In this case, this Property Casualty Insurers Association (PCIA) seeks to block the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s (HUD) 2013 “disparate impact” rule for the insurance industry. Disparate impact is a critical tool for enforcing the Fair Housing Act. It is used to challenge practices that are not discriminatory on their face, but nevertheless have an unjustified disparate negative impact on the ability of people of color and other marginalized groups to secure housing. Without this tool, it would be harder to root out practices that sustain institutional and structural racism and other discrimination in the housing market.
Since 2014, the ACLU of Illinois has joined a coalition of fair housing groups in filing a series of amicus briefs in the federal District Court in this case to support HUD’s disparate impact rule. These briefs have explained how covert forms of systemic discrimination pervade the housing market and lead to stark racial disparities in home ownership. As the briefs explain, applying HUD’s disparate impact rule to the insurance industry is consistent with the Fair Housing Act and other federal and state laws. After the district court granted summary judgment to HUD in 2024, PCIA appealed to the Seventh Circuit, and the ACLU of Illinois then joined an additional amicus brief submitted to the Court of Appeals.