PRESS STATEMENT: HUD Reaffirms: Facts Aren’t Discrimination Under Fair Housing Law
The Hamilton Lincoln Law Institute commends the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development for its recent “Dear Colleague” letter clarifying that real estate professionals do not violate the Fair Housing Act by sharing information with homebuyers and renters about neighborhood crime rates and school quality.
Homebuyers and renters alike deserve access to relevant information about to which they consider moving, and real estate professionals deserve confidence that sharing basic, objective information does not expose them to unnecessary liability. Previous administrations misusing their regulatory authority to bully real-estate-associated professionals and companies from disclosing this information was a baseless violation of free speech rights, and made the housing market less efficient.
HUD’s Dear Colleague letter is a step toward a freer and fairer housing system for all Americans.
Ted Frank, Director of Litigation and Senior Attorney
(703) 203-3848, ted.frank@hlli.org
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The Hamilton Lincoln Law Institute is litigating a housing case in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit, challenging Virginia’s Fair Housing Law. That law prohibits landlords from declining tenants based on “source of funds,” and effectively forces landlords to participate in what would otherwise be the voluntary Section 8 federal voucher program, thus involuntarily surrendering Fourth Amendment rights to comply with that program’s intrusive inspection and data-access requirements.