Budapest Post

Cum Deo pro Patria et Libertate
Budapest, Europe and world news

Banks and landlords want to overturn federal rules on housing algorithms

Banks and landlords want to overturn federal rules on housing algorithms

Landlords and lenders are pushing the Department of Housing and Urban Development to make it easier for businesses to discriminate against possible tenants using automated tools.
Under a new proposal that just finished its public comment period, HUD suggested raising the bar for some legal challenges, making discrimination cases less likely to succeed. Fair housing advocates have cried foul, arguing that the change will open the door for companies to discriminate with algorithms and get away with it.

Like most modern industries, the housing market relies on automation. In deciding whether to rent or sell someone a home, businesses run background checks, calculate insurance costs, examine credit, and generally take account of an applicant’s history. The tools that are used are largely hidden from public view, but they can have a devastating cost: a faulty or biased algorithm won’t just harm a single person, but can shut people out of housing in entire neighborhoods.

To help ensure communities are all treated equally by those tools, the Department of Housing and Urban Development finalized a rule in 2013 known as the disparate impact standard. Under the rule, if a protected group of people is harmed by a policy - even if that policy isn’t directly targeted at that group - then the company or government agency that implemented the policy can be held liable. If a zoning algorithm disproportionately harms people of color, for example, the city might face a lawsuit under the rule.

The standard has proven to be a crucial aid for advocates dealing with algorithmic discrimination. In one recent case out of Connecticut, a fair housing group has used the policy to sue over an automated background check system. Under the new rule, attorneys would have to go jump through new legal hoops to make a disparate impact case. The proposed change has generated tens of thousands of comments, and a review of them shows a clear divide, as fair housing and civil rights advocates square off against private industry.

Housing, mortgage, and insurance companies have said the old rules are too burdensome. A mortgage subsidiary of DR Horton, which bills itself as the largest home-builder in America, said in a comment to HUD that the new plan could “reduce frivolous and arbitrary claims.” Another mortgage company told HUD that the revised rule would provide “clarity and uniformity for those who seek to comply with their legal responsibilities.” One insurance company argued to the agency that the changes would “more appropriately position insurers to defend against disparate impact challenges.”

But many local and national advocates have said that the changes would completely upend their work on behalf of vulnerable people. National groups including the Electronic Frontier Foundation and the American Civil Liberties Union have pushed back on the HUD plan. In a comment to the agency, the nonprofit Center for Democracy and Technology called the proposal an “unprecedented departure from decades of HUD and federal court precedent” and said that the agency’s reasons for the proposal “have no basis in law or in data or computer science.”

The Greater New Orleans Fair Housing Action Center, a nonprofit group in Louisiana, has used the disparate impact standard to challenge an algorithm that unfairly distributed less money for black families to rebuild their homes after Hurricane Katrina. In a comment to HUD, the organization said the agency was proposing a “safe harbor” for housing companies that use algorithms to determine policy, and in the process, setting up the housing market to be “rife with discrimination.”

Cashauna Hill, executive director of the center, told The Verge that HUD’s changes would make similar cases “all but impossible” to pursue in the future.

“People have not only gotten smarter about how to discriminate,” she says, “but we also know that housing providers are outsourcing a lot of the work to data companies, and algorithms are doing a lot of the work.”
AI Disclaimer: An advanced artificial intelligence (AI) system generated the content of this page on its own. This innovative technology conducts extensive research from a variety of reliable sources, performs rigorous fact-checking and verification, cleans up and balances biased or manipulated content, and presents a minimal factual summary that is just enough yet essential for you to function as an informed and educated citizen. Please keep in mind, however, that this system is an evolving technology, and as a result, the article may contain accidental inaccuracies or errors. We urge you to help us improve our site by reporting any inaccuracies you find using the "Contact Us" link at the bottom of this page. Your helpful feedback helps us improve our system and deliver more precise content. When you find an article of interest here, please look for the full and extensive coverage of this topic in traditional news sources, as they are written by professional journalists that we try to support, not replace. We appreciate your understanding and assistance.
Newsletter

