Association for Public Policy Analysis & Management

Super Session: The Future of Fair Housing

(Housing, Community Development, and Urban Policy)

The year 2018 marks the 50^th anniversary of the passage of the Fair Housing Act.   On the occasion of this important anniversary, this roundtable will explore the future of fair housing in the United States.  The panel will start by discussing how fair housing challenges have changed over this 50-year period.  The panelists will explore the challenges of detecting and combatting new forms of discrimination such as that which occurs on on-line platforms.  They will discuss whether expanded use of credit scores and background checks in tenant selection have a disparate impact on protected classes and will consider emerging issues in lending and access to credit.  The panelists will also consider whether there is a need for new protected classes, such as by source of income (e.g., voucher holders).

In addition to banning multiple forms of discrimination, the Fair Housing Act also charged HUD (and all jurisdictions that receive federal funding) with the duty to affirmatively further integration.   The panel will consider how this challenge has changed over the past half-century.  When the Fair Housing Act was passed, urban areas were igniting in riots and many white households were fleeing to the suburbs.  Today, gentrification is viewed as a larger threat in many cities.  The panelists will debate the significance of gentrification and its implications for efforts to affirmatively further integration. 

The panelists will include a diverse set of experts who bring different experiences and perspectives, from former and current political appointees at the Department of Housing and Urban Development, to the current president of the Atlanta Federal Reserve Bank, as well as a leading legal expert from a national civil rights advocacy organization.