Proposed Rule Change Would Condone Discrimination in Housing
WASHINGTON – The Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD)’s latest broadside is aimed at depriving millions of people from access to housing. HUD’s proposed changes would fundamentally rewrite fair housing law, allowing real estate agents, lenders, landlords, and others to discriminate at will, so long as they didn’t say out loud what they were doing.
“Releasing this proposal on the cusp of MLK day is an assault on Dr. King’s legacy and lifelong work to end redlining, segregation, and other forms of housing discrimination,” said Odette Williamson, Director of Racial Justice Advocacy at the National Consumer Law Center. “Enforcing our nation’s civil rights laws remains imperative.”
The statute HUD seeks to dismantle, the Fair Housing Act, was passed in 1968, just seven days after the assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Dr. King had been active in promoting its passage and its enactment was a tribute to Dr. King in the wake of his assassination. The proposal is particularly shocking as it would reverse a 2015 Supreme Court decision, Texas Dept of Housing and Community Affairs v. Inclusive Communities, upholding exactly the interpretation HUD now seeks to upend.
Most complaints under the Fair Housing Act are brought by or on behalf of people with disabilities, and it is this group that HUD’s proposal would hurt the most. This assault on the rights of people with disabilities comes at the same time that changes to Medicaid also threaten to destabilize the lives of people living with disabilities.
“This is a continuation of the Trump Administration’s all out attack on equity, civil rights, racial justice, and the rule of law,” said Williamson. “It’s imperative that housing and civil rights advocates speak out to uphold the rule of law and protect fair housing rights.”
Comments on the proposed rule are due February 13.
Related Resources
- National Fair Housing Alliance Video: Seven Days Documentary – 50th Anniversary of the Fair Housing Act Edition
- Coalition letter to HUD and OMB Opposing Weakening of Disparate Impact Rule, September 2, 2025
- Urgent Action Needed to Preserve Racial Equity and Economic Justice, March 18, 2025
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