Biden Administration Moves To Reinstate Disparate Impact Rule

On Heels of Nationwide Injunction, Biden Administration Moves To Fully Reinstate Disparate Impact Rule

Citing extensively to a landmark nationwide injunction secured by Lawyers for Civil Rights and Anderson & Kreiger, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development is reinstating anti-discrimination protections in the Fair Housing Act. These critical protections, which the Trump Administration sought to undermine, were the subject of Massachusetts Fair Housing Center v. HUD, a groundbreaking lawsuit challenging the Trump Administration’s attempt to gut the disparate impact provisions of the Fair Housing Act, which would have made it nearly impossible for victims of housing and lending discrimination to seek judicial redress.

The suit was filed on behalf of the Massachusetts Fair Housing Center in Holyoke, Massachusetts, and Housing Works in New York City, New York. The first of its kind in the country, the lawsuit secured a nationwide preliminary injunction and stay precluding the Trump Administration’s rule from ever coming into effect. The Biden Administration has now proposed an ameliorative rule (available here). 

Fair housing allies and supporters are encouraged to submit comments to HUD by August 24 emphasizing the importance of disparate impact and the eradication of housing and lending discrimination. 

The proposed rule is available here:

2021-13240