HUD’s interim final rule on Affirmatively Furthering Fair Housing (AFFH) has cleared review by the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs (OIRA) at the Office of Management and Budget (OMB). The proposal has been at OIRA since April 12, 2021 (see Memo, 04/19) and will now be sent to the House Financial Services Committee and the Senate Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs Committee for a 15-day courtesy period (June 7, 2021). After this review period, the interim final rule will be published in the Federal Register.
The interim final rule is expected to restore the statutory definition to the AFFH rule but will not reinstate the 2015 rule. More details are expected to be released once it is reviewed at the appropriate committees and published in the Federal Register.
This latest action by HUD was conducted in accordance with a memorandum from President Biden to the secretary of HUD instructing the agency to redress the nation’s long history of discriminatory housing practices and policies and reaffirming the administration’s commitment to end housing discrimination. The memo also orders the HUD Secretary to take the necessary steps to implement the Fair Housing Act’s AFFH requirement (see Memo, 02/01).
HUD staff has assured NLIHC and other fair housing advocacy organizations that more information on the interim final rule is forthcoming. NLIHC will inform members and partners when more details and contents of the rule are posted.
The new AFFH Rule will have more information posted to OIRA once reviewed and published at: https://bit.ly/2RuVtdW
More information about AFFH is on pages 7-14 and 7-17 of NLIHC’s 2021 Advocates’ Guide.