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HUD limits enforcement of fair housing design violations to one year
The updated guidance ties the filing deadline for accessibility claims to the property’s initial certificate of occupancy, replacing a 2013 approach that could extend liability indefinitely.
HousingWire reports that the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) has issued updated guidance for enforcing Fair Housing Act design and construction violations, setting a strict one-year statute of limitations.
HUD said the new policy rescinds parts of a 2013 joint HUD and Department of Justice guidance that treated certain accessibility violations as continuing until fixed, which it said had the effect of exposing builders and subsequent owners to effectively indefinite liability.
Under the memorandum, HUD directs staff to treat accessibility-design and construction violations as “discrete” violations. Housing accessibility design and construction for covered multifamily dwellings is now characterized as a discriminatory housing practice that occurs during the design and construction phase, ending when construction is completed and reflected by the building’s initial certificate of occupancy.
An administrative complaint alleging violations of the Fair Housing Act accessibility provision for covered multifamily dwellings must be filed within one year of the certificate of occupancy issuance, and HUD said its revised position is grounded in recent Supreme Court and appellate decisions focused on statutory text and narrower agency deference.