Advocacy Update

Forrest WallWritten by Forrest Wall, CAE, Staff Vice President and Industry Relations

Supreme Court May Finally Rule On Disparate Impact
For the third time in three years, the United States Supreme Court has agreed to hear a case challenging the validity of the disparate impact rule. A decision by the Court would have significant impact on apartment owners because the rule has called into question the legality of some common industry practices, such as criminal background screening. By way of background, Title VIII of the Civil Rights Act of 1968, as amended (the Fair Housing Act), prohibits discrimination in the sale, rental, or financing of dwellings and in other housing-related activities on the basis of race, color, religion, sex, disability, familial status, or national origin. The Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), which is charged with enforcement of the Act, has long-interpreted the Act to prohibit practices with an unjustified discriminatory effect – also referred to as a disparate impact – regardless of whether there was an intent to discriminate. Although federal courts have previously ruled on this interpretation, the Act did not include a standard for proving a discriminatory effects violation. The final rule published by HUD, which went into effect on March 17, 2013, formalized its recognition of discriminatory effects liability under the Act along with a three-part burden-shifting test for determining whether a given practice has an unjustified discriminatory effect, thus leading to liability under the Act. Two previous cases accepted by the Court ended in settlement, thus providing no resolution to the matter. This case, Inclusive Communities Project v. Texas Department of Housing, centers on the allocation of Low-Income Housing Tax Credits. Both the National Apartment Association (NAA) and National Association of Home Builders (NAHB) have filed amicus briefs in the case.

Classes Available for EPA Lead RRP Recertification
Did you or someone on your staff obtain the Certified Renovator designation in 2010 as a part of the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) Lead RRP Rule? If so, to maintain your certification the EPA requires you to complete a 4 hour refresher course no more than 5 years from the date of certification. AAM/HBA has a number of classes available in the coming months, and classes include everything you need to keep your certification current and maintain compliance with the rule. The RRP Rule applies to remodeling work disturbing more than six square feet of interior painted surface or more than twenty square feet of exterior painted surface in multifamily and single family structures built prior to 1978. It includes specific work practices to follow, recordkeeping requirements, and certification for those doing the work. Apartment owners performing their own renovations must follow the EPA registration process for their firm, and have a Certified Renovator supervising the project. The other option is to simply contract the work out to firms which are certified. To Register, visit: www.builders.org/events.php

 

This entry was posted in 2015, January. Bookmark the permalink.