HUD Is Rolling Back Accessibility Under the Guise of Cutting Red Tape

A new Housing and Urban Development policy could cause big problems for disabled tenants.

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Housing and Urban Development has taken multiple steps to narrow its fair housing enforcement. (Aaron M. Sprecher via AP)

The Trump administration is making it harder to hold builders who violate accessibility requirements accountable.

A new policy furthers the administration’s push to roll back fair housing laws, shortening the time period to address violations. The Housing and Urban Development’s fair housing laws’ enforcement arm told employees on Monday that complaints alleging housing law violations must be filed with the office within one year of the “allegedly unlawful” construction of a building being completed.

They framed the change as a means to cut red tape. Housing advocates say it would incentivize builders to neglect accessibility requirements that are already underenforced and, in most instances, undiscovered within the now-required one-year limit.