AI software used to select tenants or target housing advertisements has the potential to introduce discrimination and bias.
The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) is warning that AI-powered software used to select tenants for rental housing and target housing advertisements can “introduce bias and potential discrimination into these activities.”
To address these issues, HUD released two guidance documents outlining how the Fair Housing Act impacts AI applications. As Alexandra Kelley explains in Route Fifty, “The tenant screening guidance released by HUD explains that housing providers cannot discriminate against applicants based on race, color, religion, sex or gender identity, national origin, disability or familial status — and that providers will be held accountable for discriminatory actions leveraged internally or by third party algorithms.”
HUD rules also bar advertisers from discriminating based on protected characteristics. “Discriminatory advertising practices include denying customers housing opportunities, targeting vulnerable populations for predatory products, deterring certain populations from opportunities or steering consumers to particular areas based on protected characteristics.”
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