A coalition of 18 attorneys general led by California sent a comment (PDF) letter to the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), opposing its interim final rule that walks back HUD’s duty to affirmatively further fair housing (AFFH). Under the Fair Housing Act (FHA), HUD is statutorily required to administer programs that prevent discrimination in home sales or rentals and affirmatively further fair housing (otherwise known as the AFFH Mandate), which includes combatting the persistence of segregation in housing and its harmful effects. In 2021, HUD issued a rule requiring that all grantees certify their AFFH compliance prior to receiving any federal funding. HUD’s new interim final rule walks back this requirement, replaces robust rules with a weak AFFH certification process, and seeks to dismantle HUD’s prior AFFH rulemaking efforts. In their letter, the attorneys general argue that the new interim final rule violates the charge of the FHA and the AFFH Mandate, as it does not require grantees to meaningfully evaluate whether their actions will reduce segregation and promote integration, nor does it require any specific fair housing planning processes. Instead, it undermines efforts to promote fair housing and ignores HUD’s statutory requirement to affirmatively further fair housing. According to the attorneys general, the proposed rule lacks any factual basis for its drastic policy change and practically depletes HUD’s oversight to identify and address barriers to fair housing.