Today in the Federal Register, HUD’s Office of Fair Housing and Equal Opportunity (FHEO) published an advance notice of proposed rulemaking seeking public comment on amendments to HUD’s affirmatively furthering fair housing (AFFH) regulations. As we reported on Monday, HUD issued a press release regarding the publication of this notice requesting comments with the goal to offer more helpful guidance to states and local communities to effectively promote fair housing choice. While public comment is not limited to the following, HUD is particularly interested in comments centering on these questions:

• What type of community participation and consultation should program participants undertake in fulfilling their AFFH obligations?
• How should the rule weigh the costs and benefits of data collection and analysis?
• How should PHAs report their AFFH plans and progress?
• Should the proposed rule specify the types of obstacles to fair housing that program participants must address as part of their AFFH efforts, or should program participants be able to determine the number and types of obstacles to address?
• How much deference should jurisdictions be provided in establishing objectives to address obstacles to identified fair housing goals, and associated metrics and milestones for measuring progress?

Comments are due by October 15, 2018. Further details, including background on the rule’s review and how to submit comments, can be found in the notice.

In a related blog post today, the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities (CBPP) explained how HUD’s proposed changes to the AFFH rule are inconsistent with research on the effect of neighborhoods on the well-being of children and adults.

Also today on the HUD channel at YouTube, HUD posted a video on the basics of the Fair Housing Act. The nearly 90-minute training video includes detailed explanations of the protections provided by the act and discusses the continued relevance of the law.