Tag: fair housing

Disability Justice and Equity in Housing

Welcome to Shelterforce’s newest Under the Lens series, Not Just Ramps—Disability and Housing Justice. This introductory article lays out why the connection between disability and affordable housing is so strong, and why it’s so important for housers to understand.

Proposed AFFH Rule Doesn’t Address Renters Directly—But It Should

Renters' rights are fair housing rights. Before publishing a final Affirmatively Furthering Fair Housing rule, HUD must specifically address the needs of renters. Here's how.

Three Ways AFFH Has Advanced Housing Justice

Grassroots organizers have used the Affirmatively Furthering Fair Housing rule to strengthen communities in the past. These examples show what we should advocate for in a new AFFH rule. 

Public Housing Must Be a Part of Fair Housing Planning

Because their programs provide the most deeply affordable housing in the country, public housing authorities should be both supported in improving fair housing outcomes and held to account when they fall short.

Why Oregon Created Its Own AFFH Rule

For more than a decade, fair housing advocates in the Beaver State had been looking for ways to connect housing and land use planning to promote the affirmatively furthering fair housing rule. Here’s how Oregon created its own state-level policy, and what’s to come.

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?

Is Everything in Your Lease Legal? Quite Possibly Not

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

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

The danger of unwelcoming neighbors should not be underestimated.

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.

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

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?

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.

Dot’s Home, a Computer Game, Addresses History of Housing Discrimination

A new video game aims to educate players on the various housing barriers facing Black Americans through history. How well does it do that?

Contracting with the Community

To connect with hard-to-reach communities, a Twin Cities agency diverted some of its consulting budget away from national firms and to organizations that already had those relationships.

In Defense of Asian American Neighborhoods

How do you address a history of anti-Asian housing discrimination? Not by destroying Asian American communities.

A Homeownership Program that Takes Health into Account

A 10-city initiative to boost homeownership also aims to align required fair housing and health needs assessments. Can it be done?

‘Opportunity Areas’ Shouldn’t Just Be Places With A Lot of White...

Why do we think moving to white neighborhoods will solve our problems?

Murder, Redlining, and the Fight for Jamaica Plain

Ken Reardon reviews "Redlined: A novel of Boston" by Richard W. Wise, an exciting novel about a community's fight for survival against disinvestment.

HUD Secretary Asks America to Accept Housing Segregation

HUD Secretary Carson's new rule proposal asks our nation to accept legacies of racism and give up on our nation’s half-century obligation to create integrated communities.

Move to the Front of the Line

Community preference policies, which give current residents preference for new affordable housing in their neighborhood, have become increasingly controversial. Supporters say these types of policies are a crucial way to fight displacement, but fair housing advocates argue that the policies are exclusionary. Different cities are balancing these two concerns in different ways.