SCOTUS Upholds Fair Housing Protections

In the flurry of historic and high profile decisions from the US Supreme Court in June came a decision under the Fair Housing Act that will affect affordable housing developers like Piedmont Housing Alliance for years to come.

As detailed in a New York Times editorial, the case of Texas Department of Housing and Community Affairs v. Inclusive Communities Project focused on the fact that the low-income housing tax credit program, a government-funded initiative designed to reduce housing discrimination, has actually perpetuated racial isolation in cities by continuing to concentrate low income housing in low-opportunity areas.

Justice Kennedy’s opinion makes clear that these projects can continue to be challenged if they have a greater impact on racial minorities.  Our country has a long history of discriminatory housing practices, and it takes many years to root out the ways that this discrimination is perpetuated.