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Fair Housing

What Is Affirmatively Furthering Fair Housing?

Shelterforce has put together a short video to explain what “Affirmatively Furthering Fair Housing,” or AFFH, means, and the history of its enforcement.

A black and white photo of seven people protesting racial discrimination in housing on a street corner, as a 1950s-era Buick drives past. The signs read "Stop racial discrimination now!"; "I support open housing"; "Don't patronize picture floor plans"; and a hand-lettered sign says "There can be no innocent bystanders." Most of the people in the photo are people of color; two are hidden by their signs.
Policy

AFFH’s Bumpy Road to Overcoming Segregation

The Affirmatively Furthering Fair Housing rule was intended to force communities to take action to address housing segregation and discrimination. How has the rule evolved throughout the years, and will a proposed new rule finally put some teeth into the legal concept?

Editor’s Note

AFFH: Third Time’s the Charm?

What’s the Affirmatively Furthering Fair Housing provision? How has it been enforced in the past? And what do fair housing advocates think of the proposed changes? Shelterforce’s new Under the Lens series—New AFFH Rules: What You Need to Know—explores that and more.

Two women in a crowd of protesters hold a big hand-lettered sign that says "Power to the tenants." Other people near and behind them are also holding signs.
Policy

Tenant Advocates Wait for Action After Meeting with White House Officials

Tenants got to talk directly to the Biden administration about the need to rein in soaring rents. Will action follow?

A close-up view of two electronic doorbells on a brick wall. The bricks are painted red and blue in a pattern that the viewer is too close to to see. The doorbells, which are grubby-looking, have paper stickers next to them reading Apartment #1 or Apartment #2.
Policy

Is Everything in Your Lease Legal? Quite Possibly Not

Some leases plainly contradict state law or include questionable, punitive, or egregiously anti-tenant clauses.

Housing

The Racists Next Door: Black Homebuyers Face Discrimination After Purchasing, Too

The danger of unwelcoming neighbors should not be underestimated.

Housing

Going Home: LGBTQ Renters Find Housing on Facebook

Niche groups on Facebook help the LGBTQ community find affordable housing with folks who share their values.

From the Field

Corporate Landlords Profit from Segregation, at Cost of Black Homeownership and Wealth

As more and more affordable homes are gobbled up by corporate landlords, prospective Black homebuyers are seeing opportunities for homeownership dry up.

Opinion

Press ‘Record’ To Catch Fair Housing Violators—If You Can

Fair housing testers often go undercover to expose discriminatory housing practices, but laws prohibiting recording conversations hamper investigations

Policy

Could This Supreme Court Ruling Affect Fair Housing?

Experts on housing law discuss the potential repercussions of a recent Supreme Court decision that struck down the EPA’s authority in limiting greenhouse gas emissions. Could conservative judges apply the same rationale to limit HUD’s authority?

Opinion

Restorative Housing Policy: Can We Heal the Wounds of Redlining and Urban Renewal?

Our fair housing laws enshrine an approach that prohibits us from explicitly referring to race, even in programs intended to undo the harm caused by racism. Now restorative housing policy is attempting to directly confront this history.

Opinion

Making Affordable Housing Easier to Find

We talk a lot about needing more affordable housing—but the affordable units that do exist can be very hard to locate, which hampers fair housing.