Maryland Attorney General Brian Frosh Announces Support For Housing Discrimination Protections
BALTIMORE (WJZ) -- Maryland Attorney General Brian Frosh announced his support for housing discrimination protections.
Frosh joined a coalition of 23 attorneys urging the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development to reinstate a 2013 rule that protects people from housing discrimination.
"When the previous administration upended the disparate impact rule, it weakened protections against housing discrimination under the Fair Housing Act," said Attorney General Frosh. "We should work toward eliminating discrimination in housing, not erecting new barriers for people of color and the disabled."
The disparate impact rule was originally established in 2013 under the Fair Housing Act. It would protect consumers against housing and lending practices that harm people bases on race, color, religion, sex, disability and familial status.
Officials are looking to re-establish the rule and revoke the 2020 "unlawful" replacement which had serious legal defects, failed to provide specific protections for people who were being discriminated against, and made it more difficult for many valid legal claims to proceed.
The coalition contends that the reinstated rule better aligns with the Fair Housing Act and judicial precedent.
The attorney's general also suggests that they should also consider further strengthening the rule in the future and consider the additional discriminatory effects of the COVID-19 pandemic and economic hardships on people across the country.
