The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) has announced it will continue to address disparate impact liability for discriminatory insurance practices on a case-by-case basis. HUD addressed concerns from the...more
Last week, HUD issued new guidance confirming that persons with limited English proficiency (LEP) are protected under the Fair Housing Act (FHA). LEP includes a limited ability to read, write, speak, or understand English. ...more
9/23/2016
/ Borrowers ,
Civil Rights Act ,
Discrimination ,
Disparate Impact ,
Fair Housing Act (FHA) ,
Housing Discrimination ,
Housing Market ,
HUD ,
Landlords ,
Limited English Proficiency (LEP) ,
Mortgages ,
National Origin ,
National Origin Discrimination ,
Real Estate Market ,
Tenants ,
Title VI
People with limited English proficiency (LEP) are protected under the Fair Housing Act (FHA) under new guidance announced by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD). Housing providers can face liability for...more
9/21/2016
/ Discrimination ,
Disparate Impact ,
Fair Housing Act (FHA) ,
Housing Discrimination ,
Housing Market ,
HUD ,
Landlords ,
Limited English Proficiency (LEP) ,
Mortgages ,
National Origin ,
National Origin Discrimination ,
Real Estate Market ,
Tenants
This week, HUD issued a final rule that creates liability under the Fair Housing Act (FHA) for housing providers for occurrences of “quid pro quo harassment” or “hostile environment harassment.” The new rule takes effect on...more
9/19/2016
/ Affordable Housing ,
Discrimination ,
Fair Housing Act (FHA) ,
Harassment ,
Hostile Environment ,
Housing Discrimination ,
Housing Market ,
HUD ,
Protected Class ,
Quid Pro Quo ,
Residential Real Estate Market ,
Tenants
The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) has issued a final rule that creates liability for housing providers for occurrences of "quid pro quo harassment" or "hostile environment harassment." The new rule,...more
9/16/2016
/ Affordable Housing ,
Discrimination ,
Dispute Resolution ,
Fair Housing Act (FHA) ,
Harassment ,
Hostile Environment ,
Housing Discrimination ,
Housing Market ,
HUD ,
Quid Pro Quo ,
Residential Real Estate Market ,
Risk Management ,
Tenants ,
Third-Party Liability
A federal court in Texas recently dismissed a housing discrimination claim that was based on alleged disparate impact under the Fair Housing Act (FHA), the latest in a series of decisions applying landmark U.S. Supreme Court...more
9/2/2016
/ Affordable Housing ,
Burden-Shifting ,
Causation ,
Discrimination ,
Dismissals ,
Disparate Impact ,
Fair Housing Act (FHA) ,
HUD ,
LIHTC ,
Pleading Standards ,
Race Discrimination ,
Texas Dept of Housing v Inclusive Communities ,
Title VII
A federal court in Texas recently dismissed a housing discrimination claim that was based on alleged disparate impact under the Fair Housing Act (FHA), the latest in a series of decisions applying landmark U.S. Supreme Court...more
9/1/2016
/ Affordable Housing ,
Discrimination ,
Dismissals ,
Disparate Impact ,
Disparate Treatment ,
Fair Housing Act (FHA) ,
Housing Discrimination ,
Housing Market ,
HUD ,
LIHTC ,
Race Discrimination ,
Residential Real Estate Market ,
Texas Dept of Housing v Inclusive Communities
The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) issued new guidance on April 4, 2016, on the use of criminal conviction records by housing providers in screening applicants. The guidance advises housing providers...more
On Monday, HUD published new guidance for landlords conducting criminal background checks as a condition of renting housing. This guidance is applicable to all providers or operators of housing and real estate related...more
Last week, HUD is scheduled to publish its proposed tool for affirmatively furthering fair housing (AFFH) for use by states and insular areas as they implement the new AFFH rule. Public comment is solicited for 60 days....more
The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) has released a proposed rule that aims to "formalize standards for use in investigations and adjudications involving alleged harassment on the basis of race, color,...more
Effective September 21, amendments to HUD’s Housing Choice Voucher (HCV) Program – the government’s largest program for assisting low-income, elderly, and disabled populations in the private housing market – will change the...more
The Office of Inspector General (OIG) recently released an audit report of HUD examining the extent to which over-income families have been residing in public housing units. “Over-income” means the families were eligible low-...more
In a 5-4 decision today, the U.S. Supreme Court recognized that disparate-impact claims maintain adjudication viability under the Fair Housing Act (FHA). Justices Kennedy, Ginsberg, Breyer, Sotomayor, and Kagan provided the...more
Over the past month, HUD has published a number of administrative notices that cover a variety of matters for housing providers, particular for PHAs and others who administer project-based Section 8 assistance. Below is a...more
HUD has announced that it will end the regulatory relief granted under Notice PIH 2013-03 as of the end of March 2015. That relief, which HUD described in Notice PIH 2013-03 as “temporary,” allowed public housing agencies...more
The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) recently published a new notice pertaining to the applicability of Davis-Bacon labor requirements to housing considered to be “existing” housing under the...more
This week, HUD’s Office of Inspector General (OIG) issued a report critical of HUD’s oversight of the community service and economic self-sufficiency requirement (CSSR). This federal requirement, applicable only to public...more
Last week, the U.S. Supreme Court heard oral argument in a case which questioned whether the Fair Housing Act (FHA) allows for a disparate impact theory of liability. The disparate impact theory of liability is one in which a...more
The U.S. Supreme Court recently heard oral argument in Texas Department of Housing and Community Affairs v. The Inclusive Communities Project, Inc.—the case presenting the issue of whether disparate impact claims are...more
With the passage of the 2014 Consolidated Appropriations Act, Congress required HUD to unify the operations of the public housing and Housing Choice Voucher Family Self-Sufficiency (FSS) programs. In order to implement the...more
On December 23, 2014, HUD issued a new notice clarifying its Davis-Bacon enforcement strategy for developments participating in the second component of the Rental Assistance Demonstration involving Rent Supplement and Rental...more
Since HUD issued its proposed rule for the demolition and disposition of public housing in October of this year, Ballard Spahr has thoroughly examined the regulation and has now provided to HUD comments on the potentially...more
On October 16th, HUD issued a new proposed rule that would make significant changes to the approval process for the demolition and disposition of public housing properties. In addition to codifying a number of existing,...more
On Monday, the United States District Court for the District of Columbia issued a scathing opinion that struck down HUD’s disparate impact rule. The disparate impact rule, also referred to as a ”discriminatory effects”...more