Fair Housing for a Non-Sexist City

Equal justice under law: eviction reform and the experience of justice for pro se defendant tenants

“…al, 2019). It was an ambitious goal that did not, however, define fair housing and left much to interpretation at the level of implementation (Kazis, 2021). The FHA requires the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) to administer its programs in a manner that furthers this goal (FHA s.…”

“…Rule contained the necessary provisions to enforce s.3608(e)(5) which places a duty on the Secretary of HUD to administer the programs and activities of HUD in a manner that affirmatively furthers fair housing, but enforcement was virtually non-existent due to lack of White House enthusiasm and the wide discretion courts give to HUD in administrative matters (Collins, 2010;Hannah-Jones, 2015). This is what made the Obama era rule transformational: despite there being no explicit federal definition of "fair housing" contained withing the Act, HUD would require local communities to define it for themselves using data and design local plans to redress inequality and would itself monitor progress on those plans (Kazis, 2021). By contrast, Kazis argues that despite the promise of the Obama era Rule, in practice it, too, was far too accommodating and did nothing to advance our understanding of what is or is not a fair housing practice in any substantive way, thus rendering the Rule ineffective (2021).…”