Affirmatively Furthering Fair Housing

Fair HousingAffirmatively Furthering Fair Housing

The Fair Housing Act, originally passed in 1968 and amended to expand its protections in 1988, prohibits discrimination in the sale, rental, and financing of dwellings based on race, color, religion, sex, national origin, disability or family status. In addition to prohibiting discrimination, the Fair Housing Act requires recipients of HUD funding to affirmatively further the goals of the Fair Housing Act by promoting fair housing and equal opportunity. In 2015, HUD published the Affirmatively Furthering Fair Housing (AFFH) final rule, which aims to provide all HUD grantees with clear guidelines and data to help them achieve the affirmatively furthering goals set out by the Fair Housing Act. The AFFH regulations seek to provide greater clarity to grantees and improve access to opportunity for protected classes. While the AFFH regulations were rescinded during the Trump Administration, the Biden Administration is currently working on reinstating both AFFH and another Fair Housing-related rule on disparate impact/discriminatory effects standard.

NCSHA and its member state Housing Finance Agencies are committed to providing quality affordable housing opportunities for low- and moderate-income individuals and families free from discrimination. Central to our overriding vision of an affordably housed nation is the goal of removing fair housing obstacles that impede anyone from accessing the affordable housing of their choice.

As the Administration works to finalize the AFFH rule, NCSHA intends to work with HUD on its plan for implementation for state-level grantees. We continue to welcome all opportunities to work with HUD to advance the Fair Housing Act’s objectives and ensure the most effective implementation possible of these regulations.


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