HARRISBURG – PA Attorney General Michelle Henry joined a coalition of 19 state Attorneys General defending the Department of Housing and Urban Development’s Discriminatory Effects Rule which ensures homeowners of all classes and ethnicities have equitable access to insurance.The Attorneys General filed an amicus brief urging a federal court to reject a challenge from the homeowners insurance industry to the HUD’s rule, which holds insurers accountable under the Fair Housing Act, for discriminating against prospective clients based on race or nationality. In the past, courts have recognized that the Fair Housing Act prohibits practices that have a discriminatory effect, even if they are not overtly biased. However, a group of companies that sell property and casualty insurance sued to have portions of HUD’s rule declared invalid, arguing that HUD should have granted a blanket exemption to the rule when addressing potential conflicts with state-level insurance laws and regulations instead of considering conflicts on a case-by-case basis.
MICHELLE HENRY