It?s HUD?s latest attempt to delay Obama-era anti-segregation measures A collection of civil rights groups amended a lawsuit against the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) on Wednesday to include the agency?s latest attempt to derail an Obama-era anti-segregation measure, a sign that neither side in the dispute plans to back down.
The timeline for the latest move began in January when HUD announced its intention to delay the Affirmatively Furthering Fair Housing (AFFH) rule, which was meant to give teeth to a provision in the Fair Housing Act of 1968 that went largely ignored for 40 years. The rule mandated that jurisdictions identify obstacles to fair housing and submit plans to overcome them, or risk losing HUD funding.
Civil groups sued HUD for the delay on May 8, claiming the move violated the Administrative Procedure Act (APA). Foreseeing a court defeat, HUD announced it was withdrawing the delay on May 18, but also announced it was removing online access to a tool local jurisdictions need to comply with the AFFH rule. The amended lawsuit filed Wednesday revises the plaintiff?s language to take into account that HUD has withdrawn the delay and instead removed the online tool, a means to the same end?delay of the rule. The suit claims the move is still in violation of the APA.
?It?s the same result; it?s just a different means of circumventing the rule,? said Lisa Rice, president and CEO of the National Fair Housing Alliance, a plaintiff in the cas...