HUD published a final rule on its implementation of the Fair Housing Act’s disparate impact standard. The final rule includes changes to the 2019 proposed rule, such as an interpretation of the Fair Housing Act when in conflict with state laws regulating insurance, clarification of vicarious liability, provision and clarification of examples of acts that constitute discriminatory practices under disparate impact, and the implementation of a burden-shifting framework that more closely aligns with the Supreme Court’s decision in Texas Department of Housing and Community Affairs v. Inclusive Communities Project Inc. HUD received more than 45,000 comments on the proposed rule. The final rule will become effective October 24.
HUD’s office of Policy Development and Research issued a notice designating Difficult Development Areas (DDAs) and Qualified Census Tracts (QCTs) for 2021 LIHTC properties. DDAs are areas with high land, construction and utility costs relative to the area median income and are based on Fair Market Rents, income limits, the 2010 census counts, and five-year American Community Survey (ACS) data. QCTs are areas where either 50 percent or more of the households in the tract have an income, which is less than 60 percent of the AMI or the tract’s poverty rate is at least 25 percent.
