Housing Discrimination Under the Fair Housing Act
Housing discrimination is illegal in nearly all housing, including private housing, public housing, and housing that receives federal funding.
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The Fair Housing Act
The Fair Housing Act protects people from discrimination when they are renting or buying a home, getting a mortgage, seeking housing assistance, or engaging in other housing-related activities.
Who Is Protected?
The Fair Housing Act prohibits discrimination in housing because of:
- Race
- Color
- National Origin
- Religion
- Sex
- Familial Status
- Disability
Fair Housing Enforcement
Secretary Scott Turner’s mission is to deliver affordable, accessible housing for the American people. Prior FHEO enforcement undermined this mission by strongarming housing providers, appraisers, and localities to adopt measures beyond the scope of the Fair Housing Act. Prior enforcement actions were driven by FHEO guidance that prioritized “appraisal bias” cases, controlling local land use, and other radical policies like discouraging criminal background checks for prospective tenants and encouraging illegal aliens to file complaints consequently making housing less affordable, less accessible, and less safe for the most vulnerable Americans. This will end under Secretary Turner’s leadership.
HUD is eliminating artificial, arbitrary, and unnecessary barriers to housing by restoring fair housing enforcement to its core statutory mission. New guidance reflects this vision by:
- Prioritizing cases with actual, provable instances of discrimination
- Ending illegal discrimination and ensuring all Americans can exercise fair housing rights
- Rescinding guidance that stifled economic innovation and burdened private enterprise
- Defending due process by reining in regulatory overreach
See FHEO guidance documents below:
Fair Housing Act Enforcement and Prioritization of Resources
This guidance outlines FHEO’s role under the United States Constitution and Fair Housing Act; explains why FHEO must prioritize resources for cases with strong evidence of intentional discrimination; and articulates how future enforcement efforts will proceed.
Notice of Withdrawal of FHEO Guidance Documents
This notice informs the public, including the Department’s stakeholders, of the guidance documents that the Department is withdrawing through an exercise of the Department’s policy-making discretion