OGC Memo on Fair Housing Guidance

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MEMORANDUM FOR: John Gibbs, Performing the Delegable Duties of the Principal
Deputy Assistant Secretary for Fair Housing and Equal
Opportunity
FROM: David Woll, General Counsel
SUBJECT: Fair Housing Guidance Memoranda and Documents
In accordance with changes to case law, recent Executive Orders, and agency priorities,
the following guidance memoranda and other documents no longer express the official legal
opinion and/or official policies and procedures of the Office of General Counsel:
• “Memorandum of Understanding Between DOJ and HUD Concerning Enforcement of
the Fair Housing Act, As Amended by the Fair Housing Amendments Act of 1988”
(December 7, 1990)
• “Referrals of Pattern or Practice Fair Housing Cases to the Department of Justice”
(December 12, 2011)
• “OGC Guidance Application of Fair Housing Act Standards to Use of Criminal Records”
(April 4, 2016)
• “OGC Guidance FH Act Protections for LEP Persons” (September 15, 2016)
• “Joint Statement HUD – DOJ, State, and Local Land Use Laws and Practices and the FH
Act” (November 10, 2016)
• Memorandum on “Elements of Proof,” Office of General Counsel, (originally issued
Aug. 11, 2014 and reissued on September 4, 2018) – only as pertaining to the "redlining
and reverse redlining" sections, pp. 9-10. Other than the “redlining and reverse redlining”
section, this memorandum remains in effect.
• “Application to the Fair Housing Act of the Supreme Court’s decision in Bostock v.
Clayton County, GA” (February 9, 2021)
• “Office of General Counsel Guidance on the Fair Housing Act’s Treatment of Certain
Special Purpose Credit Programs That Are Designed and Implemented in Compliance
with the Equal Credit Opportunity Act and Regulation B” (December 6, 2021)
• “Appraisal Elements of Proof” (May 6, 2022)
• “Limiting PHA and Owner Discretion in Admitting and Evicting Tenants in Federally
Assisted Housing” (March 27, 2023)
• “Final Legal Determinations for Implementation of the Violence Against Women Act”
(October 11, 2023)
• “Whether the ‘Mrs. Murphy exemption’ (42 U.S.C. 3603(b)(2)) applies to dwelling
solely owned by LLC’s or other business entities” (July 10, 2024)

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• “Application of Fair Housing and Civil Rights Laws to Source of Income Restrictions”
(November 4, 2024)
Updated guidance related to fair housing matters from the Office of General Counsel will
be issued at the appropriate time.
Cc: Kevin Cooke, General Deputy Assistant Secretary for Fair Housing and Equal
Opportunity
Jeanine Worden, Associate General Counsel for Fair Housing
Regional Counsel

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Internal HUD Distribution:
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