The National Women’s Law Center (NWLC), joined by 61 other gender justice, sexual assault survivor, and civil rights organizations, submitted a comment strongly opposing a proposed rule from the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) which would eliminate disparate impact standards under the Fair Housing Act.
HUD’s existing Disparate Impact Rule is a crucial civil rights enforcement tool for eradicating discriminatory barriers to housing for historically marginalized and otherwise vulnerable communities across the country. Disparate impact liability under the Fair Housing Act has been recognized by courts for over 50 years, including by the Supreme Court in a 2015 decision, and HUD first adopted its existing disparate impact standards over a decade ago in 2013. HUD’s Disparate Impact Rule has been especially critical to eradicating barriers to housing for survivors – the majority of whom are women – caused by policies and practices that discriminate against survivors, such as criminal activity nuisance ordinances that threaten housing access based on calls for emergency assistance, “one-strike” or “crime-free” policies that result in the eviction or threat of eviction for survivors based on abuse they experienced in or near their homes, and other harmful and unjustified restrictions on housing access.
We strongly oppose any changes to HUD’s current Disparate Impact Rule. This comment was prepared in coordination with the ACLU Women’s Rights Project.
Read the full comment and see the list of signing organizations here.