Affirmative Fair Housing Marketing Plan Requirements

An Affirmative Fair Housing Marketing Plan is required for any FHA-assisted housing project with five or more units, lots, or spaces, and it must identify demographic groups least likely to apply for the housing, describe the specific outreach that will reach them, cover staff training and record-keeping, and follow HUD’s advertising and signage rules. The plan is filed on a HUD form, approved by HUD, kept available for public inspection at the sales or rental office, and reviewed at least every five years. The requirements sit in 24 CFR Part 200, Subpart M.¹

Who Has to File a Plan

The obligation kicks in once a project crosses the five-unit line. Under 24 CFR 200.615, three categories of applicant are covered:²

Multifamily projects and manufactured home parks with five or more lots, units, or spaces.
Single-family subdivisions where the builder or developer intends to sell five or more properties using FHA mortgage insurance.
Any applicant whose FHA participation has exceeded five dwelling units in the year preceding the current application, excluding owner-occupied construction where the applicant had no prior interest in the property.

HOME-funded rental and homebuyer projects with five or more HOME-assisted units carry a parallel obligation under 24 CFR 92.351(a), which also extends affirmative marketing to tenant-based rental assistance and homeownership assistance.³ Low-Income Housing Tax Credit properties are a different story: there is no codified federal affirmative marketing rule for LIHTC. Some states impose their own through the qualified allocation plan, so check with the state housing finance agency if that is your funding source.

What the Plan Must Contain

Covered applicants complete the plan on a HUD-supplied form, currently Form HUD-935.2A for multifamily projects. Once approved, the plan must be available for public inspection at the project’s sales or rental office.⁴ Four elements make up the substance.

Groups Least Likely to Apply

The demographic analysis is the backbone. You compare the racial, ethnic, and other demographic makeup of your current residents and applicants against the broader housing market area and the surrounding census tracts. Any protected-class group with an identifiable presence in the market area but underrepresented among your applicants or residents qualifies as “least likely to apply.” HUD’s instructions call for the most current Census data or official local planning office data as a baseline.⁵ Common reasons a group may not apply without special outreach include language barriers, lack of information about the housing opportunity, or transportation obstacles. HUD’s CPD Maps tool provides demographic layers by race, ethnicity, median household income, poverty rate, and share of non-English-speaking residents.⁶

Targeted Outreach

Once you know which groups are underrepresented, the plan must describe the specific outreach methods you will use to reach them. The regulation requires publicizing housing availability through media customarily used by the applicant, including minority publications and other outlets that serve the target groups in the housing market area.⁷ The HUD form separates this into community contacts (local social service agencies, religious organizations, fair housing groups, housing counseling agencies) and advertising methods (print, radio, internet, brochures, non-English-language media). Copies of the proposed advertisements and correspondence to community organizations must be attached to the plan.⁵

Staff Training

All employees and agents must be instructed both in writing and orally on the nondiscrimination and fair housing policies.⁷ The HUD form asks whether staff has been trained on the plan specifically, who provides the instruction, how frequently training occurs, and whether you periodically assess staff skills in applying fair housing requirements.⁵ No minimum frequency is set, but the form’s questions make clear that one-time training is not enough.

Evaluation and Records

The plan must describe how you will evaluate whether the outreach is working. For HOME-funded projects, 24 CFR 92.351(a)(2) requires records of all affirmative marketing actions, records assessing the results, and an annual assessment of compliance with corrective actions when the requirements are not being met.³ For FHA-insured projects, the HUD 935.2A form requires you to describe who conducts the evaluation, when it happens, and how the results inform future marketing.⁵

Advertising and Signage Rules

The advertising rules under 24 CFR 200.620 are specific and easy to miss. Every advertisement must include HUD’s approved Equal Housing Opportunity logo, slogan, or statement. Any advertisement that depicts people must show individuals from both majority and minority groups, including both sexes.⁷ The rule reaches print ads, brochures, online listings, and any other marketing material used in connection with sales or rentals.

At the project site, a sign must be posted in a conspicuous position displaying the Equal Housing Opportunity logo or slogan. Every office where sales or rental activity takes place must prominently display the HUD-approved Fair Housing Poster, and all printed materials used in connection with sales or rentals must include the Equal Housing Opportunity logo, slogan, or statement.⁷ The logo must be clear, legible, and at least equal in size to other logos appearing in the same material.

The regulation also requires a nondiscriminatory hiring policy for staff engaged in selling or renting the property, with recruitment from both minority and majority groups, including both sexes and persons with disabilities.⁷

Timing and Updates

For new construction and substantial rehabilitation, advertising must begin at least 90 days before initial or renewed occupancy. The owner must submit notification of intent to begin marketing no later than 90 days before initiating rental marketing activities, sent to the HUD Office servicing the project’s locality.⁵ For FHA multifamily projects, the affirmative marketing program must stay in effect throughout the life of the mortgage.⁷

An approved plan must be reviewed at least every five years, or sooner if the local jurisdiction’s Consolidated Plan is updated or significant demographic shifts occur in the project or surrounding market. During the review, compare current resident and applicant demographics against updated market area data to determine whether your “least likely to apply” groups have changed and whether current outreach is reaching them. Even where demographics have held steady, evaluate whether the outreach is producing results by examining occupancy and applicant data. If it is not, the plan must be updated.⁵

Consequences of Non-Compliance

The HUD form carries a warning that HUD will prosecute false claims, with potential criminal and civil penalties under 18 U.S.C. 1001, 1010, and 1012, and 31 U.S.C. 3729 and 3802.⁵ Non-compliance with affirmative marketing requirements can result in denial of further participation in FHA housing programs and referral to the Department of Justice. In practice, the more common consequence is that HUD flags deficiencies during monitoring reviews and requires corrective action before approving future participation.

By signing the form, you agree to implement the plan and to review and update it on the schedule above. The owners who run into trouble are typically the ones who filled out the form at the start and never looked at it again.

1
eCFR. 24 CFR Part 200 Subpart M – Affirmative Fair Housing Marketing Regulations
2
eCFR. 24 CFR 200.615 – Applicability
3
eCFR. 24 CFR 92.351 – Affirmative Marketing and Minority Outreach Program
4
eCFR. 24 CFR 200.625 – Affirmative Fair Housing Marketing Plan
5
U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. Affirmative Fair Housing Marketing Plan – Form HUD-935.2A
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U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. CPD Maps
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eCFR. 24 CFR 200.620 – Requirements