ORGANIZATIONAL SIGN-ON LETTER
Deadline: 4:00 pm CT on Friday, February 13, 2026
Oppose HUD’s Proposed Elimination of Crucial Fair Housing Regulations
HUD has proposed eliminating the agency’s 2013 “Fair Housing Act” (FHA) disparate impact regulations via a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) published January 14 (see Memo, 1/20/26). This proposal continues the current administration’s efforts to eliminate the use of disparate impact theory across the federal government.
Housing Action Illinois invites Illinois organizations that oppose the elimination of HUD’s disparate impact regulations to sign this letter, which urges HUD to fully enforce the Fair Housing Act, including through use of disparate impact:
Read the letter »
The final deadline to sign the letter is 4:00 pm CT on Friday, February 13, 2026.
Complete the from below and click on the submit button to sign the letter.
Comments or questions? Contact bob@housingactionil.org.
Brief Background
The federal Fair Housing Act (FHA) prohibits housing discrimination based on certain protected characteristics like race, color, national origin, sex, disability, familial status, and religion. There are different types of discrimination, including intentional discrimination (e.g., a landlord stating that they won’t rent to a family because the household includes young children) and discrimination that has a disparate impact based on a protected characteristic (e.g., a local ordinance has an unjustified disproportionate effect on Black residents but does not explicitly mention race).
While intentional discrimination is often easier to uncover, disparate impact helps identify discriminatory policies and practices that are facially neutral. Because discriminatory housing policies and practices are not always overt, disparate impact is an important tool to enforce fair housing protections.
The U.S. Supreme Court decided in 2015 that the FHA allows for disparate impact claims. HUD rescinding the current disparate impact regulations cannot change the underlying law. However, HUD’s existing regulations promote a consistent understanding of how to analyze disparate impact claims and are worth keeping.
