HUD Proposes to Eliminate Agency’s Title VI Disparate Impact Regulations; Comments Due Friday, October 9

By Renee Williams, NLIHC Senior Advisor for Public Policy

On August 10, HUD proposed to eliminate the agency’s longstanding disparate impact regulations that implement Title VI of the “Civil Rights Act of 1964.” Title VI prohibits discrimination on the basis of race, color, and national origin by recipients of federal financial assistance, including federally assisted housing providers. NLIHC strongly opposes this change, given the importance of Title VI in ensuring that people have equal access to federal programs and activities.  

The 60-day public comment period concludes this week, Friday, October 9, 2026, at 11:59 pm ET. 

The National Fair Housing Alliance (NFHA) and the NAACP Legal Defense Fund (LDF) are providing commenting resources: 

• NFHA has drafted a sign-on letter. Additional information can be found here (open to national and local organizations). 
• LDF commenting portal can be found here (for individuals). 

Brief Background 

Disparate impact is a long-utilized legal tool used to address discrimination that may not be immediately obvious due to facially neutral policies. The currently proposed changes represent the latest push to erase civil rights protections from HUD regulations.  

HUD is proposing these changes under a “Supplemental Notice of Proposed Rulemaking.” According to HUD, this supplemental notice “reopens” the prior 2026 comment period regarding the agency’s proposed removal of “Fair Housing Act” disparate impact regulations (see Memo, 1/20). For that earlier 2026 comment period, HUD only afforded 30 days for public comment, despite existing HUD regulations stating a clear 60-day comment period policy for notices of proposed rulemaking. In February 2026, NLIHC submitted comments strongly opposing removal of HUD’s “Fair Housing Act” disparate impact regulations (see Memo, 2/23). 

No further changes are being proposed to the “Fair Housing Act” portions of HUD regulations in the August 10 proposal. Per the proposal, new comments received during the current comment period “will only be considered if they concern changes proposed in this supplemental notice of proposed rulemaking.” This seems to imply that only comments regarding the Title VI regulatory changes would be considered, despite the apparent consolidation with the existing “Fair Housing Act” disparate impact rulemaking. 

Review HUD’s Title VI proposal. 

For more detailed background regarding disparate impact, please refer to the 2026 Advocates’ Guide.