On July 3, the attorney general of California announced his intent to lead a coalition of 21 attorneys general in sending a letter to HUD opposing a proposed rule that would roll back decades-old fair housing regulations which were created to advance affirmative fair housing marketing policies for HUD-subsidized housing.

The letter, joined by attorneys general from New York, Maryland, Arizona, Colorado, Connecticut, and the District of Columbia, among others, responded to HUD’s notice of rescission of the Affirmative Fair Housing Marketing (AFHM) regulations. The AFHM regulations would require, among other things, owners of federally assisted housing to target advertising and outreach to communities that might not otherwise learn about available housing opportunities, reflecting an “affirmative obligation[] on HUD to take meaningful action to address the legacy of government-sanctioned segregation and to expand access to integrated housing.”

The attorneys general argued that repealing these longstanding regulations contradicts the Fair Housing Act’s mandate to affirmatively further fair housing through non-discriminatory marketing practices, and without providing a replacement rule, any plan for enforcement, or justifications for reversing 50 years of federal housing precedent.

As previously covered by InfoBytes, similarly but earlier this year, a coalition of nineteen attorneys general submitted a letter to HUD opposing its interim final rule which would revise HUD’s statutory mandate to “affirmatively further fair housing” which that coalition argued would require HUD to take proactive steps to dismantle segregation and promote integration in housing policy.