NEWS


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Home Buyer Information Session

Assessing a Person’s Request to Have an Animal
​as a Reasonable Accommodation

Executive Order 25
"Establishing the Governor's Affordable Housing Priorities to Address Virginia's Unmet Housing Needs"

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REPORTS & TOOLS

Fair Housing Handbook

Virginia Housing Development Authority Down Payment Assistance Grant

Affirmatively Furthering Fair Housing 
Assessment Tool (HUD)

On December 31, 2015, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) published
in the Federal Register the final Affirmatively Furthering Fair Housing (AFFH) Assessment Tool
for local governments preparing Assessments of Fair Housing (AFH) individually and in
collaboration with other local governments and public housing agencies. The Assessment Tool
guides program participants as they conduct their Assessments of Fair Housing.

Along with the Assessment Tool, HUD is releasing the AFFH Rule Guidebook, an update to the
Data and Mapping Tool, and the Assessment of Fair Housing (AFH) User Interface to complete an
AFH. Together, these resources will assist you in assessing the fair housing issues in your
community, identify contributing factors related to those fair housing issues, formulate realistic
goals to address them, meet the requirements of the AFFH final rule published July 16, 2015, and
ultimately take meaningful actions to affirmatively further fair housing.

Overview of the Released Tools

The Assessment Tool consists of a series of questions and instructions designed to enable program
participants to identify fair housing issues, including, among other things, racially and ethnically
concentrated areas of poverty, patterns of integration and segregation, disparities in access to
opportunity, and disproportionate housing needs.

The AFFH Data and Mapping Tool is a public-facing tool that will be used alongside the User
Interface and provides data and maps needed to complete the AFH. Program participants will
supplement the HUD-provided data with local data and local knowledge, including local data and
local knowledge obtained through community participation, to complete an informed assessment.

The AFFH Rule Guidebook provides guidance on the AFFH rule and how to complete an AFH, as
well as the linkage between an AFH and other planning processes and plans required as a condition
for participating in HUD housing and urban development programs. The AFFH Rule Guidebook
includes a checklist and worksheet, as an appendix, which program participants may find useful in
planning to conduct an AFH.

The User Interface provides a secure, online portal for program participants to complete and
submit an AFH, and work collaboratively with other program participants. The User Interface is
currently only available to program participants that have an AFH due in 2016, and any other
program participants they choose to partner with to submit a joint or regional AFH. All other
program participants will have access to the system in time to begin planning to conduct their AFH
and will receive further instructions regarding access in Spring 2016.

Which Program Participants Will Use this Assessment Tool?
All local governments that receive formula funding from Community Development Block Grants (CDBG), HOME Investment Partnerships Program (HOME), Emergency Solutions Grants (ESG), or Housing for Persons with AIDS (HOPWA) will use this Assessment Tool. Local governments required to submit an AFH may conduct and submit an AFH alone, with other local governments required to submit an AFH, and with public housing agencies. HUD encourages collaboration among program participants and a coordinated approach to addressing fair housing issues.
HUD will issue separate Assessment Tools for use by States and Insular Areas and for PHAs that choose to submit an AFH alone or with other PHA partners.

Submission Deadlines
Based on the Assessment Tool’s publication date of December 31, 2015, no AFH will be due before October 4, 2016. For any program participant that would otherwise have an earlier submission deadline under 24 C.F.R § 5.160(a)(1)(i), its deadline is now extended to October 4, 2016 pursuant to 24 C.F.R § 5.160(a)(1)(ii). For additional information on submission deadlines, please reference the enclosed fact sheet.

Technical Assistance and Upcoming Training Schedule
The recently released Assessment Tool and other products, along with other guidance and training materials, may be found on the AFFH page on HUD Exchange (https://www.hudexchange.info/programs/affh/). 

If you have any further questions about the new AFFH process, please review the official guidance and technical assistance materials or submit AFFH-related questions through HUD Exchange’s Ask-A-Question feature.