HUD Withdraws Wide-Ranging Fair Housing Policies

Recommend

The areas of fair housing that will be impacted include Limited English Proficiency (LEP), service animals and assistance animals, LGBTQ+ protections, tenant screening using criminal records, source of income testing, and unit marketing and advertising, and more.

The Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), via its Office of Fair Housing and Equal Opportunity (FHEO), announced its withdrawal of certain fair housing guidance that the agency determined should no longer be in effect. The Notice cites direction from Executive Orders 14192 and 14219, both of which focus on deregulation.

HUD's September 17, 2025 memo withdraws several guidance documents ranging in dates from 2007-2024. The areas of fair housing that will be impacted include Limited English Proficiency (LEP), service animals and assistance animals, LGBTQ+ protections, tenant screening using criminal records, source of income testing, unit marketing and advertising, and more. The memo states that the list of withdrawals is not necessarily final.

In the Notice, HUD states that the following guidance documents have been removed from the agency's website and should not be utilized moving forward. In addition, handbooks and training materials referencing these guidance documents are
being revised:

• Final Guidance to Federal Financial Assistance Recipients Regarding Title VI Prohibition Against National Origin Discrimination Affecting Limited English Proficient Persons (January 22, 2007)
• FHEO Notice 2013-01: Service Animals and Assistance Animals for People with Disabilities in Housing and HUD-funded Programs (April 25, 2013)
• FHEO 2020-01: Assessing a Person's Request to Have an Animal as a Reasonable Accommodation Under the Fair Housing Act (January 28, 2020)
• Implementation of Executive Order 13988 on the Enforcement of the Fair Housing Act: Preventing and Combatting Discrimination on the Basis of Gender Identity or Sexual Orientation (February 11, 2021)
• FHEO Statement on the Fair Housing Act and Special Purpose
  Credit Programs (December 7, 2021)
• Application of Fair Housing Act Standards to the Use of Criminal Records by Providers of Housing and Real-Estate Related Transactions (June 10, 2022)
• Implementation of OGC Guidance on Application of Fair Housing Act Standards to the Use of Criminal Records (June 20, 2022)
• FHEO Memorandum on Source of Income Testing Activities under the Fair Housing Assistance Program (February 12,
  2024)
• Guidance on Application of the Fair Housing Act to the Advertising of Housing, Credit, and Other Real Estate-Related Transactions through Digital Platforms (April 29, 2024)

LeadingAge is analyzing the impact of the memo on affordable housing communities and residents.