2026-09-27 · Federal · Regulation · Proposed — not yet introduced

What happened. HUD published a supplemental proposed rule on August 10, 2026 that widens its pending plan to remove disparate-impact regulations and reopens public comment until October 9, 2026. The proposal is not final; HUD's 2013 discriminatory-effects rule at 24 CFR 100.500 remains in force.¹

The two proposals

January 2026. HUD proposed to delete 24 CFR part 100, subpart G — the discriminatory-effects rule and its three-step burden-shifting test — “leaving to courts questions related to interpretations of disparate impact liability under the Fair Housing Act.” Comments on that proposal closed February 13.²

August 2026. The supplement proposes also removing provisions of HUD's Title VI rules at 24 CFR 1.4 that “impose disparate-impact liability on recipients of HUD Federal financial assistance.” HUD states that it “agrees with and adopts the rationale” of the Justice Department's December 2025 Title VI rule. The reopened comment period is limited: HUD “will only consider comments on topics related to this supplemental notice.”¹

What a final rule would and would not change

Removing section 100.500 would take away HUD's codified framework for evaluating whether a facially neutral practice unlawfully discriminates by its effects. It would not remove disparate-impact liability under the Fair Housing Act itself, which the Supreme Court recognized in Texas Department of Housing & Community Affairs v. Inclusive Communities Project (2015); the January proposal expressly leaves that question to the courts.²

For community associations, effects-based claims have typically been brought against occupancy limits, rental restrictions, criminal-history screening and similar neutral rules. A final rule would change the standard HUD applies in its own administrative enforcement; courts hearing private suits apply the statute and their own precedent. State fair-housing laws with their own disparate-impact provisions are unaffected. The Title VI piece reaches only recipients of HUD financial assistance, which few associations are.

What to watch next

• The October 9, 2026 comment deadline.
• A combined final rule, and litigation challenging it once issued.

1. HUD, supplemental proposed rule, 91 FR 51416 (Aug. 10, 2026), FR Doc. 2026-16228 ↩
2. HUD, proposed rule, 91 FR 1475 (Jan. 14, 2026), FR Doc. 2026-00590 ↩