A revised U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development rule makes it more difficult to submit claims of housing discrimination when a landlord's decisions is influenced by a third-party tenant screening service.
The Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) changed rules regulating housing discrimination complaints to immunize landlords from discrimination charges, "if they use 'profit' as a reason for their decision-making, or if they use third-party systems to choose tenants," reports Lauren Kirchner. Among landlords, 90% use similar screening services to assess prospective tenants, according to The Markup and a New York Times investigative report.
The Trump administration's new HUD rule effectively dropping discrimination charges related to decision-making influenced by third-party screening services stirred dissent in fair housing proponents. "Even mortgage lenders and realtors eventually distanced themselves from HUD’s proposal—some of them invoking this summer’s seeds of a national reckoning over systematic racism in America," Kirchner says.
While HUD is loosening the rules for the use of algorithm-based screening systems, a groundbreaking Connecticut federal district court trial will decide whether CoreLogic, an algorithmic tenant screening services behind “CrimSAFE," is guilty of housing discrimination in violation of the federal Fair Housing Act. The case is likely the first lawsuit to target a screening company, rather than a landlord, for housing discrimination.
The algorithms behind CrimSAFE, "screens out Black and Latino applicants by relying on criminal records, and that it doesn’t give applicants the chance to explain their mitigating circumstances through more detailed, individualized assessments," explains Kirchner.
FULL STORY: Can Algorithms Violate Fair Housing Laws?
Coming Soon to Ohio: The Largest Agrivoltaic Farm in the US
The ambitious 6,000-acre project will combine an 800-watt solar farm with crop and livestock production.
Pennsylvania Mall Conversion Bill Passes House
If passed, the bill would promote the adaptive reuse of defunct commercial buildings.
U.S. Supreme Court: California's Impact Fees May Violate Takings Clause
A California property owner took El Dorado County to state court after paying a traffic impact fee he felt was exorbitant. He lost in trial court, appellate court, and the California Supreme Court denied review. Then the U.S. Supreme Court acted.
Colorado Bill Would Tie Transportation Funding to TOD
The proposed law would require cities to meet certain housing targets near transit or risk losing access to a key state highway fund.
Dallas Surburb Bans New Airbnbs
Plano’s city council banned all new permits for short-term rentals as concerns about their impacts on housing costs grow.
Divvy Introduces E-Bike Charging Docks
New, circular docks let e-bikes charge at stations, eliminating the need for frequent battery swaps.
City of Costa Mesa
Licking County
Barrett Planning Group LLC
HUD's Office of Policy Development and Research
Mpact Transit + Community
HUD's Office of Policy Development and Research
Tufts University, Department of Urban and Environmental Policy & Planning
City of Universal City TX
ULI Northwest Arkansas
Urban Design for Planners 1: Software Tools
This six-course series explores essential urban design concepts using open source software and equips planners with the tools they need to participate fully in the urban design process.
Planning for Universal Design
Learn the tools for implementing Universal Design in planning regulations.