AFFH Background
Affirmatively Furthering Fair Housing (AFFH) is a legal requirement that federal agencies and federal grantees actively address and work to eliminate housing discrimination and segregation. This obligation to affirmatively further fair housing has been in the Fair Housing Act since 1968, but prior to the 2015 AFFH regulation, there was no effective accountability system for HUD grantees. The 2015 rule remedied this gap by instituting a community-centered process to analyze patterns and causes of segregation as well as neighborhood disparities, and to set actionable goals to promote greater integration and equity. The 2015 AFFH regulation was suspended by the Trump administration in 2017, and the Trump administration issued a problematic new rule in July 2020, which has now been rescinded by the Biden administration. HUD restored the original AFFH definition in 2021 and released a new proposed rule in February 2023.
Restoration of the AFFH Rule – Selected Comments
- PRRAC’s comments on AFFH NPRM (April 2023)
- National fair housing groups sign-on letter
- Proposed Affirmatively Furthering Fair Housing Rule (February 2023)
- Comments on AFFH data resources from civil rights groups and researchers (April 2023)
- Comments from the housing-schools working group (April 2023)
- Law Professors Comment Letter with Additional Legal Authority
- AHJ 2023 AFFH Comment
- Comments on environmental justice from the Title VI Alliance (April 2023)
- National Community Reinvestment Coalition (NCRC) letter re AFFH proposed rule (April 2023)
- NHLP/Housing Justice Network comments on AFFH NPRM
- PolicyLink comments on the proposed AFFH rule
Advocacy documents preceding the 2023 proposed AFFH rule
- Comment Letter: FHEO Principal Deputy Secretary Demetria McCain Re: Proposed AFFH Rule (Fair Housing/Fair Lending Task Force of the Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights, February 2022)
- Comment Letter: To HUD on Implementing Tenant Protections in AFFH (Alliance for Housing Justice, October 2021)
- Comment Letter: Meaningful Collaboration Between Housing and Education Agencies in the Implementation of AFFH (PRRAC et al, September 2021)
- Recommendations for a Renewed AFFH Regulation (LCCUL, NAACP LDF, NFHA, NHLP, NHLIC, & PRRAC, August 2021)
- Comment Letter: Restoring AFFH Definitions and Certifications (Civil Rights Orgs, July 2021)
- Providing For Fair Housing In New Federal Infrastructure Spending (PRRAC et al, June 2021)
- Comment Letter: OMB Equity RFI (PRRAC, July 2021)
Advocacy documents, regulatory comments, and litigation challenging Trump Administration AFFH actions (2017-2020)
- Press Release: Leading Civil Rights & Housing Groups Condemn President’s Effort to Gut Fair Housing, Use of Incendiary Racial Rhetoric for Political Gain
- HUD Press Release: Secretary Carson Terminates 2015 AFFH Rule (July 2020)
- HUD Revokes Obama-Era Rule Designed to Diversify the Suburbs (New York Times, July 2020)
- The AFFH Rule: Why the New Proposal is Dangerous (Alliance for Housing Justice, March 2020)
- Comment Letter: AFFH Rule (PRRAC, March 2020)
- Press Release: Thousands Submit Comments to HUD Opposing Its Attack on Fair Housing (NFHA, PRRAC, et al March 2020)
- PRESS RELEASE: PRRAC Denounces HUD’s Effort to Ignore Its Civil Rights Obligation Under the Law(January 2020)
- Text of 2020 AFFH Rule (January 2020)
- Comment Letter: ANPR on 2018 AFFH Rule (PRRAC et al, October 2018)
- Comment Letter: ANPR on 2018 AFFH Rule (NFHA, October 2018)
- Comment Letter: ANPR on 2018 AFFH Rule (NHLP, October 2018)
- Comment Letter: ANPR on 2018 AFFH Rule (NLIHC, October 2018)
- Comment Letter: ANPR on 2018 AFFH Rule (NYU Furman Center, October 2018)
- AFFH ANPR Talking Points (PRRAC, October 2018)
- Civil Rights and Housing Organizations Comments on Reconsideration of Assessment of Fair Housing Tool (PRRAC et al, July 2018)
- National Fair Housing Alliance et al v. Carson (2018)
- Comment Letter: Regulatory Reform (PRRAC et al, June 2017)
Pre-2017 AFFH Regulation Recommendations & Advocacy
Cross-Issue Advocacy & Publications
- Comment Letter: Meaningful Collaboration Between Housing and Education Agencies in the Implementation of AFFH (PRRAC et al, September 2021)
- Reviving and Improving HUD’s Affirmatively Furthering Fair Housing Regulation: A Practice-Based Roadmap (Megan Haberle, Peter Kye, and Brian Knudsen, December 2020)
- Connecting School and Housing Segregation in the AI: Examples
- Coordinated Action on School and Housing Integration: The Role of State Government (Megan Haberle & Philip Tegeler, March 2019)
- Earlier letters to the EPA regarding AFFH can be found on our Pre-2017 AFFH Regulation & Advocacy Page.
