A proposal to rescind fair housing regulations is being vigorously opposed by a national senior living industry advocacy organization that says it pits housing providers against housing recipients.

In a July 3 letter to Scott Knittle, principal deputy general counsel for the US Department of Housing and Urban Development, LeadingAge Senior Director of Housing Operations and Policy Juliana Bilowich expressed the group’s strong opposition to the agency’s proposal to rescind regulations that promote equitable housing access through affirmative fair housing.

The agency’s affirmative fair housing marketing, or AFHM, regulations set the rules that housing providers follow to ensure equitable access to information on housing opportunities, especially for racial and ethnic groups, she said. 

“The goal of the AFHM requirements is to make sure that federally supported housing opportunities are marketed equitably across racial and ethnic groups, rather than further entrenching decades of systemic housing discrimination,” according to LeadingAge. 

Bilowich wrote that LeadingAge rejects the agency’s race neutrality reasoning for rescinding the AFHM regulations. Race neutrality, she said, “overlooks decades of intentional, systemic discrimination that in turn requires intentional, systemic action to overcome.”

Rather than favoring some racial groups over others, LeadingAge said, the regulations actually require diligent outreach to all groups, taking measures to level the playing field. 

LeadingAge agreed with HUD’s characterization of the AFHM as “burdensome” but said that the burden comes because “HUD has not been a reliable partner in the joint effort to ensure fair housing access.” And HUD’s proposed rule for outreach neither increases housing provider budgets nor the agency’s bandwidth to take on any outreach responsibilities, the organization pointed out.

Instead, LeadingAge called on HUD to improve its capacity in its fair housing operations to streamline its approach to affirmative fair housing procedures.

LeadingAge also took issue with the agency’s statement that its commitment to reducing the burden on private industry outweighs the potential downsides of eliminating AFHM requirements.

“LeadingAge strongly rejects the divisive mentality that pits housing providers against housing recipients,” the letter stated, adding that affordable senior housing communities work with HUD to advance housing programs and solutions. “Therefore, we reject the false narrative that we, as a country dedicated to systems-level solutions for fair and affordable housing, have to choose between housing that is fairly accessible and housing that is effectively administered.”

HUD proposed rescinding the regulation in June under an expedited timeframe, according to the association, cutting in half the time to collect responses from affected parties. 

LeadingAge said that it expects HUD to move forward with the proposal despite opposition from numerous housing stakeholders, adding that it will work with its members to continue upholding fair housing access.