HUD publishes fair housing assessment tool

On Thursday in the Federal Register, HUD announced that it had published the final version of a fair housing assessment tool for use by certain governmental entities.

An assessment of fair housing (AFH) is required under the affirmatively furthering fair housing (AFFH) final rule published July 16. The requirement for a fair housing assessment replaces the former requirement for an “analysis of impediments” to fair housing.

The assessment tool published last week is for use by local governments that receive Community Development Block Grants (CDBG), HOME Investment Partnerships Program (HOME), Emergency Solutions Grants (ESG), and Housing Opportunities for Persons with AIDS (HOPWA) formula funding. The tool will also be used for AFHs conducted by joint and regional collaborations between: (1) such local governments; (2) one or more such local governments with one or more PHA partners; and (3) other collaborations in which such a local government is designed as the lead for the collaboration. These local governments and consortia are required to submit consolidated plans under 24 Code of Federal Regulations Part 91.

However, the assessment tool will not be used for fair housing assessments by PHAs. HUD will issue separate assessment tools for use by states, insular areas, and PHAs. These tools will be used for PHAs: (1) participating in assessments with units of general local government or state governmental agencies; (2) participating with one or more PHAs in the planning and preparation of the AFH; and (3) preparing their own AFH. Submission deadlines for fair housing assessments will be staggered and will be at least nine months after publication of the applicable assessment tool.

Resources posted to a new AFH tool website include PDF and Word versions of the tool, as well as a comparison of the final tool to the sample tool published in September 2014. Click here for a PDF version of the comparison; click here for a Word version. HUD’s AFFH website has been updated with links to a new 222-page AFFH rule guidebook, an updated data and mapping tool, and a new user guide for the data and mapping tool.

Nan McKay and Associates can bring standard or customized fair housing training to your agency onsite. Email sales@nanmckay.com for details.