How to Conduct an Assessment of Fair Housing (AFH): Resources
- AFFH Data and Tools for Fair Housing Planning Catalogue (hosted by Urban Institute, July 2020)
- Analysis of Impediments (AI) Guide (PRRAC, January 2019)
- AI Sample Hearing PowerPoint (PRRAC, January 2019)
- Lessons for AFFH Community Participation Process (PRRAC, January 2019)
- HUD user guide to AFFH Data and Mapping Tool (2016)
- Tips for Addressing “Quality of Affordable Housing Information” in Your Contributing Factors Analysis (PRRAC, December 2016)
- Tips for Addressing “Impediments to Mobility” in your Contributing Factors Analysis (PRRAC, November 2016)
- Tips for Addressing “Location of Proficient Schools and School Assignment Policies” in Your Contributing Factors Analysis (PRRAC, December 2016)
- HUD AFFH Process for Local & National Groups (PRRAC, November 2016)
- AFFH Community Participation Requirements (PRRAC, November 2016)
- Assessment of Fair Housing (AFH) Overview (PRRAC, November 2016)
- Using Data to Assess Fair Housing and Improve Access to Opportunity: A Guidebook for Community Organizations (Urban Institute, August 2017)
Sample AFHs
Pre-2017 AFFH Regulation Recommendations & Advocacy
AFFH Report Cards
The obligation to Affirmatively Further Fair Housing applies directly throughout HUD programs, as well as to HUD’s oversight of its grantees via the AFFH Regulation. Assessments of HUD’s performance in affirmatively furthering fair housing in its programs and enforcement efforts:
- Affirmatively Furthering Fair Housing at HUD: A First Term Report Card (Part I: HUD Housing Programs)(PRRAC, January 2013)
- Affirmatively Furthering Fair Housing at HUD: A First Term Report Card (Part II: HUD Enforcement of the Affirmatively Furthering Fair Housing Requirement) (Lawyers’ Committee, NFHA, and PRRAC, March 2013)
Select AFFH News, Announcements / Coalition Partner Clips 2015 – 2021
- Memorandum on Redressing Our Nation’s and the Federal Government’s History of Discriminatory Housing Practices and Policies (January 2021)
- Civil Rights Groups Strongly Oppose HUD’s New “Fair Housing” Rule and Call on the Agency to Reinstate the 2015 AFFH Regulation (NLIHC et al, September 2020)
- House Hearings Tackle Regulatory Threats to Children and Families (First Focus on Children, January 2020)
- Brown to Sec. Carson: Stop Pretending Housing Segregation and Discrimination Don’t Exist (U.S. Senate Committee on Banking Housing and Urban Affairs, January 2020)
- Editorial: Ben Carson’s Disturbing Retreat on Fair Housing (Washington Post, January 2020)
- Op-Ed: How Ben Carson’s New Housing Rule Would Deepen Racial Segregation (Washington Post, January 2020)
- Op-Ed: HUD Should Scrap its New Fair Housing Plan (American Banker, January 2020)
- HUD Secretary Asks America to Accept Housing Segregation (Shelterforce, January 2020)
- This City Wants to Reverse Segregation by Reviving Neighborhoods (Stateline-Pew Trusts, October 2018)
- Ben Carson’s Drive to Further Segregate Housing Gets A Boost in Court (Stateline-Pew Trusts, October 2018)
- HUD looks for public comments on possible fair housing rule changes (Boston Agent Magazine, August 2018)
- HUD Seeks to Ease Fair Housing Rule’s Burden on Local Governments (American Banker, August 2018)
- Civil Rights Groups Sue Ben Carson, HUD for Suspending Anti-Discrimination Fair Housing Rule (Colorlines, May 2018)
- Trump Administration Sued After it Changes Rules About Housing Segregation (Think Progress, May 2018)
- As Fair Housing Act Turns 50, Landmark Law Faces Uncertain Future (Governing Magazine, April 2018)
- As Ben Carson Signals Fair Housing Rollback, Advocates Call on Mayor Kenney to Put Forward a ‘Bigger and Bolder Vision’ (PlanPhilly, January 2018)
- The Trump Administration Just Derailed a Key Obama Rule on Housing Segregation (CityLab, January 2018)
- Under Lingering Obama Initiative, NYC to Evaluate Fair Housing (City Limits, January 2018)
- America Healing Organizations Press Release on HUD’s AFFH Rule (July 2015)
- Living Apart: How the Government Betrayed a Landmark Civil Rights Law (Pro Publica, June 2015)
