Published: March 2018

Advocates alarmed as HUD considers dropping key mission

The Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), responsible for stopping housing discrimination, proposed new language in its mission statement that seemed to encourage consumer “self-sufficiency” over strict enforcement. The move alarmed civil rights, consumer, and fair housing advocates, who worry that the government agency expressly responsible for combating housing discrimination would deemphasize the importance of its mandate under the Fair Housing Act of 1968. The groups joined in a March 8 letter to HUD Secretary Ben Carson asking him to correct this “unfortunate impression.” (It’s been reported that Carson subsequently responded in a HUD memo, saying: “The notion that any new mission statement would reflect a lack of commitment to fair housing is nonsense.”)

In a letter to the Department of Housing and Urban Development’s (HUD) Secretary, Consumer Action joined coalition members in reminding Ben Carson of HUD’s important mission of eradicating housing discrimination and promoting healthy, safe, and inclusive neighborhoods. HUD is the main federal agency tasked with promoting anti-discrimination and fairness in housing and is authorized to investigate claims of housing discrimination under the Fair Housing Act of 1968. Because of this, much of HUD’s work revolves around assisting marginalized groups, including low- to moderate-income individuals and minorities.

Lead Organization

National Fair Housing Alliance (NFHA)

Other Organizations

Action Center on Race and the Economy | African American Ministers in Action | Allied Progress | America Walks | American Association of People with Disabilities | American Association on Health and Disability | American Atheists | American Civil Liberties Union | American Physical Therapy Association | American Psychological Association | Americans for Financial Reform | Annie E. Casey Foundation | Asian American Legal Defense and Education Fund (AALDEF) | Asian Real Estate Association of America | Association of Programs for Rural Independent Living | Athlete Ally | Avery Sawyer | Bazelon Center for Mental Health Law | Bernard Kleina Photography | Cambridge Credit Counseling | CarsonWatch | Catholic Charities USA | Center for American Progress | Center for Community Change | Center for Global Policy Solutions | Center for Public Representation | Center for Responsible Lending | CenterLink: The Community of LGBT Centers | Civil Rights Education and Enforcement Center | Coalition for Juvenile Justice | Coan & Lyons | Congregation of Our Lady of Charity of the Good Shepherd | Conrad N. Hilton Foundation | Consumer Action | Consumer Federation of America | Council of State Community Development Agencies | Covenant House International | Debthelper.com | Disability Rights Education & Defense Fund | Equal Rights Center | Evangelical Lutheran Church in America | Family Equality Council | Ford Foundation | FORGE, Inc. | Forum for Youth Investment | Friends Committee on National Legislation | Funders Together to End Homelessness | Gary E. Hanes & Associates, LLC | GLMA: Health Professionals Advancing LGBT Equality | Grand Orchards Advisors, LLC | Grounded Solutions Network | Habitat for Humanity International | Habitat for Humanity Metro Maryland, Inc | Health Justice Innovations, LLC | Heartland Alliance | Hispanic Federation | HomeFree-USA | Housing Assistance Council | Housing Partnership Network | Human Rights Campaign | Instavital | International Association of Official Human Rights Agencies | Justice in Aging | Klein Hornig LLP | Lakeshore Foundation | Lambda Legal | Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights Under Law | LeadingAge | Local Initiatives Support Corporation | Low Income Investment Fund | Melville Charitable Trust | Men Who Care | Michael Berman Consulting LLC | Mile High Fitness and Wellness | Minnesota Housing Partnership | NAACP | NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund, Inc. | National Action Network | National ADAPT | National Advocacy Center of the Sisters of the Good Shepherd | National Affordable Housing Trust | National Association for County Community and Economic Development | National Association for Latino Community Asset Builders | National Association of Councils on Developmental Disabilities | National Association of Local Housing Finance Agencies | National Association of State Head Injury Administrators | National Bar Association | National Black Justice Coalition | National Center for Law and Economic Justice | National Center for Lesbian Rights | National Center for Transgender Equality | National Church Residences | National Coalition for Asian Pacific American Community Development | National Coalition for the Homeless | National Community Development Association | National Community Reinvestment Coalition | National Community Stabilization Trust | National Consumer Law Center (on behalf of its low-income clients) | National Council of Asian Pacific Americans (NCAPA) | National Council of Jewish Women | National Council on Independent Living | National Development Council | National Disability Institute National Disability Rights Network | National Equality Action Team (NEAT) | National Fair Housing Alliance | National Foundation for Debt Management | National Health Law Program | National Housing Conference | National Housing Law Project | National Housing Resource Center National Housing Trust | National Law Center on Homelessness & Poverty | National LGBTQ Task Force | National Low Income Housing Coalition | National Network for Youth | Open Society Foundations | Paralyzed Veterans of America | Parent to Parent USA | People For the American Way | People's Action | Planning/Communications | PolicyLink | Poligon Education Fund | Poverty & Race Research Action Council | Prevention Institute | Prosperity Now | Transgender Law Center | UnidosUS (formerly NCLR) | Union for Reform Judaism | Witness to Mass Incarceration | Woodstock Institute

More Information

For more information, please visit NFHA.

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Advocates alarmed as HUD considers dropping key mission   (HUDMissionStatementChange.compressed.pdf)