Last month, Secretary of the Department of Housing and Urban Development Ben Carson announced the termination of the Affirmatively Furthering Fair Housing (AFFH) regulation, which was issued in 2015. The move is meant to return power to localities in effort to advance fair housing nationwide. Multiple industry professional groups in the housing industry have spoken out against this ruling.

Discriminatory policies and practices have long been a part of the housing and development industries, denying access to homeownership, housing, jobs, and education to families based on race, sex, or other parts of their background. Originally included in the 1968 Fair Housing Act, the AFFH increased accountability by requiring cities and towns that received federal funding to examine local housing patterns for racial bias and design plans to address measurable bias. In an interview with HousingWire, former HUD Secretary Julián Castro noted that the original intent of the AFFH provision was to hold communities accountable for ensuring fair housing opportunities.

In its statement on July 23, HUD claimed the Obama-era rule was “complicated, costly, and ineffective” and ultimately steering funds away from communities that needed them most. In a series of tweets, Secretary Carson described the AFFH rule as a “ruse for social engineering under the guise of desegregation,” which took power away from local governments and turned HUD into a national zoning board. Industry professionals disagree.

The same day as the announced termination, the National Association of Realtors® expressed disappointment over the ruling. NAR President Vince Malta stated that the termination “significantly weakens the federal government’s commitment to the goals of the Fair Housing Act,” and “the NAR maintains that a strong, affirmative fair housing rule is vital to advancing our nation’s progress toward thriving and inclusive communities.” Similar statements condemning the HUD announcement also came from LISC, Enterprise Community Partners, Council on Large Public Housing Authorities, the National Low Income Housing Coalition and 14 other civil rights and housing groups.

In place of AFFH, HUD revealed the Preserving Community and Neighborhood Choice rule, which defines fair housing broadly to mean housing that is affordable, safe, decent, free of unlawful discrimination, and accessible under civil rights laws. It then defines “affirmatively furthering fair housing” to mean any action rationally related to promoting any of the above attributes of fair housing.