Access to safe and affordable housing is crucial to good health, education, nutrition, and stable employment. The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) proposed a rule that would undermine a critical tool for fighting housing discrimination—disparate impact. Disparate impact is used to challenge policies that seem neutral on their face but have a disproportionate impact on classes of people protected under the Fair Housing Act, including women, people of color, immigrants, and people with disabilities.

NWLC submitted a comment to HUD opposing this proposed rule. NWLC’s comment described how the proposed rule is a radical departure from the legal framework used in disparate impact cases and would jeopardize access to fair housing opportunities for women, female-headed households, LGBTQ people, mothers with children, women of color, immigrant women, and women and girls with disabilities.