Cobb County is committed to furthering fair housing efforts by promoting fair and equal housing opportunities for its residents. It is committed to highlighting the Fair Housing Law, Title VIII of the Civil Rights Act of 1968 by continuing to address discrimination in our community and to support programs that will educate the public about the right to equal housing opportunities.

It is the County's policy to provide services without regard to race, color, ancestry, religion, national origin, age, gender, marital status, familial status, source of income, sexual orientation or disability. This commitment extends to all grant-funded housing programs provided by the County.

Fair housing can be defined as a condition in which individuals of similar income levels in the same housing market have a like range of housing choice available to them regardless of race, color, ancestry, religion, national origin, age, gender, marital status, familial status, source of income, sexual orientation or disability.

Furthering Fair Housing

The Fair Housing Act has two goals: to end housing discrimination and to promote diverse, inclusive communities. The second goal is referred to as Affirmatively Furthering Fair Housing (AFFH), and it embodies our strongly-held American values of fair access and equal opportunity.

The Affirmatively Furthering Fair Housing provision was part of the Fair Housing Act when it was passed by Congress in 1968. Through that provision, Congress directed HUD to make sure that neither the agency itself, nor the cities, counties, states and public housing agencies it funds, discriminate in their programs. Further, Congress intended that HUD programs be used to expand housing choices and help make all neighborhoods places of opportunity, providing their residents with access to the community assets and resources they need to flourish.

On July 16, 2015, the US Department of Housing & Urban Development (HUD), the federal agency charged with writing the rules for the Fair Housing Act, issued a new regulation to implement the affirmatively furthering fair housing requirements of the Fair Housing Act. With this rule, HUD is providing its program participants (states, counties, municipalities and public housing agencies) with more effective means to affirmatively further the purposes and policies of the Fair Housing Act, Title VIII of the Civil Rights Act of 1968.

On January 5, 2018, HUD effectively suspended implementation of the agency’s 2015 Affirmatively Furthering Fair Housing regulation. It did this by delaying program participants’ submission of the fair housing plans (known as Assessments of Fair Housing or AFHs) until after October 31, 2020. The submission of these fair housing plans is tied to the 5-year cycle under which program participants must submit their spending plans, (known as Consolidated Plans, or ConPlans), most of which must be submitted before October 31, 2020.

HUD’s action means that most program participants will not be required to submit a fair housing plan for HUD review until 2024 or 2025.

Housing discrimination is unjust or prejudicial treatment of individuals, in the area of housing and real estate, based on the individual's protected class.

The right to fair housing is assured by a variety of federal and state laws, primarily the Federal Fair Housing Act of 1968, the Fair Housing Amendments Act of 1988 which make it unlawful to discriminate in renting, selling, financing, and insuring housing.

If you believe you have been denied housing or the opportunity to apply for housing in Cobb County because of a protected characteristic. You can file a complaint with FHEO online in English or Spanish at https://www.hud.gov/program_offices/fair_housing_equal_opp/online-complaint

You can speak with an FHEO intake specialist by calling 1(800) 440-8091 (404) 730-2654 for TTY).

The promotion and exercise of fair housing requires freedom from the impediments of discriminatory rental, sales, lending and insurance practices, exclusionary zoning and land use practices, and other forms of barriers to housing choice. These barriers to fair housing have been identified in the most recent Analysis of Impediments to Fair Housing Choice (2016–2020).

To facilitate freedom from identified impediments and to eliminate those barriers, the County will strive to:

• Remedy discrimination in housing through education, training, and outreach;
• Promote fair housing rights and fair housing choice;
• Develop and manage housing choices which are safe, affordable, sustainable, and accessible; and
• Improve access to services for persons with limited English proficiency.

U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development | Fair Housing and Equal Opportunity

Region IV

Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina, and Tennessee

Atlanta Regional Office of FHEO
U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development
Five Points Plaza
40 Marietta Street, 16th Floor
Atlanta, Georgia 30303-2806

(404) 331-5140
(800) 440-8091
TTY (404) 730-2654