Update 10/18: EFF has submitted its comments to HUD, which you can read here.

The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) recently released a proposed rule that will have grave consequences for the enforcement of fair housing laws. Under the Fair Housing Act, individuals can bring claims on the basis of a protected characteristic (like race, sex, or disability status) when there is a facially-neutral policy or practice that results in unjustified discriminatory effect, or disparate impact. The proposed rule makes it much harder to bring a disparate impact claim under the Fair Housing Act. Moreover, HUD’s rule creates three affirmative defenses for housing providers, banks, and insurance companies that use algorithmic models to make housing decisions. As we’ve previously explained, these algorithmic defenses demonstrate that HUD doesn’t understand how machine learning actually works.



This proposed rule could significantly impact housing decisions and make discrimination more prevalent. We encourage you to submit comments to speak out against HUD's proposed rule. Here's how to do it in three easy steps:

Go to the government’s comments site and click on “Comment Now.” Start with the draft language below regarding EFF’s concerns with HUD’s proposed rule. We encourage you to tailor the comments to reflect your specific concerns. Adapting the language increases the chances that HUD will count your comment as a “unique” submission, which is important because HUD is required to read and respond to unique comments.

Hit “Submit Comment” and feel good about doing your part to protect the civil rights of vulnerable communities and to educate the government about how technology actually works!

Comments are due by Friday, October 18, 2019 at 11:59 PM ET.