HUD Suspends AFFH Implementation
Today in the Federal Register, HUD published three notices concerning its suspension of implementation of the Affirmatively Furthering Fair Housing (AFFH) final rule. Draft versions of the notices were posted on May 18 with an accompanying press release.
The notices include:
- Affirmatively Furthering Fair Housing: Withdrawal of the Assessment Tool for Local Governments
- Affirmatively Furthering Fair Housing (AFFH): Responsibility To Conduct Analysis of Impediments
- Affirmatively Furthering Fair Housing: Withdrawal of Notice Extending the Deadline for Submission of Assessment of Fair Housing for Consolidated Plan Participants
In January, HUD announced the extension of the deadline for submission of an assessment of fair housing (AFH) by local government consolidated plan program participants until at least 2020. Earlier this month, the National Fair Housing Alliance (NFHA) announced that it filed a fair housing complaint against HUD over suspension of implementation of the AFFH rule.
In today’s first notice, HUD announces that it is withdrawing its January AFH suspension notice. In the second notice, HUD announces its withdrawal of the local government assessment tool “because it is inadequate to accomplish its purpose of guiding program participants to produce meaningful AFHs.” The third notice states that without the assessment tool there can be no AFH, and by extension the AFFH rule and its other components cannot be implemented. Any local government that has not yet submitted an AFH that has been accepted by HUD must instead conduct an analysis of impediments (AI), which was required prior to 2015.
For more information, see the AFFH page on HUD Exchange.
