February 12, 2013
The FHA and HUD have a new yardstick to measure housing discrimination and take appropriate action where needed, according to a recent press release issued by the Department of Housing and Urban Development.
According to the press release HUDNo.13-022, HUD is “issuing a final rule to formalize the national standard for determining whether a housing practice violates the Fair Housing Act as the result of discriminatory effect.”
“Through the issuance of this Rule,HUD is reaffirming its commitment to enforcing the Fair Housing Act in a consistent and uniform manner,” said HUD Secretary Shaun Donovan. “This will ensure the continued strength of one of the most important tools for exposing and ending housing discrimination.”
As the press release states, HUD is “statutorily charged with the authority and responsibility for interpreting and enforcing the Fair Housing Act and has long interpreted the Act to prohibit housing practices with an unjustified discriminatory effect, if those acts actually or predictably result in a disparate impact on a group of persons, or create, increase, reinforce, or perpetuate segregated housing patterns because of race, color, religion, sex, handicap, familial status, or national origin.”
“HUD is maintaining well-established legal precedent and formalizing a nationally consistent, uniform burden-shifting test for determining whether a given housing practice has an unjustified discriminatory effect,” said John Trasviña, HUD’s Assistant Secretary for Fair Housing and Equal Opportunity.
These laws (including the new final rule) apply for a wide variety of housing-related issues including FHA loans, conventional mortgage loan practices, rental policies and much more. Borrowers who experience discrimination at any stage of the process while applying for an FHA guaranteed home loan are urged to report the illegal behavior to the FHA and HUD as quickly as possible.
The final rule discussed in the press release, “provides clarity and consistency for individuals, businesses, and government entities subject to the Fair Housing Act. HUD anticipates the rule also will make it easier for individuals and organizations covered by the law to understand their responsibilities and comply with the law.” A link to the new final rule, can be read as a downloadable PDF file from the FHA/HUD official site.
Do you have questions about FHA home loans? Ask us in the comments section.
Joe Wallace has been specializing in military and personal finance topics since 1995. His work has appeared on Air Force Television News, The Pentagon Channel, ABC and a variety of print and online publications. He is a 13-year Air Force veteran and a member of the Air Force Public Affairs Alumni Association. He was Managing editor for www.valoans.com for (8) years and is currently the Associate Editor for FHANewsblog.com.
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