Related Articles

0:00
0:00
Close
IMF Upgrades Global Growth Forecast as Weaker Dollar Supports Outlook
House Republicans Move to Defund OECD Over Global Tax Dispute
France Opens Criminal Investigation into X Over Algorithm Manipulation Allegations
Trump Steamrolls EU in Landmark Trade Win: US–EU Trade Deal Imposes 15% Tariff on European Imports
ChatGPT CEO Sam Altman says people share personal info with ChatGPT but don’t know chats can be used as court evidence in legal cases.
Intel Reports Revenue Beats but Sees 81% Rise in Losses
Politics is a good business: Barack Obama’s Reported Net Worth Growth, 1990–2025
UN's Top Court Declares Environmental Protection a Legal Obligation Under International Law
"Crazy Thing": OpenAI's Sam Altman Warns Of AI Voice Fraud Crisis In Banking
The Podcaster Who Accidentally Revealed He Earns Over $10 Million a Year
UK Government Considers Dropping Demand for Apple Encryption Backdoor
Japanese Man Discovers Family Connection Through DNA Testing After Decades of Separation
Russia Signals Openness to Ukraine Peace Talks Amid Escalating Drone Warfare
Switzerland Implements Ban on Mammography Screening
Pogacar Extends Dominance with Stage Fifteen Triumph at Tour de France
President Trump Diagnosed with Chronic Venous Insufficiency After Leg Swelling
CEO Resigns Amid Controversy Over Relationship with HR Executive
NVIDIA Achieves $4 Trillion Valuation Amid AI Demand
Tulsi Gabbard Unveils Evidence Alleging Political Manipulation of Intelligence During Trump Administration
Centrist Criticism of von der Leyen Resurfaces as she Survives EU Confidence Vote
Trump Announces Coca-Cola to Shift to Cane Sugar in U.S. Production
FIFA Pressured to Rethink World Cup Calendar Due to Climate Change
Zelensky Reshuffles Cabinet to Win Support at Home and in Washington
"Can You Hit Moscow?" Trump Asked Zelensky To Make Putin "Feel The Pain"
Church of England Removes 1991 Sexuality Guidelines from Clergy Selection
Superman Franchise Achieves Success with Latest Release
Hungary's Viktor Orban Rejects Agreements on Illegal Migration
Air India Pilot’s Mental Health Records Under Scrutiny
Jamie Dimon Warns Europe Is Losing Global Competitiveness and Flags Market Complacency
Moonshot AI Unveils Kimi K2: A New Open-Source AI Model
Martha Wells Says Humanity Still Far from True Artificial Intelligence
Nvidia Becomes World’s First Four‑Trillion‑Dollar Company Amid AI Boom
EU Delays Retaliatory Tariffs Amid New U.S. Threats on Imports
Trump Proposes Supplying Arms to Ukraine Through NATO Allies
US Opens First Rare Earth Mine in Over 70 Years in Wyoming
Bitcoin Reaches New Milestone of $116,000
Severe Heatwave Claims 2,300 Lives Across Europe
Declining Beer Consumption Signals Cultural Shift in Germany
Emails Leaked: How Passenger Luggage Became a Side Income for Airport Workers
Polish MEP: “Dear Leftists - China is laughing at you, Russia is laughing, India is laughing”
Western Europe Records Hottest June on Record
BRICS Expands Membership with Indonesia and Ten New Partner Countries
Elon Musk Founds a Party Following a Poll on X: "You Wanted It – You Got It!"
China’s Central Bank Consults European Peers on Low-Rate Strategies
France Requests Airlines to Cut Flights at Paris Airports Amid Planned Air Traffic Controller Strike
Poland Implements Border Checks Amid Growing Migration Tensions
Emirates Airline Expands Market Share with New $20 Million Campaign
Amazon Reaches Milestone with Deployment of One Millionth Robot
Yulia Putintseva Calls for Spectator Ejection at Wimbledon Over Safety Concerns
House Oversight Committee Subpoenas Former Jill Biden Aide Amid Investigation into Alleged Concealment of President Biden's Cognitive Health
×