HUD has withdrawn 21 fair housing and civil rights guidance documents across two Federal Register notices. Both notices were published months after the withdrawals had already taken effect. 

The withdrawn material covered assistance animals and reasonable accommodation, criminal records screening, limited English proficiency, source of income, VAWA implementation, and PHA discretion in admissions and evictions. Many agencies built policies, procedures, and staff training around these documents. 

No statute or regulation changed. What changed is the interpretive material agencies have been using to apply those requirements day to day. 

Two Notices, Both Retroactive 

On April 6, 2026, HUD’s Office of Fair Housing and Equal Opportunity published a notice withdrawing eight guidance documents (Docket No. FR-6571-N-01). The withdrawals were effective September 17, 2025. 

On July 17, 2026, HUD’s Office of General Counsel published a second notice withdrawing 13 more (Docket No. FR-6617-N-01). Those withdrawals were effective September 25, 2025. 

The gap between the effective dates and the publication dates matters. Both sets of documents came off HUD.gov and out of active use in September 2025. Agencies that continued citing them through the fall and spring were relying on material HUD had already pulled. 

What the Withdrawals Cover 

Across the two notices, the withdrawn guidance includes: 

• Assistance animals and reasonable accommodation requests, including FHEO 2020-01 and FHEO Notice 2013-01 
• Criminal records screening, covering both the April 4, 2016 OGC guidance and the June 10, 2022 FHEO implementation memorandum 
• Limited English proficiency, including the January 22, 2007 Title VI guidance and the September 15, 2016 OGC guidance 
• Source of income restrictions and source of income testing activities 
• VAWA implementation, including the October 11, 2023 final legal determination 
• PHA and owner discretion in admitting and evicting tenants, from March 27, 2023 guidance 
• Fair Housing Act enforcement coordination with the Department of Justice 
• Land use practices, digital advertising, appraisals, and special purpose credit programs 

On three subjects, HUD withdrew both layers. Criminal records screening, limited English proficiency, and special purpose credit programs each lost the underlying OGC guidance and the FHEO document that implemented it. Nothing partial remains standing on those topics. 

What Did Not Change 

The Fair Housing Act remains in effect. So do Title VI, Section 504, VAWA, and every applicable HUD regulation. Withdrawing guidance does not amend a statute or a rule. 

Two points deserve attention. 

First, HUD stated that conduct inconsistent with the Fair Housing Act remains subject to enforcement. Agencies whose prior practice followed the withdrawn guidance are encouraged to address any potential violations promptly. 

Second, private litigation is unaffected. Individuals may still file a civil action in federal or state court within two years of an alleged discriminatory housing practice. A change in HUD’s guidance posture does not change what a court may find. 

What This Means for Your Policy Documents 

HUD directed that its own handbooks and internal training materials referencing the withdrawn documents be revised. PHAs face the same practical exercise with their own materials. 

1. Search your ACOP and Administrative Plan for citations to the withdrawn documents, focusing on admissions, screening, reasonable accommodation, and termination sections. 
2. Review reasonable accommodation procedures that reference FHEO 2020-01 or the assistance animal framework it described. 
3. Check criminal records screening policies for language drawn from the withdrawn 2016 and 2022 guidance. 
4. Update staff training materials and desk references that cite withdrawn documents by name. 
5. Confirm that each policy provision traces to a statute or regulation rather than to withdrawn guidance alone. 
6. Document the review, including the date completed and what was changed. 

A policy that cites a withdrawn document is not automatically wrong. Many of these provisions restate requirements that still live in regulation. The work is confirming which ones do. 

HUD has said it will reissue guidance where it determines guidance is necessary. Until that happens, agencies work directly from statute and regulation. 

A Resource to Support Your Team 

Both withdrawals took effect in September 2025 and were not published until months later. That gap is the hard part. No agency can review a policy against guidance it does not yet know has been pulled. AMA’s Affordable Housing Policy Alerts track HUD notices, guidance withdrawals, and Federal Register activity, then translate each one into what it changes for Public Housing, HCV, and LIHTC operations.

When Additional Support May Make Sense 

Reviewing an ACOP and Administrative Plan against 21 withdrawn documents takes focused time that most compliance teams do not have available. If your agency wants a structured review with a defensible record of what was checked and changed, a short conversation is a reasonable place to start. 

This article is intended as general information and does not replace HUD regulations or official guidance.

Additional Reading 

1. Notice of the Withdrawal of OGC Guidance Documents, U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, Federal Register, July 17, 2026 (Docket No. FR-6617-N-01, 91 FR 44867)
   https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2026/07/17/2026-14432/notice-of-the-withdrawal-of-ogc-guidance-documents 

1. Notification of Withdrawal of Fair Housing and Equal Opportunity Guidance Documents, U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, Federal Register, April 6, 2026 (Docket No. FR-6571-N-01, 91 FR 17291)
   https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2026/04/06/2026-06624/notification-of-withdrawal-of-fair-housing-and-equal-opportunity-guidance-documents 

1. Official print version of the July 17, 2026 notice, U.S. Government Publishing Office
   https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/FR-2026-07-17/pdf/2026-14432.pdf 

1. Official print version of the April 6, 2026 notice, U.S. Government Publishing Office
   https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/FR-2026-04-06/pdf/2026-06624.pdf