Disparate Whatever

The House has approved an amendment aimed at barring the Department of Justice (DOJ) from enforcing the U.S. Department of Housing & Urban Development’s (HUD) fair lending disparate impact rule. The amendment is to H.R. 2578, the Fiscal Year 2016 Commerce, Justice, Science, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act. It would prohibit the DOJ from using appropriated funds to bring Fair Housing Act enforcement actions that assert liability under the disparate impact rule. (Note that the amendment would not cover claims under the Equal Credit Opportunity Act.) Although Beltway watchers believe the amendment is unlikely make it into law, the Supreme Court is poised to decide the issue in part in Texas Department of Housing and Community Affairs v. The Inclusive Communities Project, Inc., which was argued in January of this year.