Document Type

Article

Publication Date

4-2-2024

Rights

In Copyright

Abstract

Every federal agency perpetuates housing segregation. As if on autopilot, agencies routinely reinforce segregation unless they take intentional steps to counteract it. Building on my prior work on the Fair Housing Act’s statutory duty to “affirmatively further fair housing” (“AFFH”), this Article examines an agency’s obligation to reduce housing segregation in how it regulates, spends, and administers its programs. Addressing a gap in existing fair housing scholarship, this Article considers the overlooked statutory command that all federal agencies “shall cooperate” with the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (“HUD”) to reduce housing segregation. In light of HUD’s newly proposed AFFH regulation, this Article examines what agencies must do to fulfill their statutory duty and what they can learn from HUD’s proposed approach. It also considers what legal mechanisms HUD and private actors may have to incentivize or compel other agencies to act. It concludes by offering a blueprint for how the executive branch can better coordinate AFFH enforcement and how agencies can reduce their segregative footprint.

Publication Title

UIC Law Review

First Page

469

Last Page

505

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