Atlanta Empire Board Chapter of NAREB Recognizes Fair Housing Month

Regional Administrator Jennings discusses AFFH.

Empire Board General Membership Annual Conference attendees.

Craig Karnes Acting Contracting Director Northern and Southern Field Operations discusses MM3 contract.

The Empire Board of Realtists Atlanta Chapter of the National Association of Real Estate Brokers (NAREB) (www.nareb.com/) Annual Membership Conference recently convened in the board's conference room in anticipation of HUD Southeast Region Administrator Ed Jennings, Jr. update concerning Affirmatively Furthering Fair Housing (AFFH) during Fair Housing Month and also to receive an update from Craig Karnes, HUD Acting Director, Northern and Southern Contracting Field Operations concerning business opportunities.

"Fair Housing Month affords us an excellent opportunity to discuss the AFFH rule. The rule is designed to improve community planning in order to overcome fair housing issues. The process will begin with inclusive community participation and will result in the setting of fair housing goals to increase fair housing choice and provide equal access to opportunity for all community members," said Jennings. "HUD's program participants will then use the fair housing goals and priorities established in their AFH to inform the investments and other decisions made in their local planning processes."

Karnes provided attendees with an update concerning the HUD MM3 contract and entertained questions along with Jennings concerning business opportunities and procedures to do so.

The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) has released a final rule (https://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/pkg/FR-2015-07-16/pdf/2015-17032.pdf) to equip communities that receive HUD funding with the data and tools that will help them to meet long-standing fair housing obligations in their use of HUD funds. HUD will provide publicly open data for grantees to use to assess the state of fair housing within their communities and to set locally-determined priorities and goals. The rule responds to recommendations of the Government Accountability Office and stakeholders for HUD to enhance its fair housing planning obligations by providing greater clarity and support to jurisdictions receiving HUD funding, and facilitating local decision-making on fair housing priorities and goals.

HUD's rule clarifies and simplifies existing fair housing obligations for HUD grantees to analyze their fair housing landscape and set locally-determined fair housing priorities and goals through an Assessment of Fair Housing (AFH). To aid communities in this work, HUD will provide open data to grantees and the public on patterns of integration and segregation, racially and ethnically concentrated areas of poverty, disproportionate housing needs, and disparities in access to opportunity. This improved approach provides a better mechanism for HUD grantees to build fair housing goals into their existing community development and housing planning processes. In addition to providing data and maps, HUD will also provide technical assistance to aid grantees as they adopt this approach.

The Empire Board is the Atlanta Chapter of the National Association of Real Estate Brokers (NAREB) (www.nareb.com/) a professional real estate trade organization. The goal of the organization is to "promote democracy in housing" through professionals in all areas of the real estate industry and to promote the meaningful exchange of ideas about our business and how best to serve our clientele. Their core objective is to secure the right to equal housing opportunities regardless of race, creed, or color.

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