Label
Affirmatively Furthering Fair Housing
Office of the Mayor
Katy Crosby (x1007)
Title
Resolution to protect the mandate to Affirmatively Further the goals of the Fair Housing Act; and declaring an emergency.
Summary
WHEREAS, the passage of the Fair Housing Act (FHA) was a landmark civil rights law intended to end discriminatory housing practices, one that Toledo strongly supports; and
WHEREAS, in addition to prohibiting discrimination, the FHA creates a nonnegotiable statutory duty to promote fair housing for the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD). Pursuant to this mandate, HUD must promote both housing choice and integration. This obligation is referred to as "Affirmatively Furthering Fair Housing" (AFFH); and
WHEREAS, HUD's current regulations reflect this dual obligation to both promote housing choice and pursue integration. Under 24 C.F.R. ? 5.152, AFFH means "taking meaningful actions, in addition to combating discrimination, that overcome patterns of segregation and foster inclusive communities free from barriers that restrict access to opportunity based on protected characteristics" and "replacing segregated living patterns with truly integrated and balanced living patterns"; and
WHEREAS, HUD recently proposed, on January 7, 2020, to change its regulations regarding AFFH to remove references to integration and segregation and instead focus exclusively on housing choice; and
WHEREAS, HUD's proposed regulations apparently remove consideration of where housing is available, to instead focus on activities that generally benefit developers and landlords, and that do not relate to housing integration and desegregation; and
WHEREAS, the proposal to remove obligations regarding integration and desegregation will negatively impact cities like Toledo, Ohio, that would otherwise benefit from initiatives to integrate and desegregate based on the Fair Housing Act's Affirmatively Furthering mand...
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