WASHINGTON, D.C. — A coalition of over 90 leading civil rights, consumer, and housing advocates from across the nation has issued a joint letter strongly urging the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) and the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) to withdraw a pending Final Rule, which is likely to roll back the disparate impact standard under the federal Fair Housing Act. This letter comes after HUD has sent a “Final Rule” entitled “HUD’s Implementation of the Fair Housing Act’s Disparate Impact Standard” to the OMB’s Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs (OIRA) for review before publication, even though HUD did not provide any notice or opportunity for comment.

The disparate impact standard has been successfully deployed to stop unlawful policies that segregate people based on their race or other protected class characteristics; dismantle redlining in insurance and lending; eliminate biased algorithms that harm people and communities; protect survivors of domestic violence; address appraisal bias that causes economic harm to affected homeowners; and halt discriminatory zoning and land-use policies. Beyond prohibiting harm, it has opened doors to greater housing security for individuals with disabilities, seniors on fixed incomes, families with children, and people of faith. It has spurred the development of affordable housing opportunities; safeguarded access to community resources such as transportation, health, and education services; and contributed to the creation of healthy communities that are free from toxins and pollution.

“The disparate impact standard is a common-sense legal tool, and the current rule reflects decades of legal precedent,” the groups wrote in the letter. “Watering down HUD’s current rule will undoubtedly violate the law. By comparison, the current disparate impact standard ensures fair, thriving markets.”

“HUD’s current disparate impact rule has worked. It has fostered fairer housing and lending markets by providing landlords, lenders, localities, and others with the incentive to search out less discriminatory alternatives to meet their legitimate business interest,” said Nikitra Bailey, Executive Vice President of the National Fair Housing Alliance® (NFHA™). “The ability to pursue disparate impact claims, therefore, is essential to the efficient operation of housing markets and to combating public or private actions that distort those markets and deny people opportunity, especially during the nation’s fair and affordable housing crisis.”