itself seems neutral. A landlord who refuses to consider child support payments in determining a renter’s financial eligibility, might indirectly be discriminating against women, or families with children, for example. This is known as disparate impact.
The Trump administration has proposed removing that disparate impact rule. The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development says it should instead be up to the courts to decide whether or not housing policies are discriminatory.
“HUD is undertaking a comprehensive review of its regulations to reduce unnecessary regulatory burdens, enhance the effectiveness of those regulations that are necessary, and promote principles underlying the rule of law,” HUD’s proposed rule change states.
Mayes and the other attorneys general filed a public comment Wednesday arguing against the rule change.
“Deleting the Existing Rule about discriminatory effects liability disregards our country’s shameful history of housing discrimination,” the attorneys general wrote. “While overt discrimination is no longer legal, both ‘clever’ and ‘thoughtless’ forms of discrimination persist, leading to ongoing patterns of housing segregation.”
The attorneys general also argue HUD has not provided a legal justification for removing the rule.
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